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

RAW BEGINNINGS

Ever noticed, especially in Portland, the gap between the worlds of "dance" and "performance"? Tahni Holt is among our fair city's artists who bridge that gap; Holt's work expands well past the borders of pure body-focused movement and dance into creative conceptual explorations.

Non-dancers now have the chance to work with Holt in her "Raw Beginnings" class at Conduit, beginning Monday, May 5. Drop-ins are welcome to check it out for a single evening. —Tiffany Lee Brown  (image: Holt at left and Linda Austin, right)

PERFORMANCE WORKS NW & 2GQ PRESENT "HOUSE BOUND"

A kinesthetic salon of performance, installation, food, and drink by the artists of Works Corps. Tickets cost $5 less if purchased in advance from Brown Paper Tickets online; price includes tea, snacks, and beverages for grownups.

13 April 2008, Sunday
Showtimes 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:00, 3:30, and 5:00. Advance reservations recommended.
Tickets: $10-20, advance at  Brown Paper Tickets.

At Performance Works NW
4625 SE 67th Ave, Portland
(half-block north of SE Foster Road).
Reservations & Info: 503 475 2306, housebound@2GQ.org, www.2GQ.org

The artists of Works Corps are (l. to r.): Nora Robertson, Clare Carpenter, Lilian Gael, and Emily Stone; front: Tiffany Lee Brown. Photo by Steve Fritz.

Co-presented by 2GQ and Performance Works NW's Alembic series. 

TONIGHT: 2 GYRLZ BRINGS RON ATHEY TO PORTLAND

2 Gyrlz Performative Arts is proud to present legendary performance artist, Ron Athey, for the first time ever in Portland. This will truly be a rare and exceptional event, in which performance is taken to an edge that 2 Gyrlz and other presenters in this city have rarely dared to visit. This is not about shock, this is about exposing truths and presenting new possibilities.

RON ATHEY (L.A.), SAMANTHA SWEETING (Britain/France), and Portland's own ARIA BENNER and MICAH PERRY of Cliché Au Lait.

First Thursday 03 April Hippodrome, PDX (SE 3rd & Oak)
$8 | 21 + Performances run 8 - 9:30 pm

After Party next door @ BRANX, 320 SE 2nd Ave., with PAN!ZEN Soundsystem (Chromosome 23/Acroyear, Try My Cabbage, Rudement, and b0t23 of Buried in Time/ELM). 21+, 9:30-close, $5 suggested donation or come in from the Ron Athey/ 2 Gyrlz show.

THE VIDEO GENTLEMEN: BYOTV

The Video Gentlemen present BYOTV, kicking off COUTURE08 @ the New American Art Union. Linda Austin's video screens during WEEK ONE: March 22-29.

Reception on Saturday March 22nd from 5-8pm at New American Art Union, 922 SE Ankeny, Portland.

NAAU's stipend recipients for Couture '08 are Rose McCormick, Ty Ennis, Jim Lommasson, Jacqueline Ehlis, TJ Norris, Stephen Slappe, Vanessa Renwick, Laura Fritz, Ethan Jackson, The Video Gentlemen.

KRISTY ATHENS: Reading in Portland + Original Fiction on 2GQ

Coming up this week, 2GQ’s series “Domestic Terror” showcases short fiction by Kristy Athens. Not to be missed!

She will read in Portland with Shanna Germain and Lara Tribak at a Barnes & Noble reading hosted by Sage Cohen on February 20. Keep reading for details.

FOR THE LOVE OF NYE BEACH...

The literary, littoral, and alimentary delights of Nye Beach in Newport, Oregon, make it a necessary coastal stop for writers and fans thereof. From the author-themed rooms of the Sylvia Beach Hotel to the Nye Beach Writers' Series of readings and events, this calm little tourist hamlet has it going on. And oh, the food!

Keep reading for the upcoming schedule for Writers on the Edge. --Tiffany Lee Brown

NICK CAVE LECTURE & MORE FABULOUS STUFF @ COOLEY

"Working History: African American Objects" finds curator Stephanie Sydner in top form, bringing the work and/or live presences of Kianga Ford, Nick Cave, Adrian Piper, Faith Ringgold, Kara Walker, and many others to Portland, at Cooley.

