Marie Mutsuki Mockett was born in California to a Japanese mother and an American father. A graduate of Columbia University, she lives in New York City with her husband. Picking Bones from Ash (Graywolf Press) is her first novel, of which the L.A. Times said, “Firmly anchored in a sensuous reality…puts the taste of breakfast in a small mountain village of Japan in the mouth of the reader."

Emma Straub is the author of Fly-Over State, a novella published by Flatmancrooked. Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply, called it, “a great inaugural to a literary career that is full of promise.” Her short stories have appeared in Juked, Barrelhouse, The Saint Ann's Review, Five Chapters, and many others. Emma was the 2008-2009 Halls Emerging Artist Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she also received her MFA. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

Largehearted Lit is a new monthly reading series inspired by the Book Notes feature of Largeheartedboy.com, a music blog featuring daily free and legal music downloads as well as news from the worlds of music, literature, and pop culture. In Book Notes, acclaimed authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. This series brings those Book Notes to life.'

READING ON DECEMBER 6: “I BELIEVE THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE”

Two young, bright, and shining debut authors from independent presses entertain North Brooklyn in the second event of Largehearted Lit.

Largeheartedboy.com, which has been in existence since 2002, is the brainchild of David Gutowski, a music-loving guy living deep in the American South.

Largehearted Lit is curated by Jami Attenberg, author of Instant Love, The Kept Man, and The Melting Season, which is forthcoming in January 2010. She lives in Williamsburg. Visit her online at jamiattenberg.com.