We’re wrapping up the 5th-anniversary celebration of my short-story collection, Cigar City: Tales From A 1980s Creative Ghetto, with a free words and music event on the patio of Tombolo Books in St. Pete. (2153 1st Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712)
Join us Tuesday, Nov. 19, from 6:30 to 8:30. Eugenie Bondurant, star of The Conjuring and the Hunger Games, will read a full story from the book. On story breaks, enjoy music by Paul’s band, Front Porch Picnic, featuring Atlanta Rhythm Section veteran, Robin Sibucao, plus Sher Sibucao. Music stars Nate Najar, Daniela Soledade, and Jeremy Carter will also perform.
Cigar City, the first book published by St. Petersburg Press, won the fiction gold medal in the 2019 Florida Book Awards. The book’s marketing was cut short by the pandemic in 2020.
“We learned about the award early in 2020 and quickly put together a much-improved “Gold Medal” edition that was released in March of 2020. I was working on a state-wide marketing push when the world shut down,” Wilborn said.
The anniversary has been celebrated with talks and music events on both sides of Tampa Bay.
Cigar City is a collection of linked short stories about the young artists, writers, poets, musicians and actors who inhabited Tampa’s Ybor City in the 1980s. Drawn by urban authenticity and cheap rents, they created a surreal, chaotic, arts scene set against the backdrop of the empty cigar factories and shotgun shacks of Tampa’s immigrant past. The Ybor scene drew international artists like James Rosenquist and mirrored what was happening in New York’s East Village.
And please support Tombolo Books, St. Pete’s great local bookstore, by buying Cigar City and my novel, Florida Hustle, directly from them. If you can’t visit the store, they are happy to ship the books to you.
Here are the links for purchasing your books through Tombolo:
Cigar City: https://wilbornwrites.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2ab9101b153db0bf3dea0edc7&id=3f46bd6c2b&e=a143f34d3b
Florida Hustle: https://tombolobooks.com/browse/filter/t/Florida%20Hustle/k/keyword
Tombolo event details:
Tuesday, Nov. 19, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tombolo Books patio, 2153 1st. Ave. S. Saint Petersburg. Songs and a story, featuring Eugenie Bondurant reading a complete story from the book and live music by Wilborn and his band, Front Porch Picnic, plus special guests, at each story break.
Always remember: Paul doesn’t want to buy your house for cash!!
