2GQ ~ 2 Gyrlz Quarterly ~ Portland, Oregon arts, literature, & madness

SEX SCENES & A REFRESHINGLY COUNTER-HEMINGWAY SPIN ON ADVERBS: TIN HOUSE NOTEBOOK 2007

NOTE: As Nora reminisces about writing workshops last summer, the Wordstock Festival offers tons this weekend -- including a reading and a workshop by Steve Almond. 2GQ writer/editor/bookmakers Nora, Tif, and Clare will be at the PLAZM booth at the festival, booth #1130, Sat & Sun (PLAZM distributes 2GQ and our new book, A Compendium of Miniatures -- signed copies will be available). Also check out Tif, Jon Raymond, & Lidia Yuknavitch reading at 5 pm Sunday at the McMenamins Stage.

Ah, the halcyon days of summer when you can enjoy riding your bike with your face into the wind, two consecutive hours without rain and the Tin House lecture series, which never fails to amaze me with its stellar lineup despite the fact that it only costs fifteen bucks each.  What some of these folks would cost to see at the Schnitz I don’t like to think about.  I believe Steve Almond was in the fifty-dollar range last time he read there.  And there I was, front and center in the Reed College amphitheatre, listening to him crack wise about writing sex scenes. ... (Keep reading for Nora's report on the series.)

ONE HUNDRED DOUBLOONS... excorpse short fiction

Another of our Exquisite Language experiments; this one was published in 2 Gyrlz Quarterly #3 (our printed zine-journal).

by Paul Ash, Susannah Breslin, Farai Chideya, Trevor Dodge, Dave Eggers, Polyanna Fishwrap, Jemiah Jefferson, Richard Kadrey, Lance Olsen, Richard Peabody, Cate Peebles, Camela Raymond, Claire Tristram, and Vandoren Wheeler.

Early February. He has already forgotten the name of the last town. The moon is alarmingly full and bright.  He presses the accelerator to the floor.  Snow is plowed high along both sides of the road and he shoots through the barrel.  He has been drinking, although not to excess. That is what he tells himself.  The clock on his dashboard reads 3:00 a.m.  A dead deer passes through his headlights and then falls into dark once more.

SAGE WISDOM: WIPERS FRONTMAN GREG SAGE SPEAKS

by John Chandler
Originally appeared in the first version of 2 Gyrlz Quarterly, an online magazine, on June 13, 2003. It was then printed in 2GQ's print zine-journal, issue #3, in 2005. See www.zenorecords.com if you're trying to find the music. ---Ed.

“The Wipers’ music is so simple, but so cool, it makes you wonder why anybody thinks doing stuff with tricks is a valid approach at all.” — Steve Albini

Greg Sage is an odd, complicated guy. As an interview subject he’s a laconic pain in the ass. As an artist, he’s certainly responsible for some of the best rock music ever produced in Portland, and no one—OK, maybe Elliott Smith—has made music that so perfectly sums up life in the cracks and crannies of our rainy little community.