Featherless #12

It's the first Featherless of 2012, and we have three exciting readers for January.  Ebony Williams, Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal and Tim Cummings will present their work at Stories Books & Cafe at 8 pm on Friday, January 13th.

Ebony Williams is a native New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn. Her work usually falls on the side of creative non-fiction and isn’t afraid to straddle the line between poetry and prose. Her work tends to explore the experiences of women in the Diaspora as well as the female body as container for memory, for culture, for an ancestral home often impacted by trauma. Ebony attended Wheaton College in Norton, MA for undergrad majoring in Sociology with a minor in English literature with a focus on creative writing. She spent two-years running the Women and Gender Program at Wheaton College’s Marshall Center for Intercultural Learning after graduating. Currently, Ebony is in her final year of pursuing her Master’s of Fine Arts in Writing from the California Institute of the Arts. In addition, Ebony is working on a work of hybrid creative non-fiction, How To Build A Ragdoll, as well as a mixed media visual art instillation and workshop series titled, The Ragdoll Project. Ebony is also on the third book of a Science Fiction trilogy, Grey Society.

Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal is a pop culture rubbernecker and NYC traitor to LA. Her writing has been published in The Collagist, PANK, and Work Magazine, presented at the 2011 &Now Festival of Innovative Writing, and is forthcoming in the inaugural Artists Among Artists collection Faggot Dinosaur. She recently received a Lambda Literary Fellowship and is finishing an MFA in Writing at CalArts.

Tim Cummings was born and raised in New York, and holds a degree in theater and writing from New York University.  He is a passionate storyteller who works in a variety of mediums: writing, visuals, theater, film, music, and dance.  His most recent collection of short fiction, ORPHANS, was released this past summer to critical acclaim.  His most recent stage appearances were in The Walworth Farce at Theatre Banshee, and the ten-year anniversary performances of Anne Nelson’s 9/11 play The Guys at The Flea Theater in New York City.  Tim is an octopus and spider enthusiast and is, in general, a lover of all octolegged creatures. 

Delicious snacks and coffee will be available in the bookstore cafe, so stay and mingle. 

Photos from Featherless #11

Kristoffer Huelgas

Angela Peñaredondo

Diana Salier

Many thanks to the poets and participants for a great reading.  Our next event will be January 13, 2012.  Happy winterfest!

Featherless #11

It's Fall!  This November features Kristoffer Huelgas, Angela Peñaredondo and Diana Salier at Stories Books and Cafe.   On Friday, November 11th at 8pm, the back patio at 1716 Sunset Blvd will be loud with poetry.

Their bios:

Kristoffer Huelgas originally got interested in poetry to impress girls. By the time he realized the assumption was unfounded, it was too late. Drawing influences from art, literature, and contemporary pop culture, he endeavors to find the heart of the matter; the most important aspects of the most minute and miniscule. In 2009 Kristoffer received his BA in English with a focus on creative writing, studying under the tutelage of Kenyon poetry prize winner Leilani Hall and Pushcart Prize winner Dorothy Barresi. Kristoffer was born in, raised on, and fed Los Angeles, but has also been known to get lost in the Pacific Northwest for considerable stints. He is a regular reader at Canoga Park’s Cobalt Café where he has been featured.  He currently resides in Sun Valley, California, where he considers himself laureate.

Angela Peñaredondo is an emerging Los Angeles poet and visual artist. She was born in Iloilo City, Philippines and grew up in Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.  She received her BFA from San Francisco State University and also studied mixed media arts in the Queensland College of Art in Brisbane, Australia.  Angela has a professional background in art management, curatorial practice and youth advocacy.  She was awarded a UCLA Community Access Scholarship for poetry and a Fishtrap Fellowship.

Diana Salier is a musician and person who writes.  Her first chapbook WIKIPEDIA SAYS IT WILL PASS  was released on Deadly Chaps Press in September 2011.  She's a graduate of NYU's creative writing program, and her work has appeared in Every Day Genius, Nap Magazine, Red Lightbulbs, 3:AM Magazine, and Robot Melon, among other places.  She's currently working on a full-length collection called Letters From Robots.  She grew up in a house in Los Angeles and now lives in an apartment in San Francisco.  She writes a lot about outerspace but has never been there.

Photos from Featherless #10

Diana Arterian reads from "The Catskill Eagle"

Stephen van Dyck reads "He."

Lisa Teasley reads from Heat Signature

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the first Featherless event at our new location, Stories Books in Echo Park.  Our next event will be Friday, November 11th at 8pm. Hope to see you then!

Featherless #10: October Reviving

It's our first event in the new space, and we're excited to bring these three writers to Stories Books.  Diana Arterian, Stephen van Dyck and Lisa Teasley will be reading on Friday, October 14th, at 8 pm.  Come a little early to have some coffee or a nibble and check out the bookstore, which is full of delicious finds.

