Vermin on the Mount

VERMIN ♥ SD & LA

What's not to love? Two great events sponsored by The Rattling Wall, a new home for Vermin in San Diego, a sweet poster by tattoo artist Rob Benavides of Flying Panther Tattoo, and the blood-red walls of The Mlountain Bar!

SAN DIEGO at 3rdspace on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7pm

TRACI FOUST is the author of Nowhere Near Normal, A Memoir of OCD, acclaimed by National Public Radio, the San Diego Union-Tribune and Marie Claire. Her work has appeared in several journals, including The Nervous Breakdown and the Southern Review. 

SUNNY KATZ enjoys writing about her exploits, misadventures, and the macabre nightmare world crawling around in her brain. Her passions include  cats, video games, and cheese. An old lady once told Sunny Katz that "she is really sweet for a gothic."

DALLAS McLAUGHLIN is a writer and performer for The Aquabats Super Show! You can hear his voice on Yo! Gabba Gabba and read stuff he's written about sports. Dallas is also a playwright and comedian. Follow him on Twitter @dallas_mc.

JOSHUA MOHR is the author of the novels Damascus, Termite Parade and Some Things That Meant the World to Me. He lives in San Francisco.

RAFAEL "BABY BOY" REYES is an artist, tattooer, musician and writer. He lives in San Diego. 

ELENA VELASQUEZ self-published a collection of poems with best friend Eneri Rodriguez in 2008 (now out of print). Studied in the MFA Creative Writing poetry program at San Francisco State University for one year. Now interested in the intersections between the page and the stage. 

Check out San Diego's new home for Vermin on the Mount: 3rdspace, a club for the creative. It's not a cult -- yet...

LOS ANGELES at The Mountain Bar on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8pm

SAMANTHA DUNN is the autgor of the novel Failing Paris (just reissued by AmazonEncore), and the memoirs Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life, and Faith in Carlos Gomez. She co-edited the short story anthology Women on the Edge; Writing from Los Angeles, teaches at the UCLA Writers Program, and serves as the adviser for PEN Center's The Mark program.

TOD GOLDBERG is the author of eleven books, including the novels Living Dead Girl and the popular Burn Notice series, as well as two collections of short stories, Simplify and, most recently, Other Resort Cities. He lives outside of Palm Springs and directs the Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside.

JAMES GREER is the author of the novels Artificial Light  and The Failure, and the non-fiction book Guided By Voices: A Brief History, a biography of a band for which he played bass guitar. He’s written or co-written movies for Lindsay Lohan, Jackie Chan, and Steven Soderbergh, among others. He is a Contributing Editor for the Los Angeles Review of Books.

JOSHUA MOHR is the author of the novels Damascus, Termite Parade and Some Things That Meant the World to Me. He lives in San Francisco.

J. RYAN STRADAL's writing has appeared in Hobart, The Rumpus, McSweeney’s, The Nervous Breakdown, The Faster Times, The Foghorn and more. He volunteers for 826LA and has produced episodes of Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers, most recently working in Bolivia and Peru on the spin-off series Deadliest Roads.

MICHAL LEMBERGER has published both poetry and prose in various print and online publications. She has taught literature at various Los Angeles colleges and universities for over a decade and often despairs at the widespread comma abuse endemic in our culture. 

DAVID SHOOK is a poet, translator, and essayist whose work appears in magazines like Ambit, PN Review, Poetry, and World Literature Today. Kilometer Zero, a poetry documentary he covertly filmed in Equatorial Guinea, is forthcoming in 2012, along with his translation of Mario Bellatin's Shiki Nagaoka: A Nose for Fiction and a selection of Isthmus Zapotec poet Víctor Terán's love poems.

Don't miss the lovefest on Sat. Feb. 11 in SD & Sun. Feb 12 in LA!

 

Look Who's Coming to Vermin (SD): Elena Velasquez

  VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

VELASQUEZ: Have I been lucky, or incredibly unlucky? Inappropriate, and hilarious come to mind. Why didn’t it occur to me that reading explicit poems to a high school audience might upset the administration? I must sound bad, but I was simply reading my most recent work at that time without thinking much at all about any administration. I have greatly appreciated the collective horrified gasp I’ve received when introducing my poem titled I Slept With George W… I don’t even get that kind of synchronized inhalation in my yoga classes.

