Monthly Archive for September, 2006

Van Gogh?s Ear presents an evening of PoetrySaturday, September 23rd, 6:00 PM
 
This is a poetry reading by four contributors to Van Gogh\’s Ear, an international literary journal based in Paris (www.frenchcx.com/press) and released annually. The four poets reading will be: Marc Smith, Robin Metz, Larry Sawyer and Lina Vitkausas.
 
MARC SMITH (www.slampapi.com), single handedly reignited performance poetry as a popular art form by bringing to the poetry community a new style of presentation that has given birth to a literary movement known as Poetry Slam. Evolving as a poet, Smith found a home in 1987 at the Green Mill Tavern for his own unique style of performance poetry, and Poetry Slam was born. Since then performance poetry has spread throughout the country to more than 150 American cities and each year teams compete in the National Poetry Slam.
 
ROBIN METZ has published poetry and fiction in The Paris Review, International Poetry Review, Visions International, Epoch, Other Voices, Rosebud, Abiko Quarterly, New Welsh Review, The Wolf and numerous other US and international journals. His book Unbidden Angel was awarded the Rainer Maria Rilke International Poetry Prize and selected as one of one of twenty-five recommended books for the Clinton White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Health.
 
LARRY SAWYER has escaped from the display case. His bathtub overflows with gardenias and his poetry and critical reviews have been published in Jacket, Exquisite Corpse, Shampoo, The Prague Literary Review, NY Arts, Skanky Possum, Big Bridge, Tabacaria, and elsewhere. In his spare time he is the editor of the online literary magazine, milk (www.milkmag.org).
 
LINA RAMONA VITKAUSKAS is a Lithuanian-American poet and short fiction writer with an M.A. in Creative Writing from Wright State University. She is the co-editor of the online literary magazine, milk (www.milkmag.org), with editor, poet, and critic Larry Sawyer. Vitkauskas? work has appeared in numerous publications, including: The Prague Literary Review; The Chicago Review; Yalla; Bridges; and In Posse Review Multi-Ethnic Anthology. Her most recent chapbook is Shooting Dead Films with Poets. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

AYUN HALLIDAY event for Dirty Sugar CookiesWednesday, September 20th, 7:00 PMFREE
 
AYUN HALLIDAY is the author of THE BIG RUMPUS: A MOTHER?S TALE FROM THE TRENCHES, NO TOUCH MONKEY! AND OTHER TRAVEL LESSONS LEARNED TOO LATE, JOB HOPPER: THE CHECKERED CAREER OF A DOWN-MARKET DILETTANTE, DIRTY SUGAR COOKIES: CULINARY OBSERVATIONS, QUESTIONABLE TASTE and the creator and sole staff member of the award-winning quarterly zine THE EAST VILLAGE INKY. Halliday is BUST magazine?s Mother Superior columnist and has contributed to NPR. Her work has also appeared in PENTHOUSE, BITCH, UTNE, and HipMama and more anthologies than you can shake a stick at without dangling a participle. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the playwright Greg Kotis and their well-documented children.
 
About Dirty Sugar Cookies:
 
How does a picky eater morph into a low-budget epicure whose digestive indiscretions are a matter of public record? Just how far can a pregnant woman stray from the Best Odds Diet until a food-borne bacterial infection lands her in the hospital? Can a serial monogamist really keep track of every post-coital breakfast she’s ever enjoyed?
 
An omnivorous, rollicking chronicle of culinary awakening, Dirty Sugar Cookies is an oil-splattered, accidentally-dropped-on-the-floor, self-mocking love letter to everything Ayun Halliday has ever eaten ? and a few of the things she wishes she hadn’t.
 
This is a Reading/Signing for new book, Dirty Sugar Cookies
 
For more info: www.ayunhalliday.com
 

Saturday, September 16th, 7:00 PM FREE
 
Perpetual Motion Roadshow #36…featuring: troubled troubadour TROY CURTIS from San Jose, zinestress extraordinaire CHINA MARTENS from Baltimore, faithful urban scribe ERIC LAB RAT from Chicago, and local opener brainiac girl genius KATE SANDLER from Chicago!
 
Troy Curtis has settled in San Jose, California after years as a rambling poet and musician. Born in the small blue-collar town of Rockville, Connecticut, Troy’s desire to perform stems from his parents’ sacrifice of their artistic dreams. With a voice that perilously floats, Troy’s titanic lyrics sink into one’s heart like stolen treasure. Recorded in an abandoned church, Troy’s first album Songs for Girls Who Don’t Deserve Them is presented live and unedited. The album was created to replace mixed tapes and CDs as the preeminent way to express loss at the unfortunate endings to romantic relationships. www.myspace.com/troycurtis
 
China Martens is the editor of The Future Generation: A Zine for Subculture Parents, Kids, Friends & Others, and is expecting her first book out this winter ? an anthology of the last 16 years of The Future Generation — with Atomic Book Company. She also writes a column for Slug and Lettuce and puts out numerous other one-shot zines and chapbooks like Dustbunny, SuperMarket SuperModel, and the Baltimore City Paper “Best Zine” award-winning I was… a Student Nurse!
 
Eric Lab Rat traverses his native Chicago on a blue Schwinn tricycle, meeting interesting people and collecting curios from dumpsters. He splits time between stints as a DJ, math tutor, and landscaper. On Tuesdays, he hosts a soul show on WLUW; on Fridays he throws down on the legendary freeform station WZRD. His set may include letters written to concepts, God, and government; poems about ghosts; and songs about celebrity vaginas. His work can be found under a variety of aliases in Gapers Block, the Banana King, and The 2nd Hand. A couple of times a month, he unloads on reverendlabrat.blogspot.com.