ALSO, the much-anticipated Drunken Boat 13 launched last weekend, with two of my poems in its Poetics folio. I wrote both of them “on the land” at the Lambda Literary Writers’ Retreat in August*, and am thrilled that they found such a good home. But my poems are not the only reason to check out this issue– the whole Poetics folio is fantastic, and the Slant/Sex folio is a super exciting and important collection of poems by women and transfolks. Two of my fellow Lambda fellas have work in there: “circulation” by Jaime Shearn Coan and “on what I didn’t hear you say” by Meg Day. I also really appreciated Marty McConnell’s “The Chariot in Love”, about loving someone who is transitioning. Major props to Tamiko Beyer and the other folks at DB for producing such a gorgeous and relevant issue.

*The LLF retreat is now taking applications; deadline is April 15. I can’t recommend it enough!

Onward!

When you're dealing with kombucha, you want very clean hands and very clean everything.

More photos after the jump –>

Here it goes! I'm pouring in a mixture of brewed black tea and sugar, which has cooled to room temp.

The two jars will total a gallon of kombucha when it's ready.

Then I add a SCOBY to each jar, which stands for: symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. Mmmmm.

The SCOBYs float at the top in all their elegance, and make the fermentation magic happen.

Cheesecloth lets it all breathe.

The smaller jar is from my previous batch, which I'm currently double-fermenting to make it more fizzy and carbonated. I also added some ginger for flavor and because ginger is awesome. You can see how the color changes once it's fermented.

Then the jars go deep into the cabinet, because sunlight can kill the process.

All photos by Selena.

3 Dollar Bill reading: Went amazingly; could not have gone better. We packed the house at HRC, filling up all 160 seats and then some, between sitting and standing room. And with reader after reader, there was so much talent I thought the room was going to burst.

3 Dollar Bill (AWP Queer Reading) at HRC. Photo by Dan Vera.

A partial group shot of 3 Dollar Bill readers: Joseph Shapiro, Julie Enszer, Tony Valenzuela, Cynn Chadwick, Joe Ross, Ely Shipley, Christa Orth, Eloise Klein Healy, Tamiko Beyer, Eric Nguyen, Danielle Evennou, Dan Vera, Ilse Bendorf, Gina Evers, Valerie Wetlaufer, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Natalie E. Illum. Photo by Selena Simmons-Duffin.

The afterparty, hosted by BLOOM, was also a real treat.

Christa Orth, Valerie Wetlaufer, and me at the BLOOM afterparty. Photo by Chandler Klang Smith.

I also spent some time sitting at the Lambda Literary Foundation table in the bookfair.

Antonio Gonzalez and Tony Valenzuela, of Lambda Literary Foundation, at the bookfair.

The panels I attended raised more questions than conclusive answers (which was useful, certainly). Below is an attempt to make sense of my notes. For detailed descriptions of the panels, including a list of panelists for each one, you’ll have to consult the AWP schedule.

At the Building LGBT Literary Traditions panel, Reginald Harris shared a story of a gay man who, after a reading, was told that the poem he read was “uncalled for.” Reginald goes onto say that the work of queer writers and artists will always be “uncalled for.” (I regrettably had to leave this panel early to set up for 3 Dollar Bill.)

At the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell The Workshop panel, with Kristin Naca and others, was a thoughtful discussion about the tensions between content and humans in a workshop setting; for example, can a poem be queered without queering the poet? How to avoid essentializing/assimilating a queer text in the workshop context; how to avoid the pitfall of relying too heavily on formal analysis of a work, but how to bring fraught emotions back to the text in a productive way? Associative powers of the vocabularies with which we play. Whose stories are we allowed to tell? What are the implications of a straight student writing from the perspective of a not-straight character? What are the personal responsibilities of artistic production?

At the Bodies Politic panel, how a body part can link distinct memories, how it can be just as much subject as character. Brian Teare talked about developing a poetics that is committed to embodied consciousness, to non-normative somatic forms. Who do we give power to in order to shape our self-perception medically, erotically, etc.? Ann Pancake: how do we write to re-empower bodies that have traditionally been represented as being broken, being toxic, being ill or otherwise weak and undesirable?

