The act of writing should be one of solitary performance – and when the author ventures out into the world for a reading, the result should be a piece of theater.
Come join Words and Images, the University of Southern Maine’s literary journal, for a FREE evening of readings and music, to celebrate the 2008 issue of Words and Images – and, hell, just to celebrate writing in general.
This is writing stripped of all pretension. This is writing that, first and foremost, wants to engage its audience.
The readers include:
MELISSA CROWE, a poet new to Portland, whose work has appeared in Calyx, Seneca Review, The Atlanta Review, and Crab Orchard Review;
DAN DOMENCH, author of the audiobook “Hold Me Fast,” regular fiction contributor to “Portland Monthly,” and a writer with a long history of performance;
STEVE GIBBON, a USM student, who recently attended the Stonecoast Writers’ Conference and is the winner of the 2008 Words and Images Award for Excellence in Expression;
MARK MELNICOVE, a poet and artist known for his performance poetry around Maine – especially his collaborations with the late Bern Porter;
ZACHARY MOSHER, a recent graduate from USM who published his first poems in Words and Images.
The evening’s musical guests include:
AKUDAMA, an indie-rock band from Brooklyn that has had the rare distinction of opening for Arcade Fire (and is every bit as good);
COUGARS KILL COBRAS, a quickly-up-and-coming post-punk band from Portland, Maine, that sounds like all those awesome “alternative” bands you used to listen to in the eighties, instead of Duran Duran and A-Ha.
And, as mentioned above, this event is free and open to the public. What the hell else could you want?
Come and be a part of the performance of writing!
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This event is part of a week of public readings sponsored by Words and Images, to take place on or around the USM Portland campus. Keep an eye out for readings earlier in the week by Maine’s Poet Laureate BETSY SHOLL, McSweeney’s author JESSICA ANTHONY, executive director of the Telling Room and poet GIBSON FAY-LEBLANC, Iowa Short Fiction Prize-winner DIANNE BENEDICT, poet/fiction writer/teacher extraordinaire BRENDA EDMANDS, and plenty more!
At this event, we will be accepting donations, which will be split between Words and Images and another group TBA.
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Past contributors to Words and Images include: John Brandon, Kevin Brockmeier, Dan Domench, Megan Grumbling, Richard Hoffman, Michael Kimball, Richard Lethem, John Manderino, Wesley McNair, Mark Melnicove, Bruce Pratt, Bill Rasmovicz, Kenneth Rosen, Colin Sargent, Betsy Sholl, Laima Sruoginis, Martin Steingesser, and Shelton Waldrep.
In 2008, we had the pleasure of being able to interview Matt Berninger, from the rock band The National; bestselling author and National Book Award-finalist Jennifer Egan; 3-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Todd Field; and Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Russo.
Namedropping? Hell yeah!
Are you a facebook user? if so, you can RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=30352937742&ref=ts
Words and Images 