Queer Spoken Word Links

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Spoken Word Performers

More links to come. Don't be sad. However, I'm not sure that I'm up to maintaining links to every queer writer in the world, and maybe I should just be listing venues and queer-friendly readings. What say you? My email: larrybob@gmail.com

Yolo Akili is a queer poet/activist based in Atlanta and New York. Also check out this video of Yolo performing.

Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders writes about science fiction for io9.com and hosts the Writers With Drinks events.

Athens Boys Choir -- spoken word from Katz, released on Demon Records.

Samantha Barrow is a poet / spoken word performer based in Philadelphia.

Urban Folk Poet/Singer/Songwriter Blair from Detroit, MI passed away in July 2011.

Stacie Boschma says things. She's played for audiences from Savannah, Georgia, to Vancouver, British Columbia, and absolutely loves being on the road. Her work is an honest cross section of her personality: funny, tender, edgy, and thoroughly queer.

Lynn Breedlove is the author of the books One Freak Show and Godspeed and was lead singer of the band Tribe 8.

London Bridgez is a queer spoken word poet. Twitter YouTube Facebook

Rachel Kramer Bussel is a writer based in New York whose works include several books of lesbian erotica. Her website also contains links to New York readings.

Regie Cabico is q Filipino American spoken word poet based in Washington DC.

Clint Catalyst lives in Los Angeles and is the author of Cottonmouth Kisses and co-editor with Michelle Tea of Pills, Thrills, Chills, and Heartache.

Justin Chin is a poet and prose writer who is based in San Francisco.

Staceyann Chin has performed as part of Def Comedy Jam as well as many other places.

Sherilyn Connelly is a San Francisco-based writer and spoken word performer and co-host of Bad Movie Night at The Dark Room.

Kimberly Dark travels far and wide performing stories that scandalize some audiences and affirm the very existence of others. Using frequent themes of gender, sexuality, poverty, privilege, parenting and education, her work blends humor, poetry, story-telling, education and social research to stimulate both social analysis and action.

Will Davis is a spoken word performer based in Ohio who has a CD called "Diary of a Mad Domestic Partner."

Darrah de jour is a Los Angeles-based writer, poet, and novelist. a monthly editorial column in LGBT dot Newsmagazine.

solidad decosta is a spoken word artist/performer/MC/author based in the Bay Area. Also at myspace.com/solidaddecosta and twitter.com/solidadrocks

kathleen delaney is a High Femme who performs Queer Hard-Core Porn Spoken Word, full-time slave, definite DIVA, whose provocative performances ignite, shock, challenge, and eroticize Butch/Femme, Queer, and BDSM dynamics! kathleen has been performing her special brand of Queer Southern Kink & Porn for several years in the Atlanta area, as well as touring both coasts.

Sarah Dopp is a multifaceted writer who currently co-hosts the queer open mic in San Francisco.

Kristyn Dunnion is a writer based in Toronto whose books include "Mosh Pit." She's toured with the Perpetual Motion Roadshow. Here's an article on the book.

Jason Edwards is based in Austin, TX, and has been involved in the poetry slam scene.

Cindy Emch is a writer and musician based in San Francisco who founded the Queer Open Mic.

Finnegan the Poet is a bisexual queer American expatriate poet, writer and performance artist of Afro-Caribbean, Irish and Cuban descent. Originally from New York City he is on tour and is presently touring across the United States, after four years abroad in Europe . He also has a blog

Sista Flame is a spoken word artist seeking to be added to a spoken word tour and poetry slam. Please visit http://www.sistaflame.bravehost.com and click on Digital downloads 2 listen to poetry. You can also visit http://www.purevolume.com then type in Sista Flame for artists, and her music should come up for you to listen too. You can also go to http://www.musicdistributors.com click on spoken word and you will see Sista Flame's spoken word music and cd's

Ragan Fox is a spoken word performer now in Phoenix, Arizona. Ragan is the author of the books "Exile in Gayville" and "Heterophobia."

Dino Foxx, born and raised in San Antonio, lives his life as an actor, singer, dancer, writer, spoken word poet and activist.

Daphne Gottlieb is a San Francisco-based performance poet and is the author of the books Final Girl, Why Things Burn, and Pelt.

Tara Hardy is a femme dyke working class poet who lives, writes, and teaches in Seattle. She is the founder of Bent Writing Institute.

Trebor Healey is a writer based in Los Angeles who is going to be doing an extensive tour for his new book "Through It Came Bright Colors" in the Fall of 2003.

