That Was a BOMB Party, Brah.
1. Julianne, a painter, & Cassidy, a dancer. 2. Joe Lazauskas, the Director of Content and Community at The Faster Times, & Adam Wilson, the Editor. I asked Wilson what he'd been doing this summer, and he told me he'd kept busy by reading pornographic books.
The heat has finally broken here in New York City — sort of — and therefore it was finally acceptable for me to leave my apartment and the safety of my A/C unit for something other than work or the corner store for cigarettes. Last night was a good night to re-enter the world, since it was BOMB's Summer Issue release party over at powerHouse Books in DUMBO.
I arrived about fifteen minutes before the performances were set to begin, and a good crowd had already gathered, mingling, drinking free bottles from Brooklyn Brewery (does Brooklyn Brewery have an exclusive contract with reading events or what?), and paging through powerHouse's gorgeous books.
1. Writer Helen Phillips, artist Adam Thompson (and Phillips' husband), & their friend Lucas. 2. The "arena" part of powerHouse, before the reading.
Sometimes lit "parties" are not much more than plastic cups of wine and a small crowd gathered stiffly in an overly-lit bookstore. This was not the case last night. Instead, people were there to see and be seen, the way that a person would act at, you know, a party. The kind that people go to for "fun." (Although, sadly [or perhaps not sadly], this party featured no bare nipples or coke rails. [As far as I know! If you have photographic evidence that proves me wrong, feel free to send it my way.])
1. Ali, who is earning his an MFA in Graphic Design at RISD, & Kathleen, the Literary Editor at Flavorpill. 2. The crowd during the reading, from the upper level of the bookstore.
But, of course, we were there for the reading portion of the party, too. The first reader was Nicholas Elliott, a poet, whose work featured ponderings about the difference between the "loves" and "fucks" of a person's life, as well as important questions like, "Do you own a Kindle? Would you download the Bible?" Simon Van Booy was second, and he read from his new novel, Everything Beautiful Began After. Van Booy was charming, as always, but if you want to know more about what we think of him here at EL, you should just go here or here. Sarah V. Schweig was the final reader of the night, and she read some of her elegant poetry.
1. Andrew Ritchie, who writes fiction and screenplays. 2. Reader Nicholas Elliott. 2. Reader Simon Van Booy.
Because BOMB features work from a variety of different types of artists, the party last night reflected this. The rest of the evening featured a live musical performance by Scott Shepherd and Richard Maxwell, as well as a mash-up by digital media artist David Olson.
All in all, it was a fun evening, and definitely worthy of the title "party."
Good for: Litsters, "creative types"
Bad for: Claustrophobes, poor listeners
— Julia Jackson writes fiction and is the Editor for Electric Dish. She has an MFA from Brooklyn College.
Electric Literature is a nonprofit publication committed to making literature more exciting, relevant, and inclusive.
Riding with Jesus Part VII: a badbadbad tour blog
Jul 26	- Electric Literature	Read
It's Time to Radically Rethink Online Book Events
Instead of mimicking in-person events, virtual readings should make use of the possibilities of the internet
Jul 28 - Kate Reed Petty
Free and Cheap Live Poetry Events You Can Watch Online
With slams and readings going virtual, you can now get into poetry from the comfort of your home
May 8 - Gabrielle Smith
We Survived the Masquerade of the Red Death and All We Got Were These Beautiful Pictures
A report from Brooklyn's reddest, deadest literary party
Oct 31 - Electric Literature