ELENA VELASQUEZ began on the stage, self-published a collection of poems with best friend Eneri Rodriguez in 2008 (now out of print). Took it to the page, studied in the MFA Creative Writing poetry program at San Francisco State University for one year. Now interested in the intersections between the page and the stage. Loves yoga, craft beer, and Hamilton’s Tavern.

Come see Elena at Vermin on the Mount on Saturday, February 11 at 7pm at 3rdSpace in San Diego.

 

Look Who's Coming to Vermin (LA): David Shook

  VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

SHOOK: Dharma from Dharma and Greg was at the last reading I gave in LA, fawning over the poets and snapping our photos. She asked me for my Twitter handle so she could @ at me. She looked pretty familiar, but I had no idea who she was until I saw her tweet later. What's her real name? I think she's an Elfman. She kept closing the doors to keep out the noise, and she live-tweeted the whole thing. Dharma definitely respects poetry more than I do.

DAVID SHOOK is a poet, translator, and essayist whose work appears in magazines like Ambit, PN Review, Poetry, and World Literature Today. Kilometer Zero, a poetry documentary he covertly filmed in Equatorial Guinea, is forthcoming in 2012, along with his translation of Mario Bellatin's Shiki Nagaoka: A Nose for Fiction and a selection of Isthmus Zapotec poet Víctor Terán's love poems.

Come see David Shook at Vermin on the Mount on Sunday, February 12 at 8pm at the Mountain Bar in L.A.'s Chinatown! 

Look Who's Coming to Vermin (SD): Sunny Katz

VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

KATZ: The most unusual thing that happened to me at a reading was at a So Say We All event. The theme was Growing Pains. I wrote a story about my most humiliating high school experience. Spoiler Alert, I peed on a guy's shoulders in front of the entire marching band. See the video here. I was having a never ending internal debate over whether or not I should pee before going on stage, if I had enough time to pee, or if I really had to pee at all. After an agonizingly long period of time, I reached the conclusion that I did have to make yellow and that it would be in my best interest to go to the bathroom. As I opened the door, my name was called and I was forced to hold it. The entire time I was reading I kept thinking how horrifying it would be if I once again whoopsie peed in front of people. In retrospect, I suppose this particular case would be more ironic than scary. Spoiler alert #2, I didn't pee in my pants on stage. I'm not sure if this even counts as unusual. Worst case scenario, it doesn't and I have bored you to death. Best case scenario, it still doesn't but you now have an uncontrollable urge to buy me lots of anime. 

SUNNY KATZ enjoys writing about her exploits, misadventures, and the macabre nightmare world crawling around in her brain. Her passions include, but are not limited to, cats, video games, and cheese. She finds referring to herself in the third person incredibly weird and almost as uncomfortable as writing a biography. An old lady once told Sunny Katz that "she is really sweet for a gothic."

Come see Sunny at Vermin on the Mount on Saturday, February 11 at 7pm at 3rdSpace in San Diego.

Look Who's Coming to Vermin (LA): Tod Goldberg

VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

GOLDBERG: I've had a lot of unusual experiences at readings over the years -- I have the unique ability to attract the clinically insane to events, so it doesn't even need to be a reading, really, it could just be an event like, say, going to Trader Joe's where strange and unfortunate things happen to me. Recently, though, I did a reading at a bar in New York called The Happy Ending Lounge. It used to be a massage parlor and still smelled like people were actively having sex on the premises. But that's not the unusual thing. The unusual thing was that there was another guy reading that night who, during the entire course of his time on the mic, yanked on his balls like they owed him money. At first, I thought it was some sort of performance art thing -- his piece was about a girl who wouldn't have sex with him, as I recall (and in retrospect, who can blame her?) -- but, no, it turned out he just really liked yanking on his nuts. It was one of the few times in my life where I felt like one of the more appropriate and sane people in the room. 