At the Teaching Queer Writing: Workshops to Watch Out For panel, why a student saying a piece of writing is “relatable” is not good enough– because “relatable” is a stand-in for “normal” and we all know whose normal that usually refers to (and whose it doesn’t). When designing a syllabus, how to navigate the waters between becoming mired in the politics of representation, while attempting to fuck up/disrupt the politics of representation at the same time. Questions for a teacher: What are we based in?/What are we accountable to?/What do we love? Eileen Myles: Before there were writing workshops, writers learned by reading. Teaching queer writing is teaching consciousness, is teaching the desirability of wasting time. What you’re doing is seducing the mutants and making an army out of them; if we are many, then you can’t remove us easily from any one text. The linguistic connections between gender and genre, and how to interrupt/transform both. The question regarding queer work of, “Don’t you think this is excessive?” (which, I notice, is not dissimilar to Reginald’s “uncalled for”).

Sara Jaffe, Morgan Lynn, Eileen Myles, Tisa Bryant, and Andrea Lawlor at the Teaching Queer Writing: Workshops to Watch Out For panel.

Until next year, AWP.

January 14, 2011

Contact: Julie Enszer
julierenszer@gmail.com
(301) 864-9482

Queer Writers to Converge at “3 Dollar Bill” AWP Reading in Washington, DC
Public reading on February 3 will feature 30 LGBT writers of poetry and prose

WASHINGTON, DC— Some of the LGBT community’s most talented and dynamic writers converge in the Nation’s Capitol for a night of rapid-fire readings.  “3 Dollar Bill,” the Queer Reading at the 2011 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, gathers nearly thirty LGBT writers of poetry and prose who will each read two minutes of their work. The event will take place Thursday, February 3, from 7:30-10:30 pm at the Human Rights Campaign Equality Forum (1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW, in Washington, DC).

“3 Dollar Bill” is sponsored by Arktoi Books, BLOOM Literary Journal, Human Rights Campaign, Knockout Literary Magazine, The Lambda Literary Foundation, A Midsummer Night’s Press, The Publishing Triangle, Sibling Rivalry Press/Assarcus Journal, Sinister Wisdom Literary Journal, White Crane Institute, and The Writer’s Center.

“The lineup of readers is simply remarkable,” says Tony Valenzuela, Executive Director of Lambda Literary.  “From literary rock stars to the budding genius of our community’s emerging voices, queer night at AWP is going to astonish people.  You better not miss it.”

The full list of readers includes: Francisco Aragón, Ilse Bendorf, Tamiko Beyer, Regie Cabico, Cynn Chadwick, Julie Enszer, Danielle Evennou, Gina Evers, Reginald Harris, Natalie E. Illum, Charles Jensen, Saeed Jones, Eloise Klein Healy, Rickey Laurentiis, Paul Lisicky, Michael Montlack, Eileen Myles, Kristin Naca, Achy Obejas, Christa Orth, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Radclyffe, Douglas Ray, Jason Schneiderman, Joseph Shapiro, Ely Shipley, Justin Torres, Dan Vera, & Valerie Wetlaufer.

Admission to the reading is free and open to the public. Book sales will take place during intermission and after the event. This is an off-site event being held in conjunction with the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, held annually in a different U.S. city.

Learn about the sponsors, after the jump.

About Arktoi Books:

Arktoi Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press, was established in 2006 by Eloise Klein Healy to publish literary works of high quality by lesbian writers. The mission of Arktoi Books is to give lesbian writers more access to “the conversation” that having a book in print affords.

About BLOOM Literary Journal:

BLOOM was founded to support the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered writers and artists and to foster the appreciation of queer literature and creation.

About Human Rights Campaign:

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

About Knockout Literary Magazine:

Knockout was founded in 2007 by Jeremy Halinen and Brett Ortler. It is a biannual literary magazine that publishes a nearly 50/50 mix of LGBT and straight writers.

