Congratulations to CCS alumni Jo Miles! Come hear her read at the July 11th Charm City Spec! 📖

Congratulations to Aysha (a CCS alumni!) and everyone involved with this book!

Perhaps the greatest post-reading treat ever, courtesy of Aina Hunter

About 30 listeners check out TT Madden's reading. The photo is taken from the back of an airy high-ceilinged bookstore, the author backlit by large windows facing 33rd st.

About 30 listeners check out TT Madden's reading. The photo is taken from the back of an airy high-ceilinged bookstore, the author backlit by large windows facing 33rd st. The author is wearing a sweater with a flying saucer beaming a silhouetted figure up.

Great crowd and great readers at @charmcityspec.bsky.social tonight.

Two flying saucers descend to a woodland field. A human stand nearby, seemingly unafraid. The text says " WHEN WE SAY EVERYONE IS WELCOME, WE MEAN EVERYONE." Charm City Spec logo in the corner.

Tonight's the night! Come out and hear a full-to-bursting program of captivating authors as they read their truths, at Charm City Spec! 6pm at the Bird in Hand Cafe, 11 E. 33rd Street in Baltimore. We want to se YOU there!

Alt text: Over a pulsating orange-and-gray kaleidoscope pattern, a photo of the author, and the cover of her debut novel. "Aina Hunter reads Charm City Spec" "The Bird in Hand Cafe, 11 E. 33rd Street in Baltimore, 6pm April 11, 2026"

Aina Hunter reads to a hungry crowd at the next Charm City Spec, this Saturday night at the Bird in Hand! Don't miss this unique CCS event!
#baltimoreevents #baltimorelit

Scott is always a good time, and we're thrilled to have him read for us again! Don't miss this!

Thanks, @duotrope.com ✨

TRAE HAWKINS READS CHARM CITY SPEC Live at the Bird in Hand Cafe 11 East 33rd Street, in Baltimore April 11th, 2026, starts at 6pm ALL ARE WELCOME The image is a pair of cupped hands in front of a woodland floor. Floating above the hands is a ball of concentrated eco-plasma or some other spherical energy manifestation.

Come out this Saturday evening as Trae Hawkins takes the stage at Charm City Spec! He'll be promoting ECO24: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction, in which his work appears. Signs and Wonders! You really won't want to miss this!

If you've never heard @fondalee.bsky.social speak she is a marvel.

TTMadden writing

They can be found online as @ttmaddenwrites, and at their website, ttmaddenwrites.carrd.co

TT Madden (they/them) is a genderfluid, mixed-race author who refuses to keep "politics" out of their writing and to put AI in. Their work writing weird fiction often deals with the intersections of their various identities.

TT Malden reads Charm City Spec, at the Bird in Hand Cafe, 11 E. 33rd St. (in Baltimore), 6pm April 11, 2026. All are Welcome. Image: the author as, presumably, a magic-user of some kind, or possibly reading a magic book. Magical forces, manifesting as golden light and illuminated birds, are swooping around the space above the author's head.

TT Madden makes a second appearance at this Saturday's Charm City Spec, this Saturday along with a bevy of talented authors! Come and join us!

Author copies babiiieeeee!!!!!! @speculationpub.bsky.social

Crypto — NO!
Cryptids — Yessssss...

alt text: BIRD IN HAND presents Charm City Spec: April edition Scott Edelman TT Madden Mahaila Smith Aina Hunter Trae Hawkins 4.11.26 6pm 11 E. 33RD St. (in Baltimore!)

Come out for the April Charm City Spec! We have a great lineup of authors—it's going to be an adventurous night of readings, with author Q&A, refreshments, door prizes, and surprises! Free for all, and everyone is welcome!

Hey is that Charm City Spec alumni David Simmons, appearing in PROFANE SORCERY volume 3? Go David go!

Congratulations to Charm City Spec alumni J.R. Dawson! We surely can believe they're on this list!!

Congratulations to recent Charm City Spec alumni Somto Izehue and all the authors of works nominated for this year's Nebulas! What a great year we've had for new works!

Hornytown Chutzpah - Atthis Arts A comedic noir novella about a demon framed for murder in the Devil's corner of D.C. and the one dick who might have the Manischevitz to do something about it. Release Date: 17 March 2026 Paperback...

Our celebration doesn't stop here! *Only* through Tuesday, you can order the paperback of Hornytown Chutzpah (Oy vey! Not that type of horny! ... Maybe.) and receive a free Spotify code for the delightful, joyful brother-sister read audiobook. Show some love to indie fiction tonight? 💖

Hornytown Chutzpah (releasing March 17) book cover on the left. Schedule of March signings and readings on the right.

One down (A phenomenal success. Thanks @charmcityspec.bsky.social) and so much more to go.

Join me. Invite me!

Somto Ihezue seated at a red-covered table representing the University of Maryland MFA in Creative Writing program at the 2026 AWP convention in Baltimore, with a tall Department of English banner and promotional materials displayed on the table.

From Left to Right: Rutendo Chidzodzo, Sheree Renee Thomas, and Somto Ihezue at the AWP convention in Baltimore.

Somto Ihezue and Neil Clarke at the Clarkesworld booth at the 2026 AWP convention in Baltimore.

Somto Ihezue and Augustine Obasi at the 2026 AWP Convention in Baltimore.

Had a blast up in Baltimore at #AWP representing the University of Maryland’s MFA in Creative Writing program and running into @shereereneethomas.bsky.social, @clarkesworldmagazine.com, @michaeljdeluca.bsky.social and so many wonderful people!!!!✨

Looking northwest from the World Trade Center Baltimore—clear skies, glittering skyline.

Come see Baltimore from a new vantage, as you listen to up-and-coming authors reading fresh new work! At the Top of the World Observatory, World Trade Center Baltimore. 5pm today!

A Hugo winning literary critic called Andrew Hiller's latest, "a light, funny, and audacious novella that relies as much on screwball comedy as it does hard boiled noir, all with a dash of Manischewitz wine."

Andrew Hiller has been a humor best seller, seen his plays grace the New York stage, and been an award-winning reporter, but his geek heaven period may have been working with the original Jim Henson gang!

Andrew Hiller reads from his mischievous Jewish fantasy noir, at the Top of the World Observatory (and with a surprise special guest!) Come join us for the highest—measured by altitude—AWP offsite in Baltimore, as we host a Charm City Spec in the sky!
#AWP #AWP2026 #awpoffsites

Elwin's debut novel The Age of Ignorance will be published by Scribner in 2027. He has worked as a video game consultant and writer for Square Enix. He is a winner of the 2025 Whiting Award in Fiction. He writes this and that on his Substack.

Elwin Cotman is a storyteller from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the author of five books: the poetry collection The Wizard’s Homecoming, and the short story collections The Jack Daniels Sessions EP, Hard Times Blues, Dance on Saturday, and Weird Black Girls.

Free to all! Everybody is welcome! March 4th @ 5pm Charm City Spec and AWP present: ELWIN COTMAN in a live reading with an astonishing program of authors 27th Floor Observatory World Trade Center Baltimore Charm City Spec (Say "Charm City" at the door to gain entry after hours) PLEASE USE THE ELEVATORS

Please use the elevators when you come to hear Elwin Cotman read from the 27th floor observatory! Don't miss this one of a kind event!

(Free to all. Just say "Charm City" at the door to gain entry after hours.)