Thea Hillman is a San Francisco-based writer who is the author of Depending On The Light.

Andy Horwitz a cultural innovater based in NYC. He is the founder and executive editor of Culturebot.org He is co-curator of Prelude, an annual festival of innovative theater and performance at the Martin E. Segal Theater Center of the Graduate Center at CUNY.

Corey E. Houlihan is a spoken word performer based in Savannah, Georgia.

Suzy La Follette is a performance poet who has toured witht the Siren's Iris Poetry Tour.

Lex is spoken word artist from Santa Cruz, California.

Journey Light is a stud spoken word artist of color formerly from Georgia now based in Los Angeles.

Luna Maia is a queer mestiza poet who lives in San Francisco.

Letta Neely is a spoken word artist who has authored two books of poetry, "Juba" and "Here." Twice a Lambda Literary Awards finalist for lesbian poetry, Letta frequents poetry readings around New England and is a regular slam poetry winner.

Cheryl Neill is a spoken word and music artist from Montreal, Canada.

Alix Olson was a member of the 1998 Nuyorican National Championship Slam Team, and tours extensively.

Evalyn Parry is a spoken word performer from Canada.

The Poetry Man is a poet and performer based in Washington D.C.

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha produces queer of color spoken word shows through her company, brownstargirl productions. She produced Browngirlworld queer and trans of color spoken word series in Toronto 2003-2007. She and Maria Cristina Rangel launched Mangos With Chili tour of queer and transgender people of color writers, dancers and performance artists in April 2007. Also check myspace.com/leahlakshmi

Baruch Porras-Hernandez is a performance poet, actor and event organizer based in San Francisco. He currently co-hosts the San Francisco Queer Open Mic. email: baruchporras@gmail.com

Kirk Read is a writer who lives in San Francisco, where he currently co-hosts the monthly spoken word series Smack Dab. Check his tour dates page for details.

Roo is an artist based in the North Carolia Research Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). He has self-published a book titled Boy Parts and co-produced a demo CD called "Warble and Rant." Both are available at http://www.lulu.com/roo.

Elizabeth Ruth is a novelist who curated the reading series Clit Lit in Toronto for five years. The series is no longer happening, but there is an anthology of writing from it called Bent On Writing.

Ernesto Sarezale is a poet based in London, England.

Pandora Scooter struggles with boxes of all kinds... she's a rhythmic ranter, a rhymescape philosopher, and a humanmamadyke.

Julia Serano lives in Oakland, California, and is a writer, spoken word performer, and musician.

Pedro Angel Serrano is a spoken word performer and radio producer.

Blog of San Francisco-based poet horehound stillpoint at Invert(e): flagrantly queer culture.

NEW URL: Lindsay Stone lives in Alabama and is a veteran of regional and national poetry slams.

Michelle Tea lives in San Francisco and is the author of The Chelsea Whistle, Valencia, and that one with the long title. Michelle Tea is the founder and Artistic Director of The RADAR Productions, which produces the monthly RADAR Reading Series and other events.

Elliot Torres is the author of the poetry collection "Five Years of Solitary" and "Undaunted: A Poetic Journey." He lives in NYC.

LoveAndWords.com is the website of Albuquerque, New Mexico-based spoken word artist Cassandra Tribe.

Charlie Vázquez is a radical Bronx-bred, Brooklyn-based writer of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent. He hosts a monthly reading series called PANIC! (in the east village.) His website is FireKing Press.

Buddy Wakefield has done a 2-year spoken word tour and was 2002 Long Beach Grand Slam Champion. Also on MySpace.

Tim'm West is a member of Deep Dickollective. He's now based in Washington, DC.

Marvin K. White is the author of two Lambda Literary Award nominated collections of poetry, Nothin' Ugly Fly and Last Rights.

Elizabeth Whitney and her queer/femme/feminist solo work.

WonderDave is a writer and performer from Minneapolis currently based in San Francisco.

NEW URL: Emanuel Xavier is the author of the books Americano, Christ-Like, and Pier Queen and is based in New York. He is the founder of the House of Xavier. He is the editor of the anthology "Bullets & Butterflies: queer spoken word poetry" published by Suspect Thoughts Press in 2005.

Kit Yan is a gender queer slam poet from Hawaii, now based on the East coast. Kit also performs with songwriter Melissa Li as Good Asian Drivers.

Venues, etc.

Listed vaguely west to east.

SpokenWordArt.com has a spoken word blog, artist profiles, and videos.

