Deborah Fruchey and Jan Steckel at Expressions Gallery

Poetry Reading featuring Zeitgeist Press poets Jan Steckel and Deborah Fruchey at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. in Berkeley – Open Mic to follow!

Jan Steckel is a former pediatrician who stopped practicing medicine because of chronic pain. Her latest book Like Flesh Covers Bone (Zeitgeist Press, December 2018) was a finalist for the poetry category of the Bi Book Awards. Her poetry book The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011) won a 2012 Lambda Literary Award. Her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks (Gertrude Press, 2009) and poetry chapbook The Underwater Hospital (Zeitgeist Press, 2006) also won awards. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Scholastic Magazine, Bellevue Literary Review, Yale Medicine, and elsewhere. She works as a medical editor and lives in Oakland, California.

Deborah Fruchey tried to write her first book at the age of 8. Her first novel was chosen as a Best Book by the American Bookseller’s Association. Her poetry book Armadillo was released by Cyborg Productions in 2014. Her latest is a volume of flash fiction called Priestess of Secrets. She is the editor of an upcoming anthology in tribute to Julia Vinograd, from Zeitgeist Press, and also editor of a volume of Vampyre Mike Kassel’s unpublished work, due in November 2019 from Last Laugh Productions.