THE GYRLZ ARE BACK IN TOWN: Rock Fest at Rotture Feb 9th

2 Gyrlz Performative Arts returns to Portland! Our fearless leaders, co-directors Lisa Newman and Llewyn Maire/Yhi, have returned from their year-plus in England, and they've brought us some tasty European treats to savour: Tex Napalm, Dimi Dero, and Anthony Malat. Keep reading for deets.

UPCOMING 2 GYRLZ SHOWS:

Feb 9, Saturday ~ Tex Napalm/Dimi Dero/Anthony Malat; Magick Daggers; and special guests at Rotture, 9 pm, $8

April 3, Thursday ~ Ron Athey performance followed by PanZen party, at Rotture

April 13, Sunday ~ Works Corps performs "HOUSE BOUND" at Performance Works NW, co-presented by 2GQ

NW NOISE MUSICIAN MICHAEL GRIFFIN PASSES AWAY

"Michael Griffin passes on 1/7/08

Early this morning Michael Griffin died. He was the violinist in Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live and played in the noise duo Noggin and many other projects along the way. His contribution to music was very significant as huge proponent of Improvised Noise. Michael encouraged anyone curious about music regardless of talent and got a lot of people started on a path to true creative expression. I am greatly thankful for my experience with Michael as an individual, as a fellow musician and to know his family who have been a family to me when I needed a one that accepted me for who I am without judgement. I am currently working on a documentary about Michael with a friend Peter Rand that hopefully will be completed within the next year. Much Love to you all, I know that Michael believed in Love, - Jordan Rain"

GOTHIC BEAUTY: IRRITATE THE DOUBTERS

reviewed by Johan

Gothic culture tirelessly marches on towards greater popularity despite being virtually a religious subculture subject to persecution in America. But when any great designer needs an edge, it's often the first place they will reach for ideas. And Gothic culture now has gone global, with huge followings in Japan, Europe, Mexico and central and south America, each region contributing equally fantastic twists, and with a dedicated network of supporters penetrating every country on Earth.

Enter Gothic Beauty magazine.Daring to define the enigmatic Gothic culture for nearly a decade. Unafraid to embrace the controversial, but always finding a route to the fantastic, seductive and beautiful in a way which turns the cynical American status quo on its head to create a darkly beautiful sensibility, offering alternatives spanning the range of our own culture like a parallel universe made up of darker dreams with better endings.

Gothic Beauty, at once loved by people on the Gothic fringes and neglected by counterculture snobs, will be the first established example anyone will go looking for to defend Gothic culture from silly misinterpretations. (Continued...)

2GQ co-presents "HOUSE BOUND" at PERFORMANCE WORKS NW

The Works Corps invites the 2 Gyrlz community to experience the group's very intimate and unusual new performance, "House Bound," at Performance Works NW on April 13, 2008. The work delves into the tension between individuality and relationship, between selfhood and family, between freedom and claustrophobia, between private and public.

2GQ is delighted to co-sponsor this rare opportunity for audiences to visit a very different kind of house. We'd like to give a big shout-out to the show's current donors, including the Cooley Gallery at Reed College, Plazm magazine, P!x Patisserie, Vanessa Renwick/Oregon Dept of Kick Ass, and Steve Fritz Photography.

THE WIFE, THE MISTRESS, & THE PROSTITUTE: PLAZM AT THE BACK ROOM

Come along, creative whores! Eat food, hang out, and dive into a conversation about "The Wife, the Mistress, and the Prosititute" as essential metaphors for life as artists, writers, and as creative professionals. Discuss design, language, survival, protest and collaboration!

Join 2GQ editrix Tiffany Lee Brown (who moonlights as a Plazm editor) with the Plazm crüe, editor Jon Raymond and art director Josh Berger.The evening is hosted and curated by Stephanie Snyder of the back room and the Cooley Gallery at Reed College.

Music by Tara Jane O'Neil. Food by catering & farmers market favourites Tastebud Farm, who will soon open their new dining room in Southeast Portland.