TOD GOLDBERG is the author of eleven books, including the novels Living Dead Girl and the popular Burn Notice series, as well as two collections of short stories, Simplify and, most recently, Other Resort Cities. He lives outside of Palm Springs and directs the Low Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside.

Come see Tod Goldberg read at Vermin on the Mount on Sunday, February 12 at 8pm at the Mountain Bar in L.A.'s Chinatown!

Look Who's Coming to Vermin (SD): Dallas McLaughlin

VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

McLAUGHLIN: My most unusual experience at a reading was after I had read a piece. I went to the bathroom and overheard a woman trying to explain to her boyfriend why she thought my piece was funny. He thought it was stupid, but she was really into it. They ended up getting into a small fight about it, which ended up with the guy yelling, "Who gives a shit!" and walking out. I flushed and tried to escape the room unnoticed, but the girl saw me and yelled, "Thanks a lot!" then she walked out after her boyfriend. Greatest leak I ever took.

DALLAS McLAUGHLIN is a writer and performer for The Aquabats Super Show! You can hear his voice on Yo! Gabba Gabba and read stuff he's written about sports. Dallas is also a playwright and comedian. Follow him on Twitter @dallas_mc.

Come see Dallas read at Vermin on the Mount on Saturday, February 11 at 7pm at 3rdSpace in San Diego!

Look Who's Coming to Vermin (LA): Michal Lemberger

She's the one who's not Cher.

VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

LEMBERGER: The most unusual, or anyway most recently unusual, experience occurred at a reading held here in LA. It was one in a long-running series organized by the man who acted as chair of my dissertation committee back when I was in grad school. The poet was a friend with whom I went to grad school and who has since gone on to some acclaim as a poet and memoirist. Naturally, I went over to say hello and catch up after the reading, and to congratulate her on her great success. Standing next to her was my former advisor, who not only did not acknowledge my presence, he actually walked away as soon as I approached. It's not often that one can say she's been snubbed so obviously and clumsily in a public forum.

MICHAL LEMBERGER discovered poetry when she was 11 years old and found that writing poems got her out of doing other work assigned by a particularly sentimental teacher. He went on to be fired for having an affair with one of the assistant teachers, which may or may not have affected Michal's writing. She has published both poetry and prose in various print and online publications. She has taught literature at various Los Angeles colleges and universities for over a decade and often despairs at the widespread comma abuse endemic in our culture. 

Come see Michal Lemberger read at Vermin on the Mount L.A. Sunday, February 12 at 8pm.

Three Things You Need to Know

1) VOTM Has a New Home in San Diego!

VOTM is proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with 3rdspace: a modular, dynamic hub of creativity and connectivity in San Diego, where the co-working experience is complimented by unique events.

The first Vermin on the Mount at 3rdspace will be held on Saturday, February 11 at 7pm. 3rdspace is located at 4610 Park Boulevard 
-- directly in front of the University Heights sign. Enjoy a night of irreverent readings with: 

Traci Foust (Nowhere Near Normal)

Sunny Katz (Mecha $unny vs. The Internet)

Dallas McLaughlin (Yo Gabba Gabba)

Joshua Mohr (Damascus, Termite Parade, Some Things That Meant the World to Me)

Rafael “Baby Boy” Reyes (Living Dangerously)

Elena Velasquez (San Diego poet)

2) VOTM Loves Chinatown! 

What better way to get a jump on Valentine’s Day than a night of tongue wrestling at The Mountain Bar in L.A.’s Chinatown on Sunday, February 12 at 8pm.

Samantha Dunn (Failing Paris, Not By Accident, Faith in Carlos Gomez)

Tod Goldberg (Living Dead Girl, Fake Liar Cheat, Simplify, Other Resort Cities)

James Greer (Guided By Voices, Artificial Light, The Failure)

Joshua Mohr (Damascus, Termite Parade, Some Things That Meant the World to Me)

J. Ryan Stradal (Hobart, Rumpus, McSweeney’s)

Michal Lemberger (L.A. poet)

David Shook (L.A. poet, translator, editor)

If there’s something about this list that seems familiar, that’s because…

3) The Rattling Wall Loves Vermin!

