New online magazine The Rumpus officially launched in January, but they’re just now getting around to celebrating in Los Angeles. The event will be at the Steve Allen Theater this coming Saturday, and will feature readings by:

Janet Fitch (White Oleander and Paint it Black)
Aimee Bender (The Girl In The Flammable Skirt)
Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight and Painkillers)
Zak Smith (Pictures showing what happens on each page of
Thomas Pynchon‘s novel Gravity’s Rainbow)

Tickets are $10. More info here.

Yesterday the LA Times ran the first chapter in a serial fiction project. It’s a story written in short installments, each by a different author. The tale is called “Money Walks” and it will be published in the Calendar section six times a week, with the conclusion coming April 24. Contributing writers include Mary McNamara, Seth Greenland, Marisa Silver, Aimee Bender, Denise Hamilton and Jerry Stahl. It’s an interesting mash-up of literary voices, and we look forward to following the resulting work.

The first chapter, by Mary McNamara, can be read here

The second chapter, by Seth Greenland, can be read here