January 11, 2008, 6:30 pm, Podkrepa Hall, 2116 North Killingsworth Street. $45 per person includes a delectable feast, wine, and a copy of a book written & pressed especially for this occasion. Reservations are highly recommended; these events usually sell out. Email thebackroompdx@gmail.com or buy tickets via THE BACK ROOM online. Keep reading for details...

...AND A SNARKY NEW YEAR

Portland photographer Jim Lommasson is all fulla Xmas cheer...

THE GYRLZ ARE BACK! Programming for 2008 + Holiday Gifts of Luv

HELLO, GYRLZ: Most of you know by now that 2 Gyrlz founder/directors Lisa Newman and Llewyn Maire have returned from their year-plus of performing and living in Europe. Portland is ready for a new round of innovative performance programming from our favourite gyrlz. The new season promises to bring some excellent international artists to town; we will soon update this site and 2gyrlz.org with confirmed shows.

COMPENDIUM BOOKS AVAILABLE
We also have signed, numbered, limited edition books on sale; click "Compendium" on the Plazm Books site.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST: not just for brunch anymore

This week: Mike Midlo brings his fabu, delightfully weird organ-and-chicken-noises music to Portland from the wilds of White Salmon, WA. Deets follow!

DOMESTIC TERROR: Freezone at 2GQ

We live in our bodies. We live in our little lives. We live in our homes.

Sometimes these realities are not reflected in the creative literature associated with taking risks, presenting challenges, engendering innovative fiction, and going out on the occasional experimental limb. Sometimes, we want our "edge" to be so "edgy" that it falls completely away from how we live. Sometimes we invest more inventiveness in form and style than we do in the emotional honesty of a work. As for subject matter: sometimes we're afraid to engage with the mundane truths of home and domesticity, fearing that our work will turn out like all those hyper-workshopped hausfrau short stories set in Connecticut, the ones you see all the time in New York magazines and Midwestern literary journals.

OK, there's definitely something to fear in that. But there's much to celebrate and explore, as well. Family and home are not the opposite of things fascinating, dark, gripping, hilarious, or glamourous. Hell, no. Family and home are the very source of the best neuroses, the kind that turn people into writers...

Welcome DOMESTIC TERROR. This series of short literature & other fun stuff will be published on the 2GQ.org Freezone throughout 2008. On deck we have Kristy Athens, John Barrios, Nora Robertson, and hey, I'll probably make an appearance myself. If you would like to submit material, which can include memoir, poetry, fiction, hypertext, visual works, comics, multimedia presentation, and documentation of performance/visual works, please READ THIS FIRST (www.2GQ.org/DT-submit.html). Thanks. --Tiffany Lee Brown

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.)

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.

OPEN MIC FOR PERFORMERS AT SCRATCHPDX

ScratchPDX are calling themselves "Portland's performance lab" with their semi-open-mic-for-performers series at Hipbone Studio.  You just need to email them and explain what piece you'd like to do (2-10 minutes).

If you check out ScratchPDX and don't mind sharing what you saw or performed, email us at the current year @2GQ.org. For example, in 2001 you would contact us by mailing 2001@2GQ.org. Sorry for the convoluted email address procedure, there --- it's for spam reduction.

PLAZM at WORDSTOCK

Jonathan Raymond, Tiffany Lee Brown, and Lidia Yuknavitch appear at Portland's festival of books on November 11th in PLAZM reading.

PLAZM magazine has brought words to the page with a bold, unusual vision since 1991. From artist/writer collaborations to revolutionary experiments in typography and design, PLAZM provides a platform for local and international art, design, and culture, along with nonfiction, creative, and critical writing. PLAZM presents a reading, video, and slides at the Wordstock Festival to coincide with the release of its 29th issue...

COME VISIT at WORDSTOCK

Together with Jonathan Raymond and Lidia Yuknavitch, 2GQ editroid Tiffany Lee Brown will be reading from Plazm magazine at the Wordstock Festival in Portland on Sunday, November 11, at 5 pm. 2GQ collab's Tif, Clare Carpenter, and Nora Robertson will also be on-hand throughout the weekend at Plazm's booth, #1030. Signed, numbered copies of Clare & Tif's A Compendium of Miniatures will be available for sale, along with other goodies from Plazm Books.