The hot new L.A. literary magazine is sponsoring both Vermin on the Mount events! The reading at The Mountain Bar in L.A. will feature a battle between readers from Issue 1 and Issue 2 (and Joshua Mohr caught in the crossfire). It’s going to be an epic night of irreverent interactivity. Copies of Issue 2 of The Rattling Wall will be available at 3rdspace in S.D. and The Mountain Bar in L.A.

Save the dates and plan on spending part of Valentine's Week with 3rdspace, The Mountain Bar and The Rattling Wall!

 

Look Who's Coming to Vermin: Jen Hofer

VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

HOFER: Probably when I read at Links Hall in Chicago, alongside some formerly incarcerated men who had spent years--sometimes decades--in brutal solitary confinement at the TAMMS high-security prison in Illinois, and were using performances of their own narratives of experience with our so-called justice system as a way to raise awareness and hopefully transform these prisons into more humane spaces for education and restorative justice. Amazing intersection of activism and creative production--an enormous contribution to my own thinking (and often anxiety) about what the uses of art/poetry might be in this difficult world we inhabit.

Then again, there was the time many years ago when a fellow approached me after a reading where I was met with particularly intense blank stares due to my tendencies to think and write non-linearly, and offered the following compliment: "you enunciate really well."

JEN HOFER is a poet, translator, social justice interpreter, teacher, knitter, book-maker, public letter-writer, and urban cyclist. Her recent and forthcoming poem sequences and translations are available through various autonomous small presses including: Atelos, Counterpath Press, Dusie Books, Insert Press, Kenning Editions, Les Figues Press, Palm Press, and Subpress. Her installation titled “Uncovering: A Quilted Poem Made from Donated and Foraged Materials from Wendover, Utah” is currently on view at the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Utah. She also writes letters for people in public spaces at her escritorio público, and makes tiny books by hand at her kitchen table in Cypress Park, Los Angeles.

 

Look Who's Coming to Vermin: Peter Orner

VOTM: Wha'ts the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

ORNER: In Seattle once I read to a single, sleeping postman who'd come into the store to get out of the rain. It was kind of nice, peaceful almost. I've long gotten over the lonely humiliation that often comes with what I do. When he woke up I stole one of my own books from the unsold stack and gave it to him. He stuck it in his gray bag along with the rest of the undelivered mail and went forth. 

PETER ORNER is the author of numerous books, including the novel Love and Shame and Love, published by Little, Brown to wide acclaim in November 2011. 

Look Who's Coming to Vermin: Chris Daley

VOTM: What's the most unusual experience you've ever had at a reading?

DALEY: An ex-boyfriend dragged me to a non-ironic Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of Queens, where we were going to see a reading/performance by a post-punk icon (PPI). I’m not clear on why the PPI chose this venue. We waited around for a bit, drinking weak margaritas, until he finally arrived on the makeshift stage. Rather than read, the PPI started to share an anecdote about something that had happened to him a few years back. At first, there was the thrill of hearing whatever he had to say, but at maybe the half hour mark, that feeling morphed into a discomfort that this story was going on way too long. As the tale persisted, the discomfort became a growing anger that the PPI did not care how long the story went on, and he continued to talk. And talk. And talk. Until the anger was replaced by a dawning wonderment that at this point, we were participants in some kind of performance art, an endurance ritual, a communal experience from which we might never escape.

CHRIS DALEY teaches writing and sometimes actually writes. During the day, she works at Caltech, teaching juvenile geniuses the chemistry of words. In the evening, she facilitates the creative nonfiction workshops for Writing Workshops LA at her home in Los Feliz. She has published nonfiction in various academic and literary journals and the Los Angeles Times. She is currently at work on a linked story collection centered on a book she hallucinated while writing her dissertation – Urban Fervor: Los Angeles Literature and Alternative Religion – in three frantic months. In this delirious artifact, a group of housewives in the Valley turn into colossal Amazons as the result of a radiation explosion and torment the citizens of 1930s Los Angeles.