Queerwords.tribe.net is a networking and discussion area on queer publications, spoken word events, etc.

Writer Lars Eighner has a list of gay bookstores and reading events at them.

Tours

Mangos With Chili features a rotating cast of Bay Area based and national QTPOC performers.

Sister Spit has done several nationwide spoken word tours. Current info can be found via Radar Productions. See also Spring 2013 schedule and Sister Spit 2013 Performers.
Sister Spit Facebook page

For the old-school archive Sister Spit page see http://www.sisterspit.com

Tranny Roadshow has done tours from 2005 to 2011.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

For my current SF events list, go to Queer Things To Do In San Francisco.

Berkeley Slam - poetry slam in Berkeley.

Center for Sex and Culture hosts various events including readings, workshops, and writing groups.

Fruity Wednesdays for queer youth 24 and under at Larkin Street Youth Drop-In Center has a queer youth open mic the first Wednesday of each month starting in January 2011.

Joe's Garage, which has moved to 715 Bryant near 5th, hosts various performance events.

K'vetsh:
Was first Sunday of each month, ended July 2011. Queer Spoken word event. Two features each month, plus open mic. Hosted by Tara Jepsen and Kirk Read.

Perverts Put Out
A long-running smut-salon which happens about every other month, at The Center for Sex and Culture and CounterPulse

Poetry Flash is a newspaper and website which lists readings.

Queer Open Mic has a new location. It now happens on the 4th Friday of each month (but check their website as the date sometimes varies.) signup at 7:00 pm, reading at 7:30 pm at Modern Times Books, new location: 2919 24th Street in San Francisco.

RADAR Productions -- sponsors monthly reading series at the SF Public Library hosted by Michelle Tea. Library listings. Plus organizes Radar Lab writing retreat. Website also has current Sister Spit information.

San Francisco In Exile (SFinX): Showcases San Francisco's queer performing arts world. Has monthly performances, formerly at Jon Sims Center in San Francisco, most recently at Joe's Garage. (Not an open mic.) Events are recorded for the web archive.

Smack Dab -- Open mike with features in the Castro hosted by Kirk Read and Larry-bob. It's monthly on the 3rd Wednesdays at 8 pm (7:30 pm signup) at Magnet, 4122 18th Street between Castro and Collingwood. For current features info, see listings on Queer Things To Do In San Francisco.

Article from SFGate on the SF Queer Spoken Word scene (note that some events listed are no longer happening.)

SF Bam -- general San Francisco area poetry announcement email list.

SF Station Bay Area Spoken Word Listings

Writers With Drinks has multi-genre readings in San Francisco and is a benefit for Other Magazine.

San Jose, CA

Fierce Words Tender, women's open mic, the second Saturday of every month, from 6:30 - 8:00 PM, at Sisterspirit Bookstore, 938 The Alameda, San Jose. (no longer happening.) http://www.angelfire.com/de/fierceness/

FIYAH! Queer Open Mic for San Jose. (no longer happening, but check out other events at MACLA)

Los Angeles area, CA

Hollywood Queer Open Mic and Workshop is the last Friday of each month in Los Angeles.

Homo-Centric is a monthly reading series currently hosted by Stories Books & Cafe in Echo Park the 3rd Thursday of every month and curated by Hank Henderson.

Rhapsodomancy is a reading series in Los Angeles which frequently features queer writers.

Torrance, CA

Coffee House and Open Mic at the South Bay LGBT Center first Friday of the month. To RSVP a performance time slot or for more performance info or questions, leave a message for Open Mic at 310.328.6550 or email to openmic@southbaycenter.org.

Portland, OR

Dirty Queer: Hosted by renegade writer and poet Sossity Chiricuzio, this X-Rated open mic is a place to celebrate sexuality and strut your creative stuff! Every 2nd Friday of the month at In Other Words in Portland, OR - more info @ http://www.dirtyqueer.com

Seattle, WA

Bent Writing Institute has classes and spoken word events promoting and encouraging written and spoken word among LGBTIQ people and in our communities. http://www.bentwriting.com

OR-A-TRIX is an all girl Seattle collective of slam performers, fiction aficionados, queer poet freaks and their collaboration of neurosis on stage. (Site no longer found.)

Seattle Spit: Seattle's queer spoken word event. Every first Thursday, 8pm, at the Wild Rose (1021 E Pike on Capital Hill). For information contact seattlespit@speakeasy.net
Seattle Spit Facebook Group

Austin, TX

Fire and Ink III, A writers festival for GLBT People of African Descent will be in Austin Oct 9-11, 2009. fireandink.org/ Also see Fire & Ink Facebook page

There are group queer poetry readings in Austin set up by Scott Wiggerman.

