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Friday, April 6, 2012

Books The Apocalypse, Sex, Sci-Fi, and Your Easter Weekend

Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 5:14 PM

1. Mr.Schmader already told you about the exciting-looking Poetry Apocalypse happening at Town Hall tonight, but there's another poetry event I wanted to tell you about: Andrew Feld reads at Open Books tonight. Feld's second poetry collection, Raptor, features poems about birds of prey. It's full of interesting poems and is totally worth your time. Go read a preview at University of Chicago's page for the book.

2. Norwescon is happening all weekend long in SeaTac. SakuraCon has been getting all the love lately, but Norwescon is the sci-fi convention that helped put Seattle on the nerd map. Every year, the biggest names in science fiction gather at the aseptic but aesthetically neutral DoubleTree hotel by SeaTac airport to attend panels, get their books signed, and dance the night away at any number of the sexy sci-fi themed afterparties. In addition to all the festivities, costumes, and paraphernalia, Norwescon is host to the annual Philip K. Dick Award, which is consistently the most interesting sci-fi-themed book award in the business. If you’ve ever loved a sci-fi book, movie, or TV show, chances are you’ll find something to love in SeaTac this weekend. I reviewed Norwescon right after I first started at this job. It was a fun convention experience.

3.Tomorrow night is time for sex-talk at Elliott Bay Book Company. SexisMagazine.com columnist Rachel Kramer Bussel reads with two popular Portland authors—Kevin Sampsell and Lidia Yuknavitch—who contributed to Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today's Sexual Culture. Those names should make you very excited, and not just in a sexy way.

4. And! The legendary poet Eileen Myles is reading at Hedreen Gallery on Easter. She's got a flip-book of poetry that just came out, and Catherine R. Smyka loved the hell out of it, calling Myles "a master of language," and noting that both books "celebrate imagination" in language that "uses just the meat of her ideas and discards the rest."

5. This weekend is packed with readings about baseball and being the lead singer of Soul Coughing, and being a developing literary writer. Find all that information here.

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Comments (6) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Paul,
It never ceases to amaze me how a woman's body (usually an adult female model partially naked or in silhouette) sells the "subject" of sex. Am I led to believe the cover of "The Best Sex Writing 2012" is geared towards adult women consumers? Or, is it because two female authors' names appear on the cover? Couldn't a male model be used or does that connote "gay"? Yes, I am aware that a tried and tested marketing technique is at play. But, doesn't it ever get old for the consumer?

What probably will happen is some guy will pick this up and discover no pictures are in it and sigh.

Posted by lark on April 6, 2012 at 6:08 PM

The girl in the Sakura Con ads looks like she's trying to hold in an enema. It makes me want to avoid the whole area.

Posted by dwightmoodyforgetsthings

on April 6, 2012 at 6:33 PM

Speaking of literature, I was thinking, doesn't this sound like a Dirty Harry plot:

A young teen is shot in cold blood
The killer is not charged
The police and newspapers side with killer who is set free
The victim is blamed and has his reputation castigated

My question is: who is the Black Clint Eastwood?

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on April 6, 2012 at 8:08 PM

Eileen is a masterful reader of poetry...as long as she's not perturbed by the environment (mic, sound). She had the entire Boulder theatre groaning with pleasure when she had published Chelsea Girls.

Posted by sheiler

on April 7, 2012 at 10:07 AM

Lark,

Gee whiz, I don't know; is the article "...geared towards adult women consumers"? Even with the picture that you seem to dislike so much, you read it, didn't you? lol

Posted by k80j on April 7, 2012 at 12:26 PM

@5,
I don't dislike the picture. My point is, why is it ALWAYS a woman's body selling sex? It got my attention all right but it didn't get my dollar. I'm a straight male and no, I wouldn't necessarily open it up to view pictures if any. I just find it a remarkable capitalistic tool that seems to work incessantly. A year or so ago, Granta's (a British Quarterly) cover subject was "sex" and it featured a photograph of a slightly opened purse that was unmistakably interpreted as an intimate part of female anatomy. My comment was strictly observation that's all.

Posted by lark on April 7, 2012 at 2:44 PM