Sideshow: The Queer Literary Carnival
Hosted by Cheryl B. & Sinclair Sexsmith
Tuesday, September 14th @ The Phoenix
447 East 13th Street @ Avenue A
Doors, 7:30pm. Reading, 8pm
Free! (We’ll pass the hat for the readers)
This month’s theme is BACK TO SCHOOL: SECOND
ADOLESCENCE, starring:
Melissa Febos (Whip Smart)
Theadora Fisher
Loren Krywanczyk
Tanya Paperny (LitDrift)
Rachel Simon (Theory of Orange)
… Find out more about the readers!
RSVP on Facebook
Butch Voices Speak: A Queer Memoir/Sideshow Reading Series Mashup
7pm Saturday, September 25th
Bluestockings Bookstore, Lower East Side, New York City
Hosted by Kelli Dunham, Sinclair Sexsmith, Cheryl B., and Genne Murphy
www.queerliterarycarnival.com | www.queermemoir.com
www.butchvoices.com
Call for performers: Butch Voices Speak: A Queer Memoir/Sideshow Reading Series Mashup
Butch Voices New York City regional conference is happening on Sunday, September 25th, and Queer Memoir and Sideshow: The Queer Literary Carnival have teamed up to bring you an evening of stories, performance, and readings from queer butch voices.
Are you interested in participating? Butch Voices Speak is currently in search of people willing to stand up and tell your quick 6 minute story. You need not have performance or writing expertise, just an interest in telling your story.
QUEER MEMOIR IS an opportunity to give voice to our collective queer experiences, and preserve and document our complex queer history for writers, performers, and anyone with a queer story to tell.
SIDESHOW IS serious literature for ridiculous times, hosting established writers, performers, comics, and storytellers who have literary experience.
Q: Should I submit to Queer Memoir or Sideshow?
A: Is this a personal story written by you about something happened to you? Submit to Queer Memoir. Is it more literary, or are you a seasoned performer or writer? Send it to Sideshow.
To be considered, email queermemoir@gmail.com or sideshowreadingseries@gmail.com before September 1, 2010, with your name, website, brief bio, and a brief 1-3 sentence proposal of what you’d like to read.
I knew it was going to be great. I mean, how could it not be? Queer kinky erotica, in my new favorite bar, read by some writers that I so admire and respect? Hell yes.
And the night was even better than I expected.
The famous Rachel Kramer Bussel had been contacted by a French documentarian who was filming about sex and gender in five different cities around the world, and wanted to film her performance, so they shot the entire Sideshow night. So after getting the cameras as settled as possible, we kicked it off.
I was up first (“I” being Sinclair), and I read a piece from my Sugarbutch Star chapbook titled Her Mouth on My Cock (which really needs a better title). Since I was the one taking photographs, I didn’t get a picture of me. (Did anybody else? Will you send it to me?)
Next up was Kit Yan, and he wowed the audience with his energy and kink and cuteness and hotness. He read a new piece, and two skillfully performed poems that had everyone on the edge of their seats toes.
I didn’t get a shot of Kit, either, but he had a whole bunch of fans in the audience, so there must’ve been somebody who took a shot of him reading. Anybody? Will you send me one please? Sideshowreadingseries@gmail.com. Thanks to Kian, Tamiko’s girlfriend, who snapped this great photo of Kit!
Next up! Was Tamiko Beyer. I’ve run into Tamiko at various queer readings over the years, and I love her poetry. She is very much a poet poet and I thoroughly admire her work. She opened with a lovely piece by Adrienne Rich—which she often does, start her set off with an homage to another poet—and read some beautiful pieces with lovely erotic words and images. I personally really loved her femme piece (but of course I would).
I haven’t heard Tamiko read in quite a while, and it was such a treat. I love what she brought to the evening.
Next up after the break was Sideshow co-host & co-producer Cheryl B. Since it’s been about seventeen years since her first open mic performance, and since she likes to celebrate weird anniversaries, she dug out some of her earliest slam poems and shared them with us.
I remember the female ejaculation poem. And of course the guido haikus, which were clearly ahead of their time. I think she could make a whole guido haiku collection. That would totally sell.
