March 21th Readings: Max Weiss, Rafael Alvarez, Baynard Woods, and Abby Higgs

A native of New York, Max Weiss attended Bennington College, where she double majored in music and literature. After graduation, she moved to Baltimore, where she worked as a staff writer, columnist, and film critic for the Baltimore City Paper. She also wrote the award-winning “Nice Girl” humor column for the Baltimore City Paper. In 1992, Max began a longstanding relationship with Baltimore’s talk radio station, AM 1090 WBAL. For six years, she co-hosted a weekly movie review show with host Allan Prell until he left the station. For 15 years, as “Media Max,” she did a bi-weekly pop culture and film segment with WBAL’s “Dave Durian and the Morning Team.” In 1994, Max Weiss was hired by Baltimore Magazine as a staff writer. She now serves as the magazine’s managing editor. From 1998-2006, Max was the co-host of the nationally-syndicated weekly radio show, “Max and Mike on the Movies.” Since 2006, she has also been the weekend film critic for WBAL TV. A member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Women’s Film Critics Circle, Max is also a frequent television guest, emcee, and lecturer in the Baltimore region. She blogs at maxthegirl.com, baltimoremagazine.net/Maxspace, and vulture.com. She is also a serious amateur cellist.

Rafael Alvarez was born in Baltimore in 1958 and educated in local Catholic schools, graduating in 1981 from Loyola University of Maryland with a degree in English. He landed in the sports department of the Baltimore Sun as a teenager and learned to write on the City Desk, where he worked as a neighborhood reporter and rewrite man for the next 20 years. A former staff writer for the HBO drama, The Wire, Alvarez is the author of nine books, all concerned with a single subject: the City of Baltimore. His most recent collection of fiction - Crabtown, USA - was published by PMMP in 2015. His website is alvarezfiction.com.

Baynard Woods writes about Baltimore for The Guardian and is editor at large for the City Paper. He is the author of Coffin Point: The Strange Cases of Ed McTeer, Witchdoctor Sheriff, which is being produced as a television series, and is working on a book about people who believe in the Greek gods. His erstwhile column Conflicts of Interest was awarded Best Column by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He writes libretti for Rhymes with Opera and sings in the rock 'n' roll band The Barnyard Sharks.

Abby Higgs is a graduate of the University of Baltimore's MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts program. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from The Guardian, Salon, The Rumpus, Freerange Nonfiction, Catapult, Bustle, VICE, and The Barely South Review. She is the Assistant Editor of Queen Mob's Teahouse - an international online literary journal based in London. More of her words can be found at slowclapabby.com.