The bios:

Diana Arterian has found herself to be a poet who writes nonfiction narrative manuscripts. She is on the founding board of Gold Line Press (a publisher of fiction and poetry chapbooks), the curator of the annual Sumarr Reading Series, as well as the La Mision Writer's Retreat in Baja, Mexico.
Diana is currently a PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing as a Merit Fellow at the University of Southern California. She holds an MFA in poetry from the California Institute of the Arts, where she was a Beutner Fellow. Her poetry has appeared in River Styx and Iron Horse Literary Review. For more info visit http://dianaarterian.com.

Stephen van Dyck is a semi-recent MFA graduate of Integrated Media, Critical Studies and Experimental Sound Practices at CalArts. He curated the Sunset Boulevard, Washington Boulevard and San Fernando Road Concerts in 2011, 2009 and 2008, all-day arts events where over 200 artists and citizens re-imagined unused urban spaces along the entire lengths of one of LA's very long city streets with installations, performances, discussions and car pool happenings. He's currently amidst completion of his first book, "People I've Met from the Internet," a conceptual writing project, coming out/coming of age story and field study in the form of a very long annotated list.  He's been Home Depot's unrequited artist-in-residence since 2007. And he runs BELLYFLOP, a gallery space, concert hall, theater, opera house, laboratory and space of worship that appears as a full-water 10 ft. deep swimming pool.

Lisa Teasley is the author of the critically acclaimed novels HEAT SIGNATURE and DIVE, and the award-winning story collection, GLOW IN THE DARK, all published by Bloomsbury.  Lisa Teasley is writer and presenter of the BBC television documentary "High School Prom," and has taught in many writing programs, including UCLA, Antioch, Cal Arts and UC Riverside.  Her homepage is www.lisateasley.com.

With a new location, Featherless rides again!

After a long break, both for nuptuals and orphanhood, Featherless has found a new home.  We are super happy to begin holding events at Stories Books & Cafe, located at 1716 West Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026.   On this lively stretch of Sunset, winding through Echo Park, we hope to bring new readers and audience members for lively salons.

We will be announcing dates shortly.  If you are interested in reading at future events, please contact us at featherless.la@gmail.com.

Hiatus II

Featherless will be on a more extended hiatus through June, July, and August.  We are in search of a new venue, and focusing on personal projects.

Thanks for tuning in.

Hiatus

Featherless will be on hiatus for April and May of 2011, as Katie and I are getting married.

We would like to thank everyone who has participated in the readings, and especially Brenda Varda, the Wordspace director, and Richard Tuttobene.

Featherless #9

Featherless #9 will take place on March 20, at 7:30 pm, at Wordspace. Our exciting readers are Peter Mehlman, and Meghan Brown.

Their bios:

After graduating from the University of Maryland, Peter Mehlman was a
writer for the Washington Post. He slid to television in 1982, writing
for SportsBeat with Howard Cosell. From 1985-90, he returned to
forming full sentences as a writer for numerous national publications
including the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Esquire, Mademoiselle,
Elle, etc.

In 1989 he moved to Los Angeles where he bumped into Larry David, whom
he'd met twice in New York. David, developing “a little show with
Jerry Seinfeld,” invited Mehlman to submit a sample script. Having
never written one, Mehlman sent a humor piece he had written for the
Times Magazine and got an assignment, which became the first Seinfeld
freelance episode, “The Apartment.” Over the run of the show, Mehlman
rose to executive producer and coined such Seinfeld-isms as “Yada
Yada” “spongeworthy,” “shrinkage” and “double-dipping.”

In 1997, Mehlman joined DreamWorks and created “It’s like, you
know...” a scathing look at Los Angeles. In recent years, he has
written screenplays, a novel and humor pieces for NPR, Esquire, The
New York Times, Washington Post and LA Times while also appearing
on-camera for TNT Sports and the Webby nominated “Pete Mehlman’s
Narrow World of Sports."

Meghan Brown is a writer, director, and producer based out of Los
Angeles. Meghan attended UC Irvine where she graduated with a BA in
Drama and Honors in Theater Directing.

Meghan is the Resident Playwright for Giraffe Hunt Theater, and serves
on their board of directors. She works as a staff writer, producer,
and director for BrevityTV.com, and is a frequent culture contributor
to the Atlantic Monthly website.

Her full-length plays Perfect Teeth for Crocodile Land and This is
Happening Now have had successful runs in Los Angeles. Other produced
plays include Jack’s Last Night in Town (WTC, Portland), Ophelia (WIT
Lab), The Giraffe Hunt (CST), The Blindness and the Fireworks (CST),
Patrick and Olivia (CST), Little Secrets (Found Spaces Theater), and
Psyche (reading, East West Players). She’s currently writing the book
and lyrics for the upcoming musical Scoop, and mentally preparing for
her upcoming move to Switzerland in fall 2011.

Writing is Meghan's favorite thing in the world. She also enjoys
fortune-telling machines, magic tricks, short stories with unreliable
narrators, giraffes, and getting emotionally invested in movie
trailers. Fore more info, check out her website at
www.meghanbrown.net.

Reception to follow.

Pictures from Featherless #8

Harold Abramowitz took pictures for Featherless #8, catch the flickr set here

I took a few as well, here are our readers:

Tisa Bryant

 

 

Amanda Ackerman

Jessica Piazza

 

Featherless #8

Featherless #8 will be held on February 20th at 7:30 pm at Wordspace.  Jessica Piazza, Amanda Ackerman, and Tisa Bryant will perform.