Thanks to Bluestockings Bookstore (thanks Andrea! Thanks Malav!), we had two of Rachel Kramer Bussel‘s recent erotica anthologies on hand, Orgasmic and Fast Girls. Rachel read a great piece about the identity of “whore” from Fast Girls.
Last but certainly not least was MilDred who you might also know as the drag performer Dred. She read from the anthology Cast Out: Queer Lives in Theater about what it’s like to be a drag performer, and how the idea first came to her.
It was a fantastic night. Thanks to everyone who came out, thanks to the Phoenix for hosting our little series, and thanks of course to the readers!
Sideshow is proud to partner with PARADIGM SHIFT to promote BODY TYPED short film series on August 18.
PARADIGM SHIFT: NYC’S FEMINIST COMMUNITY Proudly Presents
BODY TYPED short films on perfection
Screening & Discussion with Jesse Epstein, Sundance award-winning Filmmaker part of The Tank’s “Liberal Arts Summer School” series
BODY TYPED is a series of short films about body image, media, and cultural identity that will be combined to make a feature documentary. The films use humor to raise serious concerns about the marketplace of commercial illusion and unrealizable standards of physical perfection.
VIEW THE TRAILER http://bit.ly/c50Xgq
WET DREAMS AND FALSE IMAGES
When Dee-Dee the barber learns about the art of photo-retouching, he may never look at his “wall of beauty” the same way again. Short Subject Jury Award, 2004 Sundance Film Festival
THE GUARANTEE
A dancer’s hilarious story about his prominent nose and the effect if has on his career. Best Short Film, 2007 Newport International Film Festival
34×25×36
A look at mannequins, religion, and perfection. SXSW, Full Frame, True/False, National PBS Broadcast on POV
When: WED, August 18th
Time: 6:30 pm
Where: Just outside the Feminist District
The Tank- 354 West 45th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues).
Subway: A,C,E to 42nd Street/Times Square.
Cost: $12 students/ pre-paid, $15 at door
BUY DISCOUNT TICKETS NOW/ Limited Seating:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/117245
FACEBOOK INVITE: http://bit.ly/cofvXX
This project is being executive produced by:
Judith Helfand, Wendy Ettinger, Julie Parker Benello
Produced in association with Chicken & Egg Pictures and The Fledgling Fund
JESSE EPSTEIN:
http://www.JesseDocs.com
http://www.newday.com/films/Body_Typed.html
Jesse grew up in Boston, Mass. She received an MA in documentary film from NYU. Jesse was recently selected for “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine. She distributes films through New Day Films, and edits the Shooting People daily bulletin.
PARTNERS INCLUDE:
The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership
Soapbox Inc.
PARTNERS WELCOME:
Join as a supporting organization
Subject Line: 8/18 Partner
Email: JWeis@paradigmshiftnyc.com
ABOUT PARADIGM SHIFT: NYC’S FEMINIST COMMUNITY:
http://www.ParadigmShiftNYC.com
Use the “F” word.
Change NYC. Change the World.
Paradigm Shift, the critically acclaimed and largest feminist event
series/community group in the New York City metropolitan area, hosts monthly lectures and discussion groups to spotlight leaders in feminist thought, ranging from artists and academics to filmmakers and policy activists. TimeOut New York rated Paradigm Shift’s events “Critics’ Pick” seven times, an
unprecedented honor among progressive organizations.
http://www.meetup.com/feminism-paradigmshiftnyc-com/
FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paradigm-Shift-NYC/34826091106?ref=nf
TWITTER
http://twitter.com/Pshiftnyc
NEXT on SIDESHOW, the Queer Literary Carnival: EROTICA!
Featuring Tamiko Beyer, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Mildred Dred Gerestant, and Kit Yan!
As usual, it will be hosted at The Phoenix, 447 East 13th Street @ Avenue A in the East Village, New York City. Doors are at 7:30pm. Reading, 8pm. Free! And we’ll pass the hat for donations for the readers.
Want to read more about the fabulous performers?
Left to right: Charlie Vásquez, Vittoria repetto, Kate McCabe, Sassafras Lowery, Sinclair Sexsmith, Cheryl B., Thaddeus Rutkowski. Photo taken by Kristen.