WORDIGO!

WORDIGO 2, Write Around Portland's annual benefit, is a celebration of writing like no other. This year's event features word games, collaborative novellas, and readings by Monica Drake (_Clown Girl_) and Tom Spanbauer (_Now Is the Hour_). All this verbosity is for the best possible cause -- bringing the transformative power of writing to those in Portland with the least access to opportunities to gather and write. Coming up Novermber 3rd...

DECLASSIFIED: Psychedelic Jesus vs. the Rude Flag

In the printed zine-journals of 2 Gyrlz Quarterly, DECLASSIFIED was a recurring feature exploring censored and suppressed artwork and literature.  From the journal archive, here's Cortney Harding talking to two Portland artists, Thomas Rude (creator of "American Standard," left) and Joshua Camozzi Milligan about psychedelia, religion, and political content keeping their work from its intended venues.

NOW IS THE TIME TO BECOME ALARMED.

Review by the inimitable Pecos B. Jett

Alarm
By Mike Daily
(Stovepiper Books Media)

In Mike Daily’s new novel Alarm we travel along with his fictional otherself Mick O’Grady and the voice in both of their heads known as the Alter-Narrator, as they traverse the landscape of their early thirties, deteriorating relationships, fledgling sobriety, financial insecurity, and the omnipresent signage we’re presented with every day. If that soul-stew wasn’t already hearty enough, our protagonist faces these circumstances in Los Angeles, of all places, just weeks after the events of 9/11, of all times.

Construct/Re-Construct Opening Sept. 29

Construct/Re-Construct
curated by Rhoda London

A group show of work by Portland artists expressing the building blocks that bring an idea to fruition and showing the artists in dialogue with their materials. 2GQ editor Tiffany Lee Brown and book artist Clare Carpenter present an installation documenting the collaborative process behind their new project, A Compendium of Miniatures.

September 29-October 27, 2007
Cathedral Park Place
6635 N. Baltimore Ave, Portland, OR
(the former Columbia Sportswear/Modern Zoo building)

Opening Reception Saturday, September 29, 5-8 PM
Gallery hours Friday and Saturday only 12-5 PM

Artists: Josh Arseneau, Francesca Berrini, John Brodie, Tiffany Lee Brown, Clare Carpenter, Cathy Cleaver, Nancy Cushwa, Kristina DiTullo, Tore Djupedal, David Hacker, Helen Heibert, Harrison Higgs, Scott Wayne Indiana,James Jack, Horatio Law, Todd Leninger, Seth Nehil,Liz Obert, Kelly Rauer, Anya Shapiro, Benjamin Stagl,Andy Stout, Robert Wilhelm, Karen Willey, Linda Wysong.

PLAZM #29: NEW MAGAZINE + RELEASE PARTY SEPT. 26

When not doing 2GQ, my secret alter-identity is now a co-editor at Plazm magazine, a veritable institution of Portland art, culture, and design since 1991. Our new issue features Yoko Ono, Todd Haynes, JD Samson (Le Tigre), Storm Tharp, Domenick Ammirati, Lidia Yuknavitch, Marvin Bell, and a pull-out poster of Portland music from The Wipers to Nequaquam Vacuum.

Oh, and The End of War. And Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis, and Bill Walton, and psychedelic posters, and all kinds of stuff. Keep reading for the press release.

PARTY: Sept 26, Ace Hotel on SW Stark & 10th in downtown Portland, bands and DJ's (Glass Candy, Hooliganship, Evolutionary Jass Band, more), cheap, all ages, plus art benefiting Veterans for Peace. Please do come.

Falling from the Sky at the Aalto

Scott Wayne Indiana, Carlton Mellick Jr., Paul Ash, and more read from the new anthology this Thursday at the Aalto. Read on for deets.

THIS WEEKEND: WRITER'S EDGE, SORIAH, WATER IN THE DESERT

Line up an amazing weekend in Portland July 27, 28, and 29. Friday: Writer's Edge workshop readings featuring Lidia Yuknavitch, Brian Evanson, Lucy Corin, and Lance Olsen. Saturday: Soriah's CD release party and performance. Sunday: Water in the Desert Festival and ritual in North Portland.