About Lambda Literary Foundation:

The Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) nurtures, celebrates, and preserves LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of emerging writers.  Find LLF at www.lambdaliterary.org.

A Midsummer Night’s Press:

Founded by Lawrence Schimel, the press began publishing books in 1997, with its Body Language imprint devoted to LGBT writers. They have published single-author collections from a diverse mix of queer writers such as Achy Obejas, Raymond Luczak, and Julie R. Enszer, as well as anthologies of queer writing such as the forthcoming Flamboyant: A Celebration of Jewish Gay Poetry and Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry.

About The Publishing Triangle:

The purpose of The Publishing Triangle is to further the publication of books and other materials written by lesbian and gay authors or with lesbian and gay themes. Founded in 1988, The Publishing Triangle works to create support and a sense of community for lesbian and gay people in the publishing industry. We offer forums, as well as networking and social opportunities, for our members. In addition we sponsor programs to increase awareness of and appreciation for lesbian and gay literature.

About Sibling Rivalry Press/Assarcus Journal

The mission of Sibling Rivalry Press is to develop, promote, and market underground artistic talent – those who don’t quite fit into the mainstream. In addition to books and chapbooks, they publish the quarterly magazine Assaracus, which features a substantial collection of work by ten gay poets in each issue. They are hosting an LGBT Poetry Showcase at the Rainbow Book Fair in New York City in March 2011.

About Sinister Wisdom Literary Journal

Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural lesbian literary & art journal by and for lesbians. Founded in 1976, the magazine is the oldest surviving lesbian literary journal, now more than 30 years in print. Sinister Wisdom is published quarterly in Berkeley, California and provides free subscriptions to incarcerated and institutionalized women as well as reduced-price subscriptions for lesbians with limited/fixed incomes.

About White Crane Institute:

White Crane Institute promotes the development of healthy Gay men and healthy Gay community. White Crane Institute’s goal is to foster the gathering and dissemination of information about the critical role sexuality and gender variation has played and continues to play in the development of cultural, spiritual and religious traditions and to provide a nurturing environment for the continuation and expansion of those explorations for the greater good of all society.

About The Writer’s Center

For over 30 years, The Writer’s Center has been a home for writers from all over the Washington metropolitan area.  Our tradition of success is rooted in our vision, values, and mission. The Writer’s Center cultivates the creation, publication, presentation, and dissemination of literary work. We are an independent literary organization with a global reach, rooted in a dynamic community of writers. As one of the premier centers of our kind in the country, we believe the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and ages.  Writing is interdisciplinary and unique among the arts for its ability to touch on all aspects of the human experience.  It enriches our lives and opens doors to knowledge and understanding.

You can read the poem here: Self-Portrait with Washington, DC.

The poem was published in print in the Summer 2010 issue of 5×5.

And I spotted a tufted titmouse at her parents’ house:

In my five days in Cleveland, I ate amazing food including a seven-cheese sampler at L’Albatros, shouldered most of a beer flight at Great Lakes Brewery that included ten 5oz beers, saw Selena’s parents sing in a performance of Handel’s Messiah (my first), went to the Cleveland Museum of Art, watched Up and The Music Man (more firsts), patronized used bookstore Mac’s Backs, finished American Pastoral, bought my mom Italian cookies at Corbo’s in Little Italy, and probably did even more that I now can’t recall.

I’m back in Chicago now for the Big Holiday, and we’re due for snow tonight. I’ll be spending this eve by the fire, watching A Christmas Story and probably working my way through the levels of Angry Birds.

Happy Holidays,

Ilse

Now, I’m not typically a jam person, but this spread is wildly delicious, with a unique but versatile flavor. Here are my favorite three ways of using it (so far):

• On crackers or crostini, atop a shmear of chevre.
• Between two slices of bread, paired with a tasty peanut butter.
• In Emeril’s recipe for fig-spread thumprint cookies, from the company’s website.

It also comes in a fig-orange variety, which is what the above cookie recipe uses. I’ve been so smitten with the plain version that I haven’t tried it yet, but rest assured, I soon will.