LitLounge: In Defense of the Short Story

Lit Lounge is a new series celebrating the joy of analog connection—reading together, discovering new voices, and sharing a drink with fellow book lovers. This event is done in partnership between Saint Joseph’s Arts Society and Mechanics’ Institute, sponsored by Svane Culture Forward and Lindsey Crittenden, MI trustee. Bring your book, bring your friends, and bring your curiosity.

Move over, novels! Tonight, the short story gets the spotlight. Dive into a selection of short story collections from James Baldwin to Shirley Jackson, then join the “In Defense of the Short Story” panel, featuring Lori Ostlund, Anita Felicelli, Joan Frank, and Kar Johnson! From the perspectives of short story writers, reviewers, editors, and publishers, learn what makes the short story a unique, captivating, and underappreciated form.

Bring Your Own Book (BYOB) and settle in with a literary-inspired cocktail for a rare chance to disconnect from the digital and sink into the page. Whether you come solo, with your book club, or just want to finally crack open that book on your nightstand, this is a night designed for readers.

Evening Flow:

6:00-7:00 pm - Settle in, get a drink, and enjoy a short story - bring your own book, or borrow one from the library collection!

7:00-8:00 pm - In Defense of Short Stories Panel with Lori Ostlund, Anita Fellicelli, and special guests

8:00-9:00 pm - Purchase a signed copy of the authors’ works, do a speed writing challenge, and explore the library!

This event is free for members of Mechanics' Institute and Saint Joseph's Arts Society. Tickets are $10 for the public.

About Saint Joseph's Arts Society

Saint Joseph’s Arts Society, founded by visionary designer Ken Fulk in 2018, was established to celebrate arts, design, and culture in all forms in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Located inside St. Joseph’s, a revitalized National Historic Landmark former church, the Arts Society is a cultural hub and creative haven offering inspiring multi-disciplinary programming, engaging art and design exhibitions, innovative immersive events, and curated retail experiences. Through the cultivation of art and design, conversation and creativity, the Arts Society is dedicated to elevating our shared human experience.

About Svane Culture Forward

The Svane Family Foundation supports the arts, artists and arts organizations. Culture Forward is a $5 million grant initiative by The Svane Family Foundation supporting arts and culture projects that attract families, students, and young professionals to Downtown San Francisco.

Location: 57 Post St, SF, 94104 | Mechanics' Institute Library

About the Speakers

Lori Ostlund’s novel After the Parade was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a Barnes & Noble Discover pick and a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Ferro-Grumley Award. Her story collection, The Bigness of the World, won the 2008 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the California Book Award for First Fiction, and the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award, and was a Lambda Finalist. Her most recent book is Are You Happy? Lori’s work has appeared in the Best American Short Stories and the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories as well as in ZYZZYVA, The Kenyon Review, New England Review, and other journals. She is the series editor of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction.

Anita Felicelli is the author of the short story collection which was shortlisted for the 2025 Northern California Book Awards and the 2024 Foreword Indies Award for short story collections. Anita’s other books include and the award-winning. Her short stories have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Midnight Breakfast, Air/Light, The Normal School, and elsewhere. Her short stories have been anthologized and also performed as part of Symphony Space’s Selected Shorts. Anita is the books editor at. She sat on the Board of the National Book Critics Circle from 2021-2024 (acting as chair of the fiction award in 2022 and VP of fundraising in 2021 and 2023) and served as a juror for the 2025 Kirkus nonfiction prize.

Joan Frank is a MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Ragdale Fellow; a Pushcart Prize nominee, and winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction and the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize. Her past titles include Juniper Street, Late Work, The Outlook for Earthlings, and Where You’re All Going: Four Novellas. She has been nominated twice for the Northern California Book Award in Fiction and named a San Francisco Library and Berkeley Public Library Literary Laureate. She has taught creative writing at San Francisco State University, and also reviews literary fiction and nonfiction for The Washington Post and Boston Globe.

Kar Johnson is a writer, performer, and bookseller living in the Bay Area. Their work has appeared in Foglifter, The Los Angeles Press, The Santa Clara Review, and elsewhere. They hold an MFA from San Francisco State University and work as the events coordinator for Green Apple Books.

Free for Members, $10 for Public

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