Sunday night, I had the pleasure of reading a short story that takes place in Pike Place Market right in Pike Place Market, at the Can Can. The event, a literary cabaret produced by Sailor St. Claire, was called The Naked Bunch, and its theme played off of William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch, asking: what's your fix? So I read a short story called "Sugar," the first story I've set in Seattle since moving here that I actually like.  What I really loved about the event was how eclectic and yet cohesive it was - fiction, poetry, strip tease, and music all coming at that what's-your-fix question from differently kinky angles. The night before that was also a treat. I read another new story called "The Zoo" at the Long Talking Bad Conditions Blues reading series hosted by Zachary Watterson at Liberty Bar. Zachary named the series after a novel by Ron Sukenick that is comprised of one extraordinarily long sentence, which lends a certain urgency to the series that I really like.  That's two nights of readings with wonderful, talented writers - not to mention burlesque dancers and musicians! I feel really lucky.There's another reason I'm feeling really lucky these days. I've been awarded a Made at Hugo House Fellowship! This new fellowship provides funding, space, and resources to four to six writers age 35 and younger in King County. During my fellowship, I'll be completing my short story collection "More Like Home Than Home," which explores themes of migration, place, and home in settings like Bucharest, New York, and Seattle, and several places in between. So there was something extra sweet about reading "Sugar," a story set in Seattle that I'm finally happy about after three years of living here,  at such a great venue like The Can Can. Hooray!I needed a high-res photo for the fellowship webpage, so I asked my friend Sayed Alamy at GuyEatsOctopus to take a few shots. He did a super job!