The readers:

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Jessica Piazza received a
creative writing master’s from UT Austin, where she co-founded Bat
City Review.  She now lives in Los Angeles, pursuing a PhD in
Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern
California, co-editing the Gold Line Press chapbook series and
co-directing The Loudest Voice reading series.  She is a contributing
editor at The Offending Adam and her poems have appeared or are
forthcoming in Mid-American Review, National Poetry Review, Rattle,
Agni, 32 Poems, Indiana Review, Forklift Ohio, Barrelhouse and 42
Opus, among other places.

Amanda Ackerman lives in Los Angeles where she writes and teaches.
She is co-editor of the press eohippus labs.  She is also a member of
UNFO (The Unauthorized Narrative Freedom Organization) and writes as
part of SAM OR SAMANTHA YAMS.  Her publications include three
chapbooks: Sin is to Celebration (co-author, House Press), the
recently-released The Seasons Cemented (Hex Presse), and the
forthcoming I Fell in Love with a Monster Truck (Insert Press Parrot
#8).  Her work can also be found in several journals including the
current edition of Little Red Leaves and The Encyclopedia Project:
Volume F-K.

Tisa Bryant’s books include Unexplained Presence (Leon Works, 2007), a
collection of hybrid essays on black presences in film, literature and
visual art; the cross-referenced journal of narrative possibility, The
Encyclopedia Project, War Diaries, an anthology on black gay men’s
desire and survival, published in 2010 by AIDS Project Los Angeles,
co-edited with Ernest Hardy.  Her work has appeared or is forthcoming
in the journals 1913, Mandorla, Animal Shelter, and has been featured
in the solo exhibits of visual artists Laylah Ali, Jaime Cortez,
Wura-Natasha Ogunji, and filmmaker/installation artist Cauleen Smith.
She teaches fiction, hybrid forms and ethnic innovative literature at
the California Institute of the Arts.

Reception to follow.

Pictures from Featherless #7

m.g. martin

Mathew Timmons

Thaisa Frank

Shameka Cunningham

Featherless #7

Featherless #7 will take place on January 16th, at 7:30 pm, at
Wordspace. We have three very exciting readers this time, from the
bestselling author Thaisa Frank, experimental poet/critic/critical
poet Mathew Timmons, and the mysterious spoken word artist m.g.
martin. Come see.three very different voices collide, collude, and
inspire....and then stay for handmade nibbles.

The readers:

Thaisa Frank is the author of two acclaimed short story anthologies
SLEEPING IN VELVET and A BRIEF HISTORY OF CAMOUFLAGE. She also
co-authored the nonfiction work FINDING YOUR WRITER'S VOICE, which is
taught in MFA programs. Her new novel HEIDEGGER’S GLASSES centers
around a secret Compound of Scribes, tasked by Third Reich officials
to answer letters sent to the dead in the concentration camps.
Exploring the fluid boundaries between recorded history and the life
of the imagination, the novel reconstructs the landscape of Nazi
Germany from an entirely original vantage point. A two-time Pen Award
Winner and Pushcart nominee, Ms. Frank has taught writing at San
Francisco State, UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, and leads workshops
and writing retreats nationwide.

Mathew Timmons' works include The New Poetics (Les Figues Press),
Sound Noise (Little Red Leaves), The Archanoids (a cd of solo and
collaborative sound poetries), CREDIT (Blanc Press) and Lip
ServiceWhere is it Written? from Imipolex Press, and After Darío from
Molo Press. His visual and performance work has been shown at (323)
Projects, LACE, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, CCA, Outpost for
Contemporary Art, ArtSpeak Vancouver, LACMA, UCLA Hammer Museum, and as part of ArtLA. Mathew works as the General Director of General
Projects, editor of Insert Press, Los Angeles editor of Joyland,
Co-Host of LA-Lit 2005-2009, and has curated events, readings and
ephemeral art shows for Beyond Baroque, Betalevel, workspace, and
REDCAT. His writing may be found in various journals including
P-Queue, Flim Forum, The Physical Poets, Out of Nothing, Mammut, Area
Sneaks, Try, Or, Emohippus, Luvina, Aufgabe and The Encyclopedia
Project. His critical writing may be found in Artweek, Artillery,
ArtSlant, The Magazine, The Poetry Project Newsletter and X-TRA.
(Slack Buddha). Forthcoming projects include two chapbooks:

m.g. martin is the author of One For None (Ink.) available through
Small Press Distribution: http://bit.ly/c1oesE. His poems have
appeared or are forthcoming in ZYZZYVA, Shampoo, Evergreen Review
& Short, Fast and Deadly. m.g. co-produced/hosted Literary Death
Match SF & is moving to NYC where he will co-host LDM NY. Spam
musubi is m.g.'s favorite food as it takes him back to his native
Hawaii. Follow his tweets at: @themgmartin & check out his blog at
mgmartin.tumblr.com. The problem is: none of this is true, m.g.
doesn't even exist.