Big Tent: Stories and Poems in Three Acts

• Big Tent: Stories and Poems in Three Acts
The Raven Book Store (8 East 7th Street in Lawrence, KS)
Thursday, January 27, 7-8:30pm

From the Organizers:
2011 is in high gear, careening toward another great year of Big Tent readings. January Big Tent readers: Daniel Rolf (prose), Ken Irby (poetry), Natalie McAllister (fiction).

Daniel Rolf was born and knows how he will die. For much of his childhood he believed he would be a spray-plane pilot. He is not a pilot of any type. He knows he will die in a plane crash. To make a living and pay for his life insurance policy he curates an architecture collection near a window with an expansive view of the sky. He writes and draws with the tiniest tipped pens possible, mostly outside. His work can be found in Everyday Genius, Fence, Two Letters and elsewhere. A short film he made with artist Jeff Calvert was selected for the 2010 Optic Nerve Film Festival at the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art. Daniel Rolf does not want to die in a plane crash, or ever, but he can already smell the fire.

Natalie McAllister completed her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Kansas in 2010. A fiction writer at heart, McAllister has recently had her writing appear in both KC Magazine and KC Business. McAllister is currently in the process of completing her first novel, which follows a family at odds with itself after a father tries to make a profit by exploiting the family’s dubious history. McAllister seeks the details that make reading a visual activity, and believes that in writing, location can be a strong as character. When she is not writing, McAllister serves as the new Creative Director for Echo Ink Review, a literary journal in the Kansas City area.

Kenneth Irby’s early career, starting in the 1960s, paralleled the late Beat era and the counterculture, and his blend of innovative wordplay with personal and political themes made him an important voice of that era. At the same time, he was able to forge his own path, conjuring a style that was both universal and distinctly American. Critics and other poets especially have noted his avant-garde use of sound, silence, and unusual sentence structure to seduce readers. His surprising, incantatory style conjures the feel of jazz in a striking blend of heart and mind. Irby is an associate professor at KU, where he teaches poetry.

The Kiosk Benefit Show

• The Kiosk Benefit Show
Eighth Street Taproom (801 New Hampshire in Lawrence, KS)
Thursday, November 18, 10pm-2am

From the Organizers:
Come get down, boogie, and help support your favorite literary magazine! John Wayne Inc. and The Heat Index will provide the funk for your budunkadunk. $4 cover. http://kukiosk.wordpress.com/

Naked Leftovers: William S. Burroughs’ Art Objects

Because he spent the last 16 years of his life living and working in Lawrence, KS we Lawrencians have a special place in our hearts for William S. Burroughs. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Burroughs’ classic Naked Lunch and the 12th year since he passed away, so to honor the world renowned writer, artist, junkie and gun enthusiast the Lawrence community has organized two special events.

On Saturday, August 1st from 6 to 9pm DotDotDot Artspace (1910 Haskell) will host a one-night only show of previously unseen stencils, stamps, and paint-covered curiosities used by William S. Burroughs in the making of his artworks curated by artist Yuri Zupancic.

On Sunday, August 2nd from 6 to 9pm the Bourgeois Pig (6 E 9th) will hold an exhibit of selected Burroughs artwork, and a celebration featuring:

• Remarks from Burroughs’ former editor James Grauerholz
• Readings from Naked Lunch by former cohorts Jim McCrary and Wayne Propst
• Screenings of Propst’s home videos of WSB in Lawrence and “Towers Open Fire,” by Antony Balch and WSB (1963)
• Accordion serenade by Sue Ashline, and some of the Old Man’s favorite songs on the iPod
• The Dream Machine
• Plus Burroughs’ favorite food and drinks will be served all night

Not in Lawrence? Click here to find about other Naked Lunch @ 50 celebrations going on around the world.

posted by: Brent Carter