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| "Night Swimmers," by Laura Berger |
This weekend, I’ve been thinking about all of the amazing creative events I’ve attended in the past years (and some not-so-amazing ones, of course). I’ve been brainstorming types of literary events for my own planning purposes (for Paging Columbus, the literary series I run). Although these events usually take the form of a reading or artist talk (3-4 writers or artists share their work around a certain them), I’ve been craving some variety in terms of format.
I’ve been remembering some of the events that truly stuck with me as fun, innovative, and valuable—not all have been literary. For instance, I once attended a “Trampoline Hall Lecture”…this was ridiculously fun. Three speakers each gave a mini-lecture (and Q and A session) on a topic that they couldn’t be a expert in. One speaker (author Kevin Chong) spoke about a strange cultural practice wherein a woman marries a set of brothers, and another gave a talk (with illustrations!) on “Spotting the Perp in Nancy Drew books.” The questions and answers were so bizarre and interesting…it was such a playful, DIFFERENT type of creative event. I’ve always wanted to hold one of these!
So now, I’m asking you. What were some of the most fun and memorable creative events that you have attended, and why? I’d love to hear other perspectives on this! These might be readings, panels, competitions, workshops, artist discussions, concerts, art openings, or book/product launches…
Thanks for any thoughts you share!
[Image above by Laura Berger]
One of the most fun recent events I've attended is "quiz night" (curiously, there were no questions on literature or writing).
ReplyDeleteThat does sound fun! Nice to have something interactive like that.
DeleteI get involved in all kinds of bizarre shows here in Arizona. I'll give you a glimpse at two of the ones that stick out for me.
ReplyDeleteMost recently, I was involved in a carnival side-show style reading that took place at the annual Mutant Pinata exhibit:
http://batteredhive.blogspot.com/2014/03/literary-oddities-sideshow-reading-with.html
And from way back in the archives (so far back that I'm giving you the link to my LIVEJOURNAL post about it), I used to read and help organize some of my friend's Laundromat shows with musicians, writers, improv performers, etc.
They were a big hit and we were later asked to do similar events at a cool Hair Salon and an ice cream parlor up in a small town that was way too small for our rowdy art antics so it got shut down by the cops. But anyway here are some photos of Laundromat show #2:
http://shadowprison.livejournal.com/64475.html
Shawnte, that is so fun!!! A laundromat would be a wonderful place for a reading. The pics were great (and livejournal---time warp!). I know there's a series called Poetry in Improbably Places (I think in Mass.?) that had readings in a laundromat, at a bank, etc....that would be really fun. I love seeing how spaces can be used differently.
DeleteYou might think about
ReplyDeletehttp://greatmotherconference.org
Originally started by Robert Bly but now independent as he can no longer attend- a nine day feast of poetry, song dance, fairy tale and life with about 100 people art a Maine lake camp.