Thursday November 18 | 7:30 pm | Krannert Art Museum | Free
The questions are simple. The answers are honest/snarky/awesome/nervous/humble/cocky (as most prose tends to be). Read on for all the reasons you need to check out the VOICE reading this Thursday.
Aaron Burch
Where are you from and what’s it famous for (besides you)?
Tacoma, WA, which is famous for being the “Tac” part of the Sea-Tac airport, which most people outside of the area probably just think of as the Seattle Airport. Also, because of the smell from the pulp mill, there’s the “Tacoma Aroma.” And, oh yeah!, Toyota names a truck after us.
If you could steal a famous book and pass it off as your own work, what would you pick?
Maybe Keith Richards’ new autobiography, so then I could also pass as being this famous, crazy, lived-it-all rock star?
Best place in C-U to pretend that you’re writing and/or stir the creative juices?
Cafe Kopi. I’m here now, “writing,” by which I mean answering these questions and catching up with other emails.
What’s influencing your work these days?
Kanye West, Adam Levin’s new book The Instructions, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, whiskey, Ben Percy, Matt Bell, Lindsay Hunter, Amelia Gray, Elizabeth Ellen, wanting to be liked, my memory, porn, fireworks, trying to think of what my non-literary buddies back in Washington would be entertained by, my barely-hidden wish that I were a rock star or comedian, reading submissions and editing stories for my lit journal, Hobart.
What should we be on the lookout for when you read for VOICE?
Going out to the bar after. Also: heckling. People should heckle me. Readings are too quiet and polite and boring.
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Ashley Booth
Where are you from and what’s it famous for (besides you)?
I’m from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Um, I don’t think it’s really famous for anything. Pretty standard Midwest city.
If you could steal a famous book and pass it off as your own work, what would you pick?
Right now I’d say The Lover by Marguerite Duras. Wait, is that famous? How about The Road. That was pretty great. I’m so envious of fiction writers, they have so much more writing stamina than I do.
Best place in C-U to pretend that you’re writing and/or stir the creative juices?
I only write in my apartment, but I love Meadowbrook Park. And Allerton.
What’s influencing your work these days?
I’ve been thinking a lot about truth vs. lies. I’ve also been reading a lot of cross-genre work and I think that’s been opening up some stuff for me. But really I think my major influences are popsicles, puzzles, and my cats. My life is really that exciting.
What should we be on the lookout for when you read for VOICE?
Hopefully poetry that appeals to people who don’t normally read poetry… and those who do. Oh, and a lot of hand gestures, I’m sort of known for that.
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Sara Gelston
Where are you from and what’s it famous for (besides you)?
I’m from Raymond, Maine-home to Nathaniel Hawthorne, a few winter Olympians, a lumber yard and a whole lot of ice fishing. You can imagine my childhood.
If you could steal a famous book and pass it off as your own work, what would you pick?
You by Frank Stanford, which I suppose isn’t terribly famous, but should be, and is certainly worth stealing and reading over and over.
Best place in C-U to pretend that you’re writing and/or stir the creative juices?
Most writing (real or pretend) tends to happen at home, though long walks and porch sitting both help stir the juices.
What’s influencing your work these days?
The Faroe Islands, domesticity, Miller High Life, Vashti Bunyan, taxidermy.
What should we be on the lookout for when you read for VOICE?
Lots of hair. Probably a dear bird or two as well.