COMPENDIUM OF MINIATURES: PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE

A Compendium of Miniatures
by Tiffany Lee Brown
(Tiger Food Press * 2GQ Press)

Miniature narratives and rhythmic metaphors redefine the words that tell life's big stories. Limited edition of 50 signed, numbered books hand-bound in silk; case-bound. Hand-set in Deepdene and letterpress printed in two colors on 100% post-consumer recyled paper using soy-based inks by Clare Carpenter.

Books begin shipping September 23, 2007. Pre-orders accepted; reserve a copy today via:

Purchase online with credit card at plazm.com ($55 plus shipping & handling). US, Canada, international.

Purchase via mail order: $58 includes shipping & handling. Make checks out to "2GQ" and send to PO Box 2863, Portland OR 97208. Includes a splendid mailing box you will want to crawl inside. Price includes all applicable taxes, shipping, etc. USA and Canada only.

Email the authors at 2007@2GQ.org with inquiries or to be notified about our September installation and performance at Cathedral Park Place in Portland.

COMPENDIUM OF MINIATURES AT PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

Yr everlovin' editrix Tiffany Lee Brown and 2GQ book artist Clare Carpenter of Tiger Food Press have been working hard on "A Compendium of Miniatures" for nearly two years. Friday June 29, they bring a performance-based literary reading of the work, along with a participatory installation, to Pacific University's MFA in Creative Writing program. Clare will also give a presentation about book arts, and the two will lead a discussion about how collaboration and multidisciplinary exploration can lead to an expansive writing practice. 1:00 pm at Pacific; open to the public.

The book of the Compendium will be available this fall. In September, a new installation of the Compendium will be unveiled at Cathedral Park Place (the St. Johns building where Modern Zoo happened). We'll also bring it to PNCA. See ya then!

Mike Daily Takes City by Storm

There's no way you don't have time to catch a launch for Mike Daily's latest novel, Alarm, since there's four of them, the next one being tomorrow at Powell's, 7:30.  Reading from an experimental melange of narrative, found objects, an alter-narrator and audio beats (see inclosed CDs of live and studio performances), Daily tells us an account of a couple slowly splitting apart amid post-911 anthrax scares, semi-employment and the detritus of the San Fernando Valley.  Appearing with band---and moi as quest artist---at last week's Phase One: Words + Music, you can catch the full meal deal at the Ash St. Saloon on July 25th and at the Someday Lounge for the FC2 Writer's Edge conference on July 26th, or a pared down version at Aftermath for First Thursday on July 5th.  Beat happening.

---Nora Robertson

Haiku Inferno. A new book. Crêpes. Your job: watch, listen, eat, and report back.

Haiku! Crêpes! What are you waiting for? Read on.

ARTIST BIOS: PUBLIC WORKS

Find out more about the Public Works Corps: Tiffany Lee Brown, Clare Carpenter, Lilian Gael, Nora Robertson, and Emily Stone...

...and about this week's guest artists, Sarah Dougher and Josh Berger.

Meet Kevin Sampsell, Circa Early 90's

Most of you who’ve been around at open mics and the majority of readings worth going to anytime in the last fifteen years will have already heard of Kevin Sampsell, and if you haven’t, this is a good way to make his acquaintance. Just premiered at the Do North Award Ceremony this April, Stephen Kurowski’s short film Kevin Patrick Sampsell: The Spokane Years layers vintage footage of Sampsell from the early 90’s with punk riffs in a latter-day Neil Cassady fashion. Much thanks to Chutz Ponderosa for making this available online, and to Mike Daily for letting us all know about it.  Runtime: 5:15.  ---Nora Robertson

PUBLIC WORKS: THE SPRING FINALE

PUBLIC WORKS reveals works-in-progress by local musicians, artists,
and writers.

With good food & delicious cocktails, in one of Portland's most
beautiful, intimate venues.

Join us this Wednesday, May 9 for the final evening of this Public
Works series. Guest artists SARAH DOUGHER (music) and JOSHUA BERGER
(visual art) will join our regular writers, performers, and
interdisciplinary artists: TIFFANY LEE BROWN, LILIAN GAEL, NORA
ROBERTSON, and EMILY STONE.

