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!