Why We Love Ellen

Here's what the t-shirts we're giving away February 16 are going to look like. Feel free to use this image for your own purposes. Designed by the amazing Ellen Gould.

This Progressive Life

We are working on posting some of the recordings from the first reading as embedded doohickeys for your clicking pleasure, but in the meantime, here is a link to Tobias Wolff reading Say Yes. This link is also listed in the "links" section, oddly enough. There will be more readings posted here and there as the fine people at Dublit clean them up a bit.

Also, read Steve's post below for a very important heads-up about rent control, evil developers, and t-shirts.

Feb. 16 Event

Special Announcement:

All funds from the February 16 reading will be going to efforts to save rent control in San Francisco. Didn't know that was an issue? Well, that's exactly the problem. On June 3 there will be an initiative on the ballot disguised as a proposition for eminent domain reform. Hidden inside this bill is a ban on all rent control in the state of California. The people behind Proposition 98, aka "the hidden agenda bill" are a particularly evil group of developers and big property owners along with the malicious Howard Jarvis Taxpayer's Association. If this proposition passes it will effect 350,000 residents in San Francisco. The time to start raising awareness is now. With that in mind we'll be making t-shirts, buttons, posters, etc. I'm advancing the money myself and paying myself back out of the door take.

EVERYBODY ATTENDING FEBRUARY 16 GETS A T-SHIRT!

For advance tickets please paypal $20 per person to "tribe AT stephenelliott.com". Or you can pay at the door, $10 to $20 sliding scale. But we always recommend getting tickets in advance because we often sell out (especially with this month's incredible lineup) and it makes it easier for us so people with advance tickets are let in first.

Where: The Makeout Room
When: 7pm, Saturday, February 16

The February 16 Progressive Reading features:

Vendela Vida author of Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name
Steve Almond author of Not That You Asked
Colm Toibin author of Mothers And Sons
Michelle Orange author of The Sicily Papers
Charles D' Ambrosio author of The Dead Fish Museum
and The Six Word Memoir Slam with Larry Smith

The progressive reading series happens on the third Saturday of every month though the 2008 election at 7pm at the Makeout Room in San Francisco.

get on the Progressive Reading email list by sending an email to:
steves_list-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

***

One more thing. The June 3 is a particularly poorly attended ballot, which is why they snuck their proposition onto this date. To make sure you vote in this crucial election please register to vote by mail. You're not going to believe how much easier it is to vote once you do this.

Announcing the February 16 Lineup...

Don't miss the second event in the 2008 Progressive Reading Series, Feb. 16 at the Make Out Room. Catch readings by Charles D'Ambrosio, Vendela Vida, Colm Toibin, Steve Almond, and Michelle Orange.

In January, we raised close to $2,000 for Charlie Brown. Help us raise even more at the next event!

The First

The 2008 Progressive Reading Series kicked off at the Make Out Room on January 19th, in support of Charlie Brown who is running for congress in California’s Fourth District, (that’s east of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe, and all the way up to the Oregon border). The first reader was Adam Johnson, who read a Casablanca-like story set in North Korea, which ended with a chilling sentence about having to build a fence to keep people from throwing themselves at the electric one. Thanks for that image, Adam.

Next up, Ali Liebegott. Ali began by telling a story how she had to replace her social security card recently (her dog ate it and I believe her). Anyway, and I didn’t fact check this, because it’s a blog, not real journalism, but what Ali found out is that Americans are allowed to lose their social security card 10 times before the government cracks down on them. Ten times! Pretty liberal for a government that often makes getting a doctor’s appointment for a simple checkup a red tape KGB nightmare. But what happens on the eleventh? Can they refuse you a new card? Are you forced to move to Canada? Ali and I pondered this during the intermission, but came up with no answers. As for her piece, from her novel The IHOP Papers, it was great. Ali has a charming presence and let us know just because you request a book at the library on famous gay people throughout history doesn’t make you gay. Really. I also asked Ali what it was like to have a book dedicated to her (Michelle Tea’s fabulous Rose of No Man’s Land in case you didn’t know). “Really sweet,” was her answer. I asked her if she was like Trisha Driscoll, the main character in Tea’s book, or like Francesca, the main character in The IHOP Papers. Answers: No and no. Should you read either book? Yes and yes.