July 13th’s Freak Flag performance was fantastic! Here’s some recap in photos; video still to come.
Co-host and co-producer Cheryl B.
Sassafras Lowery
Vittoria repetto
Charlie Vásquez
Kate McCabe
Thaddeus Rutkowski
The astronomically talented Kate McCabe will join us next Tuesday, July 13 for our Freak Flag-themed reading!
Kate McCabe has been from all of the following places at one point or another: Erie, PA,–New York, NY—Los Angeles, CA—Baltimore, MD–Rochester, NY–Oban, Scotland–and most recently Manchester, England. A graduate from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she studied at the Stella Adler Studio and suffered the indignity and emotional pain of being constantly belittled and berated by crotchety old acting teachers–mostly to legitimize a career in comedy. Turns out that being ashed on by Virginia Slims and wearing Capezio character heels is good for the soul. She has subsequently performed long-form improv with The Hester Prynns, written sketch for The Ralph Show and Free Range, and performed stand-up in The States and The UK. She loves comic books, travelling, snacking, karate-chopping things, and napping. Proudest moments include offering Gina Gershon a smoked-mozzarella pizza whilst working as a cater-waiter and the one time Kate Clinton gave her a hug.
Sinclair designed our fabulous new postcard. Photo by the amazing Syd London.
Sideshow: The Queer Literary Carnival
Hosted by Cheryl B. & Sinclair Sexsmith
July 13 @ Phoenix
447 East 13th Street @ Avenue A
Doors, 7:30pm. Reading, 8pm.
Free
This month’s theme is FREAK FLAG, starring:
Sassafras Lowrey (Kicked Out)
Vittoria repetto (Not Just a Personal Ad)
Thad Rutkowski (Tetched)
Charlie Vazquez (Contraband)
Sassafras Lowrey is an international award winning author, artist and storyteller. Ze is a genderqueer identified high femme with a complicated gender history. Sassafras is the editor of the ‘Kicked Out’ anthology which brought together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth, and hir stories have been published in numerous anthologies including: Visible: a Femmethology, Gendered Hearts, Gender Outlaws: The Next Generations. Ze teaches storytelling workshops at colleges, conferences, and community centers across the country. You can learn more about Sassafras online at www.PoMoFreakshow.com
Vittoria repetto has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies such as Mudfish, Voices in Italian Americana, Rattle, Lips, The Paterson Literary Review, Italian Americana, Unsettling American: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, Identity Lessons: Learning American Style, The Milk of Almonds: Italian American Women Writers on Food & Culture among others.; In 1995, she published a chapbook entitled Head For the Van Wyck (Monkey Cat Press) and in 2006, Guernica Editions published her first full length poetry book, Not Just A Personal Ad; one of her reviewers noted” “Poems of intense sensibility and gorgeous imagery are a rarity these days; but this book of verse by a distinctly working class, distinctly lesbian, and distinctly Italian American voice is a must for all readers of good poetry.” Vittoria repetto is the vice president of the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) and the editor of the monthly newsletter. She has been hosting the Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam at Bluestockings Bookstore since its opening in 1999.
Thaddeus Rutkowski is the author of two innovative novels and has read his work widely–recently in Hong Kong, Paris and Budapest. He is a one-time winner of the Nuyorican Friday slam, the Poetry vs. Comedy slam, and the Syracuse slam. He teaches fiction writing at the Writer’s Voice of the West Side YMCA and world literature at City University.
Charlie Vázquez is a radical writer of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent. His fiction and essays have been published in anthologies such as Queer and Catholic (Taylor & Francis, 2007) and Best Gay Love Stories: NYC (Alyson, 2006). His writing has also appeared in print and online publications such as The Advocate, Chelsea Clinton News, New York Press, and Ganymede Journal. Charlie hosts a queer monthly reading series called PANIC! at Nowhere in the East Village, which focuses on original fiction and poetry. He’s a former contributor to the Village Voice’s Naked City blog and a retired experimental musician and photographer. His second novel Contraband was published by Rebel Satori Press in April 2010, and his third, Corazón, is wrapping up for future publication.
Photos by the amazing Syd London up on Time Out NY!
