A self-employed writer and sketchbook artist, Max Earl Blair is the founder and head of Tomcat Press, an independently run publishing organization under whose auspices have come works by area poets Joey Cloudy, Jamaal Cloudy, and Josh Lewis. Max's own chapbook of prose writings, Above the Pain: Tales from Near the Lip of the American Abyss, was released by Tomcat Press in 2002. Since he began performing his work in 2001, Max has dazzled the local literary community with his own unique brand of political and social satire.

Born in 1969 and hailing originally from South Carolina, Max prides himself on his extensive knowledge of literative and on his love of Anglo history. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from Hendrix College (Conway, AR) in 1995, and appeared in stage productions of The Grendelmas, Nothing Sacred, MacBeth, and Our Country's Good, as well as writing an award-winning play of his own. In more recent years, Max has concentrated his efforts on short stories and monologues. He was a founder and regular reader at the now-defunct Dead Air readings at Deep Ellum's Insomnia coffee house before it was taken over by new management. He was also one of the longest supporters of the readings at Bill's Records & Tapes, and appeared there from the readings' inception in the summer of 2002 until their end in January 2006.

Max is currently at work on a draft of his second fantasy novel, a collection of short stories, and a screenplay. He can usually be seen at the Absinthe Bar the first Wednesday of every month, participating in the Mad Swirl readings hosted by Johnny O.

". . .a fabulist, a forger of fables, or a storyteller, or maybe a bard."

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