Blue Bicycle Books

Sat., June 3, 5 pm, Piccolo Fiction presented by Blue Bicycle Books.

Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King Street. Free and open to the public. 843-722-2666.

The festival’s longest-running event exclusively devoted to fiction, Piccolo Fiction presents local and South Carolina authors reading brief short stories. This year’s reading will be in the courtyard beside the bookstore, and, following tradition, each story will begin with the words “I ducked into the alley…”

Since 2000, Piccolo Fiction has featured dozens of S.C. writers, with stories broadcast by S.C. Public Radio and published in the Charleston City Paper.

Featured authors:

Brittany Butler is a former CIA targeting officer who recruited spies and dismantled terrorist networks abroad. Brittany has worked to promote the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls and to resettle Afghan refugees. Her first novel is The Syndicate Spy, telling the story of how female intelligence officers use their intellect and skills to bring peace to this war-torn region.

Gervais Hagerty grew up in Charleston, graduated from Vanderbilt University and went on to report and produce news for local radio and TV. After earning her MBA at The Citadel, she taught communications to cadets. In 2020, she finally caved to a strong and bizarre urge to write books. HarperCollins published her first novel, In Polite Company in 2021.

Y-Danair Niehrah grew up writing fantasy and horror but shifted to historical fiction in high school, focusing on the stories of the Degar people—the indigenous tribes of Vietnam. He studied creative writing at the College of Charleston before pursuing an MFA at Queens University of Charlotte studying under writers like Fred Leebron, Naeem Murr, and Jonathan Dee.

Sara Peck is the author of three books of poetry. She grew up in Greenville, attended the College of Charleston, received her MFA from Columbia College Chicago, and teaches writing at the University School of the Lowcountry, where she was named SCISA High School Teacher of the Year for 2020-21. She was recently selected to develop a novel manuscript as part of the Tin House Winter Workshop in Portland.