2GQ presents Public Works
Wednesdays, April 4 through May 9
5:30-7:00 pm
Free, at Someday Lounge
125 NW 5th Ave between Couch and Davis

PUBLIC WORKS CALENDAR

===  2GQ presents  ===

    PUBLIC WORKS

Six weeks of live, raw works-in-progress, rough cuts, & experiments
being of a literary, performative, musical, & artistic nature

Click "continue" below to see the whole calendar & meet the artists...

Wednesdays, April 4 through May 9
5:30-7:00 pm
Free, at Someday Lounge
125 NW 5th Ave

JONATHAN LETHEM & the GOAT MAN

Nora Robertson brings back a report of his Portland appearance.

Last Thursday, the Portland Arts & Lectures series brought Jonathan Lethem to Portland. Onstage at the Schnitz, about a third of the way in, Lethem told a dirty joke. I wanted to see his face, but we were up in the nosebleeds, Tiffany muttering something about her great-great-aunt’s opera glasses sadly left behind at home. It wasn’t a really dirty joke, just naughty, told oddly in almost the same rhythm my New York Jewish grandma uses to tell naughty jokes.

FREE, BEAUTIFUL, WEIRD. BE THERE THIS WEDNESDAY.

Eric Hausmann and Lilian Gael (pictured left) will be this week's featured artists at Public Works. Come on down and see what they and the Public Works crew will do with some serious music!

Eric -- currently of Tres Gone, formerly of Spilling Static Orchestra, The Gone Orchestra, Locust Pudding, Brainwarmer, and Lions of Batucada -- will soundtrack a film he made entitled "Ramlee," a dedication to the 1950's Malaysian film actor and multi-instrumentalist, P. Ramlee. More about Eric at www.spillingaudio.com.

Lily Gael is a performing artist working with improv-movement, dance,
enviornments and sound. She is a recipient of a Soapstone writing residency in poetry, and recently performed "Revery/The Kitchen Project" at Oregon College of Art & Craft" for audiences of one.

Members of the Public Works Corps will also improvise with Eric (Tiffany Lee Brown, Nora Robertson, Emily Stone).

2GQ presents PUBLIC WORKS at the Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave between Couch and Davis.... Wednesday, April 18th, 5:30-7 pm.... FREE.

Click "continue" to see the PUBLIC WORKS CALENDAR.

R.I.Y. + Poetry Month at MultCo Library

RIY: read it yourself. Bring a bit of poetry April 21, and check out the other events hosted free by your very own Multnomah County library system.

JONATHAN LETHEM COMES TO PDX

Literary Arts brings Jonathan Lethem to Portland Arts & Lectures this Thursday, April 12th, 7:30, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Here's what Nora Robertson thinks about this opportunity to see the man himself:

The first book I ever read by Jonathan Lethem was Motherless Brooklyn, and I was charmed. The Chandleresque protagonist, hamstringed by Tourette’s and growing up orphaned, parses a surreal intrigue involving cryogenic chambers, talking kangaroos and, of course, a dame who both seduces him and hangs him out to dry. Years later, I would be similarly thunderstruck by fellow Brooklynite Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy’s appropriation of hardboiled detective tropes to investigate rather more existential mysteries. Very Sartre, Camus, Godard.

WEEK 1 OF PUBLIC WORKS, and here comes Week 2.

The first week of Public Works was delightful. (It will happen every Wednesday through May 9.) Pecos B. brought words that rollicked and rocked, all of us Corps members did word + movement improvisation, I unveiled the world premiere of video "Log Baby," Nora Robertson read luscious poetry in progress, and Lily Gael topped the evening with a serious shot of energy in the form of a short dance piece.

And then there was Emily Stone (pictured left). She presented a deeply moving interdisciplinary piece involving the themes of growth and home, alternating reading with movements performed in front of projected photographs, her pregnant belly distending into the screen. Meanwhile, the rest of us attended to a series of instructions she'd given us: cleansing, writing on eggshells, planting seeds. Beautiful stuff!

