FRIDAY

John Jodzio: 'You Cannot Give Yourself a Nickname'

If Minneapolis has a literary rock star, it's John Jodzio. Known for his darkly funny, sardonic tone, his fiction has been featured in "This American Life," McSweeney's, One Story and Paper Darts, and he has a Loft-McKnight Fellowship under his belt. Last year his third short-story collection, "You Cannot Give Yourself a Nickname," won the Rusty Toque's Fiction Chapbook Contest, which included the opportunity to have it published. Jodzio celebrates the release of the chapbook — a series of quirky, candid and often absurd stories about deeply flawed, unlucky characters — with a reading event, which also features micro readings from 10 local writers including Courtney Algeo, Andy Sturdevant and Mary Mack. (7 p.m. Fri. Free. Honey, 205 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls. www.johnjodzio.net.) Jahna Peloquin