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The Point Street Reading Series expands on PVD’s literary scene

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Robin Kall is no stranger to Rhode Island’s literary scene. For 12 years, she has been the beloved bookworm and host of Reading With Robin, a weekly radio show on AM790 and I Heart Radio, and she is the organizer and curator of events across the Ocean State. However, Robin sees a wealth of untapped potential in our state’s tiny-yet-mighty Creative Capital and has big plans to elevate the city’s already thriving artistic presence.

Beginning this month, Robin is hosting a free monthly reading series, aptly named Point Street Reading Series, featuring four traveling and local writers selected to share their work. The series will occur every third Tuesday of the month at its permanent home, Point Street Dueling Pianos, centrally located downtown at 3 Davol Square. “The natural set-up of the stage and bars is exactly what I had imagined we’d have at Point Street,” Robin said of Dueling Pianos, “and it’s… right in the heart of Providence.”

Her inspiration for the series borrows from outside state lines, citing many long-standing and delightfully quirky NYC events such as the Franklin Park Reading Series and Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn and the KGB Bar Reading Series in Manhattan’s East Village. Robin aims to cultivate a similar enthusiasm, verve and literary eclecticism for Providence writers and artists.

“I was immediately blown away by how many people were at a bar on a Monday night in the summer to hear a handful of authors read,” Robin commented on the Franklin Park Reading Series, hosted by Penina Roth, and sees no reason why Providence can’t foster a love for literature just as lively. “Point Street is primarily inspired by the structure of these series, in that having the authors reading is the program’s focal point. I do, however, strive to create similar communities and followings that all three have been able to establish.”

Point Street’s inaugural reading will feature literary luminaries Caroline Leavitt (author of 8 books including Is This Tomorrow and New York Times Bestseller Pictures of You), Howard Axelrod (author of the popular memoir, The Point of Vanishing), Rachel Cantor (author of the novel, Good on Paper), and Johnson & Wales professor, Tamara Valentine. March 15, 7:30pm. 3 Davol Square. Find Point Street Reading Series on Facebook or get in touch with Robin directly at Robin.ReadingWithRobin@gmail.com

Robin Kall, Point Street Reading Series, reading with robin, Point Street Dueling Pianos, Caroline Leavitt, Pictures of You, Is This Tomorrow, Howard Axelrod, The Point of Vanishing, Rachel Cantor, Good on Paper, Tamara Valentine, charlotte Seley, providence monthly

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