Next week -- Wednesday, April 11 -- Leanne Grabel will be our featured poet, belly dancer Grace Constantine will be our guest artist, and I'll show a brand new experimental reading + video piece. Expect more explorations from the Public Works Corps as well. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave, 5:30-7 pm, free. More details about the series is in the next post, below. --Tiffany Lee Brown

PUBLIC WORKS: coming up

2GQ presents PUBLIC WORKS

Six weeks of live, raw works-in-progress, rough cuts, & experiments
being of a literary, performative, musical, & artistic nature

Wednesdays, April 4 through May 9 ... 5:30-7:00 pm ... FREE .....
Someday Lounge ... 125 NW 5th Avenue ... in Portland's Old Town ... phone 503 248 1030

Works Corps:
TIFFANY LEE BROWN ..... CLARE CARPENTER ..... LILY GAEL ..... LEANNE GRABEL ..... NORA ROBERTSON ..... EMILY STONE

Guest Artists:
PECOS B. (April 4)  ..... GRACE CONSTANTINE (April 11) .... ERIC HAUSMANN (April 18) ..... JEMIAH JEFFERSON (April 25) ..... JULIAN TULIP  (May 2) ..... SARAH DOUGHER (May 9) ..... JOSHUA BERGER (May 9)

SAVE ALLISON'S HEDGEHOG!

Allison Dubinsky -- writer, copy editor, Atelerix Books creatrix, and all-around awesome gal extraordinaire -- is raising funds for her adorable hedgehog, Aloysius. "Best in Show" winner at the 2001 Hedgehogs Northwest Show in Tacoma, Washington, Aloysius has cancer and needs our help! Conveniently, we can help by purchasing Allison's handmade blank books, which are really fetching even when they're not assisting adorable hedgehogs. Read Allison's letter and find out how to get a book. Photo by Serena Davidson.

THE ART OF XERA

Our buds* over at Xera Plants wholesale specialty nursery have introduced many an interesting variety to Northwest hort-heads and plant geeks over the last five years. Now they have a great website. Read the fine print; co-founder Paul Bonine writes hilarious catalogue and tag copy.

Visit 'em at www.xeraplants.com (warning: takes a while to load). You can buy their lovely stuff only at indie retail nurseries like Portland Nursery, and more listed on the site. BIG THANKS to Xera for donating gorgeous greenery to our fundraisers...

* geddit? "buds"? ha ha ha ha ha.

RELIGION & POLITICS: Dangerous as ever

Authors and Dangerous Writers workshop leaders Stevan Allred and Joanna Rose "read fiction about the two things you're not supposed to discuss around your relatives" this Tuesday, March 20. Rose reads from her novel in progress, Ruby's Roadhouse, and Allred reads new work appearing soon in Rosebud.

McMenamin's Kennedy School - 5735  NE 33rd (between Killingsworth & Lombard). Readings start at 7; the readers invite you to join them for drinks afterward. A benefit for Community of Writers

SHUT UP & READ

Take a few minutes out of your busy month to appreciate independent media in print. As much as we Portland peeps dig our Powell's and our InterWebs, we owe a lot to the independent media revolution. And hey, kids, it started in print, not online.

Nice thing about print? To go buy it, you have to go to interesting spaces and browse around with lovely people. Absolutely no better place to do it than Reading Frenzy, which Chloe Eudaly started as a tiny portion of a tiny spot on SE 37th off of Hawthorne back in the mid 1990s. I was a big fan. And for a while, Toney Bento was in the same space, wafting chicken smells all over the books. (The space is now Buffalo Exchange and the little charity shop next door.)

When Reading Frenzy moved downtown, they activated the triangle block on Oak, across Burnside from Powell's. You know the block: Thai food, Rocco's Pizza, mini-bike sculpture-pile, IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center), CounterMedia for vintage naughtiness, and the favourite deviled egg dealer in Bumptown, Crowsenberg's Half and Half. And RF are having some trouble financially.

So get on out there and support! Go to the shop even only to get one of those awesome "SHUT UP AND READ" buttons. A letter from Chloe follows. And doesn't 2GQ book artist/production manager Clare Carpenter look fabulous in this photo, browsing at Reading Frenzy? --Tiffany

Negativland Brings GOD to Portland!

Help Negativland create a live radio program onstage and dig deep with monotheism.