St. Paul / Minneapolis (Twin Cities)

Intermedia Arts is the site of the monthly Queer Voices: A GLBT Reading Series curated by John Medeiros and Andrea Jenkins.

Patrick's Cabaret is a venue in Minneapolis.

St. Louis, Misourri

Sistah Speak is an African American, lesbian-produced spoken word event held the third Sunday of the month. Here's an article about Sistah Speak.

Chicago, IL

Dyke Mic 2.0 is in a new incarnation starting in July 2007 at the Center on Halsted with Co-Hosts Nikki Patin and JT Newman

HomoLatte (formerly Grinder): now 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month. new location as of 2006 - Big Chicks / Tweet (Enter through Big Chicks/performance in Tweet space) 5024 N Sheridan 773-728-5511. all ages, $5 donation requested. Hosted by Scott Free.

The Finger -- was an all-gender queer open mike and variety show hosted by Nomy Lamm and Jae Crue at Early to Bed, 5232 N. Sheridan, Chicago. No longer happening.

Mouthy -- a queer girl spoken word tour based in Chicago with JT Newman, JenFish Superstar, Rose Tully, and Elizabeth Whitney.

Dallas TX

Queerly Speaking is a monthly event in Dallas Texas which is as of October 2010 at South Dallas Cultural Center. It's a program of Fahari Arts Instutite (facebook)
article on Queerly Speaking photos from event

Atlanta, GA

Cliterati is a feminist, queer and trans-inclusive open mic based in Atlanta, GA.

Washington DC

Front Porch at the Mocha Hut is an open mic on the first Friday of every month hosted by Tim'm West. Here's an article about it.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

K'vetsh Pittsburgh is organized by Beth Steidle and Paige McBee.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

HIBISCUS: Bring your radical poems, drums, guitars, records, short films, dancers, and magic tricks. HIBISCUS is Philly's only queer open-mic. Make it happen, fight the power, blessed be. Every Second Sunday of the month, at The A-Space, 4705 Baltimore Avenue, West Philadelphia (Don't see this on A-Space's calendar anymore.)

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Women's Bookstore lists events.

New York area

Bowery Poetry Club was a spoken word venue in New York (closed as of July 2012.)

PANIC! is a monthly reading series in New York City organized by Charlie Vázquez. Sometimes it is titled "HISPANIC PANIC!"

Pride Center of New Jersey is the place for Out of the Box, a monthly showcase on the third Friday of each month hosted by Pandora Scooter. Visit http://www.pandorascooter.com/news.html for features. Also see www.myspace.com/outofthemyspace

QT: Queer Readings at Dixon Place is a reading series in New York. Also on myspace at myspace.com/QTReadings

Louderarts has readings, including on March 1st, 2004, Q2:Queer Too.

Also check for readings by Emanuel Xavier

Boston area

Gender Crash was a spoken word event in Jamaica Plain for queer, transgender and genderqueer folks held from 2000-2009.

OUTSPOKEN: Queer People of Color Spoken Word and Performance Showcase in August 2009 was organized by Queer Women of Color and Friends of Boston.

Writers With Drinks has happened in Cambridge. There have also been events in San Francisco.

London, England

Bar Wotever (Club Wotever's open-stage "sister" on Tuesdays), now at Royal Vauxhall Tavern: woteverworld.com

Behind the Mic has creative showcases and exclusive gigs with at a few venues in London, UK (including a specifically gay club) and host singer songwriters, comedians, performance poets, storytellers... basically anyone with something to express behind the mic! http://www.myspace.com/behindthemic_london

Glam Slam UK, inspired by Emanuel Xavier's glamorous 'vogue ball'-cum-'poetry slams' in NYC has happend in London in 2008, July 2009, and hopefully again in 2010.

New gay "literary salon" Polari happens regularly in central London (though periodicity and exact location vary) http://www.myspace.com/polarigaysalon

Check out Ernesto Sarezale's list of poetry events in London.

Mumbai, India

Voices of Pride: an original evening of spoken word, poetry & song by and for the LGBTQI community, hosted by Queer Ink, India's online retailer of queer books.


My websites:
Holytitclamps.com: Non-mainstream queer culture. Queer Venues page might also be useful. Queer Calls for Submissions is good for those into the printed word.
QComedy.com: Queer standup, improv, and sketch comedy.

For information, email larrybob@gmail.com