Jump to navigation Skip to content
"Now that I'm a grownup, I'm appalled to find out how much of my time is spent having unbelievably boring conversations," says satirical cartoonist Tim Kreider in this trailer for his new book of essays and cartoons, We Learn Nothing (Free Press), in which he turns his funny, brutally honest eye to the dark truths of the human condition.
Write about the moment that everything changed. For inspiration, check out Smith Magazine's The Moment (Harper Perennial, 2012), a collection of personal essays about the key experience—"a moment of opportunity, serendipity, calamity, or chaos"—in each of the author's lives, whose effect was revelatory, profound, and life-changing.
A new weekly journal of fiction from the folks who brought you Electric Literature, Recommended Reading will publish one story, chosen by a diffferent author or editor, every week. "In this age of distraction, we'll uncover writing that's worth slowing down and spending some time with," editors Benjamin Samuel and Halimah Marcus say about their latest project. "And in doing so, we'll help give great writers, literary magazines, and independent presses the recognition (and readership) they deserve."
Poet and writer Michelle Tea has been both a P&W–supported writer and presenter of literary events. Her many books include a poetry collection, novels, and memoirs. Tea's novel, Valencia, won the 2000 Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Fiction. Tea founded the literary nonprofit RADAR Productions and co-founded the spoken word tour Sister Spit. We asked her a few questions about her experience as a writer and reading series curator.
What are your reading dos?
Be relaxed! Audiences are as interested in YOU as they are in your piece. Ad-libbing through the work (if the work allows for it) is generally charming; some of my favorite readers will break off the page and address the audience in a spontaneous, natural way.
What are your reading don’ts?
Don't take it so seriously. You are not delivering a testimony to Congress. Don't speak in POETRY VOICE. You know what I mean. There are writers whose work I enjoy on the page, but I can't listen to them read it because that inflection makes me leave my body.
How do you prepare for a reading?
I don't, unless you count neurotically changing my mind about what I'm reading and wearing "preparation." I call it mental illness. Not everything works best aloud. I try to not feel the audience too much because it’s easy to mistake silence for boredom, and then I get nervous and start acting desperate. I try to read as if everything I'm delivering is AMAZING.
What’s the strangest interaction you’ve had with an audience member?
Sometimes a person thinks that just because you are comfortable reading something sexual in the very specific and controlled environment of a reading, it means you are down for discussing sex with random strangers. And I actually enjoy that no more than the average person, which is to say, not much.
What’s your crowd-pleaser, and why does it work?
They all seem to revolve around shock. In Rose of No Man's Land, it's when a character throws her dirty tampon at a boy who is harassing her. In Valencia, it’s an unusual sex scene. In Rent Girl, it’s a very funny fake orgasm contest between two prostitutes—which allows me to caw like a bird whilst performing, so I like it, too.
What makes the RADAR Reading Series unique?
My reading series has been running for almost nine years. I mix up my readers—unpublished, published, well-known, emerging, and I bring in graphic novelists, video artists, and photographers. It's free. There’s a Q&A segment, and I hand out homemade cookies to whoever asks questions. (There are always questions!)
It's queer like a queer bar—anyone can go in, but you know it’s a space that has prioritized queer people. As a queer person I spend tons of time in straight spaces where queers are welcome, but the spaces are straight, even though often they aren't designated as such because straight people aren't accustomed to thinking about space like queers are. RADAR uses that model—yes, of course everyone is welcome, but the space, the event, is queer.
What do you consider to be the value of literary programs for your community?
My immediate community is a queer community that still suffers from a lack of representation in all media, especially literary, even in San Francisco. The value of having a place you can go to see elements of your experience and community reflected back at you in a thoughtful, honest, artistic manner is HUGE. I was just passing through San Francisco when I came here in 1993, but the reason I stayed is that the work I do—writing, curating events, and promoting other writers—is so supported here. And it's supported in part by Poets & Writers, so thank you!
Photo: Michelle Tea. Credit: Food For Thought Books.
Major support for Readings/Workshops in California is provided by The James Irvine Foundation. Additional support comes from the Friends of Poets & Writers.
Do the books on your shelves whisper to you, too? Check out this dramatic trailer for The Page's Wing, a short film directed by Federico Campanale, with excellent photography by Ben Geraerts.
Choose a topic that interests you—it could be an animal, a scientific process, or a historical event, for example—and research it. Next, think of an unrelated experience from your life—a particularly memorable moment from childhood, perhaps, or when a loved one passed away—and write an essay on the two subjects. Alternate between short paragraphs of factual reportage on the topic and brief, more lyrical vignettes about the remembered experience, with the end goal of finding a way to relate the two.
The mission of WriterHouse is to promote the creation and appreciation of literature and to encourage the development of writers of all levels by providing an affordable, secure workspace and meeting space, high-quality writing instruction, and literary events for the public.
The Writers’ Room of Boston is a welcoming and supportive community, workspace and virtual presence for writers in all genres. Founded in 1988, the workspace houses 10 working carrels and an office meeting room. It is located in a secure and accessible building in the heart of downtown Boston that is available to members, 24x7 every day and augmented by a vital virtual presence. The Room sponsors fellowships which provide a year of free access to emerging writers, but as a matter of policy no committed writer is turned away for financial need.
This short film, starring comedian and author Mike Birbiglia and "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross, was part of last week's live "This American Life" show that was seen in movie theaters across the country. Birbiglia's 2010 book, Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories, was made into a movie that will be released by IFC Films this fall.
West Side Books is an independent bookstore located in the historic Highlands neighborhood of northwest Denver. Since 1998, the store has been carrying new, used, rare, and collectible books. West Side Books hosts concerts, readings, and other literary events open to the public for free.
