Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 11:55:55 -0700 From: Eros Publishing Subject: Press Release April is National Poetry Month! Celebrate it! Greetings al! I hate Mass emails, BUT I feel like I should get this info out...lots of readings, a new book, and even the adoption of a nickname... I unleashed my newest book - called blood for wings. Clocking in at 40 pages, this latest printed project gets released in Seattle this week (cause I sold or passed out all my copies in SF). Blood For Wings will be an ongoing project that examines how we come to identify as a culture of addiction, self-medication, and healthiness. Essentially, this first piece, called Part One (original, huh?) is initializing the discussion with a focus on illness and socialization of illness. Check it out! Will be available in Seattle, Portland, San Fran, and more before long... It will also be listed under the name Torque, which is a name I am slowly adopting. I have carried it for years, but I am starting to integrate it. Consider it a newness for me...the word itself means many things...inclu ding the power of revolution. The root word Torquere also is the same root for the word queer. I have had the nickname since I was spinning vinyl in the Midwest...so, I am now beginning to carry it through! April is a busy month - here's what has already happened! I started out the month reading at the Richard Hugo House's Stein-a-Thon, a celebration of all things Gertrude Stein, whom I learned to hate after researching her and her work. I was the only male asked to do Lesbian erotica, which is cool, but erotica for me is hardly erotica...so, I put together a multi-media piece using one of Stein's books, two critical essays, an interview with Stein, and a recorded poem of Stein's all tying together Stein(a known Lesbian) and PIcasso (a known womanizer). Later that day (April 3), I flew to San Francisco....the next day, I did three readings in a row, which is like BINGO only no thousand dollar prize. First thing in the afternoon, I read at the A Different Light Conference which is a major queer reading for the West Coast. I was listed as the reader next to Pat Califia(which was enough for me), tho she didn't show. I was sad. BUT saw some great writers! Met some great people! Second, I featured along with Manny Xavier (winner of the Nuyorican slam in 1997) at the SF Slam. Great crowd and Ellik is doing a good job pulling it all together, tho it is a lot of work. Crowd was very responsive and fun! Finally, I ended the evening with a reading at the Paradise Lounge under the production of Manic D Imprint goddess Jenn...she was great and I got to see tons of friends and poets while I was there (including staying with my ex-bf Michael! Yeah!). Was a great time and..... OK - performance dates....if you want directions or details - mail me for them with the specific event you want to go to....this note is already long :) Tuesday, April 14 - This Tuesday!!!! - Hear Blood For Wings first unleashed in total at Beyond the Closet books. 7pm. Capitol Hill. Saturday, April 18 - WordSplosion! - Performance and Workshop. Afternoon performance kicks off a teen slam. Evening (7pm) workshop on performance and learning skills to make your reading have impact! in Redmond. Saturday, April 25 - Everett Book Fest IV - Performance and chairing a roundtable. The student panel on arts in Snohomish County is first around 11AM. A reading happens later in the day at 1pm in the library. Up in Everett. Sunday, April 26 - The Doors Project - This event is primarily for teens but all are welcome. Workshops on oppressive language are mixed with the creation of art as we discuss and dismantle the way we abuse others with language. Everett. Tuesday, April 28 - (can't remember the name of the reading but I hear it is great!) - Heading to Tacoma! Yes! Tacoma! to do a reading at a monthly series down there. I hear great things about it. I can get you directions, but for the life of me, I am clueless as to the name :( ALSO - Remember! Juice open mike on Wednesday nights in Everett....great young talent fills this cafe every week! Also, [noise] on Thursdays up on Queen Anne Hill! Great experience...! Be there! AND (does this note ever end?) ... FourWord Reading Series and Marta Sanchez presents Firestorm in the Second Degree on Saturday, April 18! A collection of the area's most incredible women gather to raise money for Home Alive, Seattle's non-profit self-defense program! Takes place at the Richard Hugo House on Saturday, April 18th, at 8pm. BE THERE! Thanks for listening... For more info, check out my site at http://www.guiware.com/pp_torque/slam.htm http://www.wolfenet.com/~aubrey/cage/aubrey.htm