Listening Hour
by nmtoomey
This is exciting!! Projections from my thesis project paired with a warped and tweaked live recording of a reading I did last tuesday with Maggie Philipsborn at the Alexiteric Tea Clinic in Oakland!! Maggie was playing the hang and halo, I was reading. I love the idea of this being another way to access the poems in Listening Hour (a book length project of poems I am working on). To me, this combination of moving image/color/and sound are where the poems live/come from/shape shift into.
Cat Bones in the Flower Beds 
Dear Nora,
I’m helping Anne Sconberg and Mark Henderson put together an evening of literary performance for the Saturday, September 20 gala opening of their Art Party here in San Jose. We would be so excited if you would come read!
The Art Party started in Anne and Mark’s house, grew out to the garden and garage, then to a warehouse, and now this year’s Art Party is at the San Jose Fairgrounds. The event celebrates the work of hundreds of artists of all stripes—visual art, fire, dance, fashion, music, film, performance and spoken word—from traditional to experimental, academic to street. Your affinity for blending “moving image/color/and sound” would be a great fit for the Art Party’s inaugural Spoken Word Lounge.
Date: Saturday, September 20
Venue: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 433 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111 http://artpartysj.com/about-the-art-party/location/
I’m hoping to build in some synergy by inviting people who might enjoy having an opportunity to work together. Some other invitees who might be kindred spirits include Owen Hill, Peter Bullen, Moneta Goldsmith, Kate Folk, Ron Carlson and Amy Gerstler. (Juan Felipe Herrera was a go, until he realized he had tickets to go visit his sister in New Mexico that week.) Let’s hope at least some say yes, so I don’t look like a total charlatan.
The Spoken Word Lounge will be presenting 40-minute sets of writers, interspersed with 20 minutes of acoustic music, from 7 p.m. till midnight, with an open mic to follow. We’re initially asking for just 10 minutes per reader. If that seems a bit meager for someone traveling several hundred miles, because one set is being curated by the women who run Flash Fiction Forum, I’m hoping we’ll be able to take advantage of the elasticity of time here and there.
I’d love to offer cash honorariums, but this is the first year they’ve added literary programming, and so we will have to build on this year’s success to see what might be possible in the future. Having it at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds is a first, too, and was crowdfunded through Kickstarter.
But to recognize the value of everyone’s contribution, we are offering all performers $60 of in-kind payment: a free ticket to the party (includes re-entry to view art from September 21–24, including the closing event with FashionART Santa Cruz on Thursday evening 6pm to 10pm.), a free drink ticket for any of the bars, a free food ticket for any of the food trucks, and a parking pass, if needed. Of course, you would be welcome and encouraged to wander around and enjoy everything the party has to offer before and after your appearance: http://artpartysj.com/
The Spoken Word Lounge will also have a place where you can sell your books and CDs, etc. [Unless the proceeds from your sales would go to a nonprofit, you would need a free temporary seller’s permit, since we have been informed that our event is on the State Board of Equalization’s radar. See http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub73.pdf for more info and location of the local office nearest you (http://www.boe.ca.gov/info/phone.htm ). Temp permits are also available online https://efile.boe.ca.gov/ereg/index.boe .]
There will be a stage manager running the sound and lights, so if you would have any particular cues or tech requirements, let me know.
Once we know who’s coming, we’ll program the schedule, and provide all the salient details, passes, etc. If, for any reason, you have particular scheduling needs, just let me know and we will work it out accordingly.
It would be wonderful to have you join the festivities. The Art Party is always a great time, and I know you would help make this year especially memorable. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Ann
Ann Elliott Sherman
Inkslinger
writing/editing/research
346 N. 12th St.
San José, CA 95112
408.839.3019
annie@ashermaninkslinger.com