Nato Green took the stage next as the official comedian of The Progressive Reading Series. He’s also the official comedian of the Vegan Cooking Series by the way. What we learned from him: Hilary isn’t a progressive and having the the Burning Man vote doesn’t really mean anything. Witness Matt Gonzalez, the man who should be our mayor.

Our host, Stephen Elliott was up next stating that Caroline Paul is hot and she is. He left out the part about her being a great writer though. She is. Stephen read a story called Any Soldier. What we took away from it: War is not a video game. Why do some people persist in treating it like one, though? A question to ponder. Jami Attenberg came up next, on tour from New York to support her new novel, The Kept Man. Jamie read an excellent piece from Sex for America: Politically Inspired Fiction, edited by Stephen, set in the future where cars are illegal (except for in Los Angeles, with the condition they still crank out the entertainment.) “Sometimes,” her character muses, “I miss oil,” On the up side though, her character hadn’t ever been caught in rush hour traffic.

Walter Kirn, former Mormon, stated he never thought he’d see someone he saw in church as a kid within striking distance of the presidency. In addition to his own piece, and stating that “Hilary is not a progressive,” he read The Crowd at the Ball Game, by William Carlos Williams, likening the experience described in the poem as similar to the Nevada Primary.

And finally, the Bard. Tobias Wolff. Andrew Foster Altschul gave a fitting introduction for Wolff saying there is no equivalent to Poet Laureate for fiction writers, (and just why is that anyway?) but if there were, Tobias Wolff would surely deserve the honor. And so Vietnam veteran, sterling writer, high commander of the short story and man with charisma, Tobias Wolff took the stage. He read Say Yes, a story about a husband and wife washing the dishes together that was wrought with so much tension my teeth started to hurt. Husband and wife washing the dishes. Mundane, yet the foundation of their relationship has been shattered with an offhand question asked over the sink.

If anything, and I mean anything, written here makes you wish you were there, come out to the next Progressive Reading on February 16, again at the Makeout Room. On the bill will be Michelle Orange, Vendela Vida, Charles D’Ambrosio, Steve Almond, Colm Toibin, Jeff O’Keefe, plus the Six Word Memoir Slam. What could be better than that? Not much. Advance tickets available at actblue.com.

Below is our beautiful poster for the first Progressive Reading Series event of 2008, designed by the amazing Ellen Gould. The first event takes place on January 19th at the Makeout Room. Click it for a larger image which you can print out. Please check out our links section for more info on tickets, the venue, and coming soon, more writers' information.

The Progressive Reading Series is a monthly literary reading which raises money for progressive candidates in the 2008 elections. Though most readings are in San Francisco the contributions made at these events go to candidates all over the country who are challenging right-wing incumbents.

The San Francisco series happens on the third Saturday of every month through the 2008 elections at 7pm at the Makeout Room. It is a Party Progressive event, hosted by Stephen Elliott author of Happy Baby and editor of Sex for America.

For advance tickets, visit Act Blue.

Here is the San Francisco 2008 Schedule:

Jan 19: Tobias Wolff, Walter Kirn, Jami Attenberg, Ali Liebegott, Adam Johnson

Feb 16: Charles D'Ambrosio, Vendela Vida, Michelle Orange, Steve Almond, Colm Toibin—plus, The Six Word Memoir Slam

March 15: Amy Tan, Jerry Stahl, Justin Chin, Bucky Sinister, Peter Plate, Rabih Alameddine

April 19: Michelle Richmond, Jane Smiley, Yiyun Li, Charlie Anders, Jeff O'Keefe—with music by The Progressive Reading Series All-Star Minstrels

May 17: Pam Houston, Adam Mansbach, Mary Roach, David West, Rachel Howard, Mark Pritchard, with multi-media by Josh Bearman and Starlee Kine

June 21: Eileen Myles, Andrew Sean Greer, ZZ Packer, Helena Echlin, Lorelei Lee + The Progressive Reading Series All-Star Minstrels

July 19: Neal Pollack, Tara Jepsen, Doug Dorst, Frank Portman, Ethan Canin, Po Bronson

August 16: Jonathan Franzen, Davy Rothbart, Tom Barbash, Michelle Tea, Matthew Eck, April Sinclair

September 20: Daniel Handler, Aimee Bender, Glen David Gold, Jane Ganahl, Katie Crouch

October 8: Joe Loya, Chris Cook, Lisa Margonelli, Will Durst