Saturday, Mar 10 2007 9:00PM
Bagdad Theater Portland, Oregon -- that's the McMenamin's at SE Hawthorne & 37th.

COSTES at SOMEDAY this SATURDAY

HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE! COSTES IS COMING!

If you somehow missed the absolute insanity of Jean Louis Costes at 2 Gyrlz's Enteractive Language Festival a couple years ago, now is your time to make up for it. Madness and mayhem and hilarity reign. Note: If you're afraid of bodily fluids and close representations thereof, stay home.

Show is at Someday Lounge, March 3.

LOVELY LINEUP AT THE CRUX - FEB 17

KPSU presents a fine showcase of experimental music, jazz weirdness, and more. Obe'Skupla, Dead Air Fresheners, Childhood Friends, and more more more on February 17 at  The Crux. Costumed improv freaks, eeriness, beauty -- what more could ya want? And it's three bucks. And all ages.

THE WRITER's EDGE: Deadline coming up

Fiction Collective 2 and Portland State University team up to offer the second annual Writer's Edge: Innovative Writing Conference this July, including workshops by yr fav'rite gyrlish contributors Lance Olsen and Lidia Yuknavitch.

THEATRE OPEN MIC-IN-PROGRESS: Last Saturdays with ScratchPDX

Theatre works in progress! Sign-up open mic of a theatrical bent! Interesting happenings! Cool beans! It's Last Saturdays, starting this month at Hipbone Studio.

KHOOMEI with SORIAH: Throat Singing Workshop

Gyrlz know Enrique Ugalde from his stunning ritualistic performances at festivals, clubs, and in lush outdoor sites, performed under the name Soriah.  But in addition to his own voice experimentations and ritual work, Enrique has studied with Tuvan throat singing masters, learning traditional techniques and traditions.

Spots are still available in his February 2007 workshop in Portland, Oregon. Keep reading for details.

CENSORSHIP & ART SUPPRESSION: "Fifth Branch" Declassified

"Starbucks is not going to hang the next 'Piss Christ.' "  You heard it here first.

The following DECLASSIFIED interview explores the suppression of art in the post-9/11 United States o' America. How do we as artists and writers, but also as publishers and presenters and curators, deal with controversial material? Artist Joshua Berger, publisher Camela Raymond, attorney Kohel Haver, art critic Richard Speer, and an unnamed ACLU representative all weigh in on this surprisingly thorny subject. Originally appeared in the "Exquisite Language" issue of 2GQ's print journal.

THANK YOU, 2GQ SUPPORTERS!

As 2006 lumbers to a bellowing halt, 2GQ would like to thank all of our supporters -- you who help us out, perform in our shows, read our stuff, whisper sweet nothings in our ears.

And a humongous shout-out to those who donate services and financial contributions to our little non-profit adventure. It's a tremendous shot in the arm. We'd like to give ultra-special thanks to:

COOLEY: Stephanie Snyder and Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery at Reed College

Q7: Joe Pruett and Q7.com

GREYLODGE: Joe Matheny and Greylodge/Gpod Radio

PUBLIC WORKS: Announcing the Participants

2GQ will present the Public Works series in April and May. We are superthrilled to announce the workshop participants/works-in-progress performers, writers, and artists:

Leanne Grabel            Nora Robertson (McCrea)      Sarah Dougher
Julian Tulip            Lily Gael            Emily Stone             Clare Carpenter
Joshua Berger            Jemiah Jefferson        Tiffany Lee Brown

Happy Fucking Holidays

What the heck is your dad going to do with another tie? Does your housemate *really* need another hand-crocheted potholder? And who's flush enough to buy their lover an iPod?

Yeah, exactly. What you need is a gorgeous, warm, sweatshop-free, American Apparel, 100% cotton hoodie/hooded sweatshirt with a 2GQ logo smack front and center. Or a gyrl-cut t-shirt, or a big ol' XXL one. Buy yours now-now-now, from Catch23.com, our wild-ass pals in Berkeley CA.

Note that issues of 2GQ are not available for holiday delivery. We here at 2GQ HQ in PDX are headin' out. But the tees and sweatshirts rock.

SIREN NATION