Cool Dog Sound, Violet Valley Bookstore, and This is Noteworthy present author Sherry Cothren for a celebration of her debut book, Gadfly: A Lifetime of Writing.

Cothren will be signing books at Violet Valley at 5pm, followed by a unique reading/performance (accompanied by Bruce Golden and Tim Lee) at This is Noteworthy at 7pm.

Both events are free to the public. Books will be available for purchase at both venues.

Sherry Cothren’s is a rare voice, hard wrought and raw and yet refined. A powerful and savvy and learned voice that holds its tongue until it unloads in private. She has a steady rock pulse of assurance in her proclamations and can musically wind out into rhyme or tempo or phonetic wizardry without any pretense or apparent forethought. Much of Gadfly is masterful. I’m so glad she decided to share it, and that Cool Dog Sound is publishing it. Some of these ‘writings’ should be in modern anthologies.
— RB Morris, singer-songwriter, poet, actor, playwright, author of Who Is This Man?, The Mockingbird Poems, Littoral Zone, The Man Who Lives Here is Looney, and others.

Cothren’s pen reveals a volatility and unease with surprising powers of insight. You may mistake her for meek and self effacing, when in fact she’s wearing a coat of many colors and wielding a loaded AR-15."
— Amelia White, singer-songwriter, poet, author of Home on the Strange

What a treat this is! With nods toward Philip Larkin and Eileen Myles and even the poetic prose of Cookie Mueller, Sherry’s riffing here is both playful and passionate and, at the same time, dark and anxious, too. There’s a thrilling, edgy sensuousness at the core of these pieces … and, frankly, it’s pretty intoxicating. After all these years hearing her bring bold lyrics and deep bottom to a whole bunch of great rock and roll, it’s a profound pleasure to be granted entrée into Sherry’s beautiful, private poetic world. Dig in!
— Pat Cochran, writer and musician