FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOMArts Cultural Center Presents

FEAST OF WORDS: A LITERARY POTLUCK
San Francisco’s tastiest literary event announces June and July literary and culinary guests before taking a hiatus

San Francisco, CA, June 10, 2013 — SOMArts Cultural Center presents Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck, an intimate dinner party where writers and foodies come together to eat, write, and share. Head to Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck to discover local chefs and writers, bring a dish on the monthly theme and share your on-the-spot writing to be entered in a drawing for edibles, books and other prizes!

On Tuesday, June 18, 7 to 9pm, Feast of Words features Troy Gelobter, one of Feast of Words’ youngest literary guest to date, reading from her play “The Penis Monologues.” SOMArts will provide potluck dishes.

On Tuesday, July 16, 7 to 9pm, Feast of Words features a reading by Mia McKenzie, creator of Black Girl Dangerous, a multi-faceted online forum for the literary and artistic expression of queer and trans people of color. McKenzie will read from “The Summer We Got Free,” a novel about queer love, freedom, and family for which McKenzie recently received the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction.

June’s theme “Zeitgeist” and July’s theme “Convergence Line” are inspired by two multidisciplinary art exhibitions, Zeitgeist and Electronic Pacific, on view in the SOMArts Main Gallery in June and July respectively. Guests may wish to arrive early to visit the exhibitions, which are open 12pm to 7pm on the day of the event. More information about these exhibitions can be found online at www.somarts.org/exhibitions/main-gallery.

As always, guests can bring a dish, take part in a writing exercise and share the work they have created for a chance to win literary and culinary prizes.

House opens at 6:30pm on Tuesdays June 18 and July 16, and space is limited. Tickets are $10 in advance, $5 with a potluck dish, or $12 at the door, cash bar. Purchase tickets online at feastofwords.eventbrite.com.

Following the June and July events, Feast of Words will be on hiatus through Fall 2013.

Troy Gelobter is an actor and a writer who has appeared in the Vagina Monologues as well as a number of other stage productions with the Youth Musical Theater Company and others. She is a sophomore at Berkeley High School and will be attending the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) in the summer of 2013.  She has been acting and writing since the age of eight. Troy was born in New York City and has lived in the San Francisco Bay area for the last several years. She is fluent in English and French and is currently learning Mandarin Chinese.

Mia McKenzie is an award-winning writer and the creator of Black Girl Dangerous. She's a smart, scrappy Philadelphian with a deep love of fake fur collars and people of color. She's a queer black feminist. She studied writing at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the winner of the Lambda Literary Award (2013), the Leeway Foundation's Transformation Award (2012), and the Astraea Foundation's Writers Fund Award (2009). You can find her short stories in “The Kenyon Review” and “make/shift.” Her novel, “The Summer We Got Free,” is the winner of the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction and has been described by author and critic Jewelle Gomez as "a brilliant tapestry filled with exuberance and anxiety,” and by the Lambda Literary review as "achingly poignant, laser-like in its facility and effect." Her live performances include “Queer Rebels of the Harlem Renaissance,” “Mangos With Chili Presents: WHIPPED! QTPOC Recipes For Love, Sex & Disaster,” and “Black Girl Dangerous: Mia McKenzie on Being A Queer Black Femme Nerd In A Ridiculous World,” the last of those being a signature reading of her diverse works, performed at universities across the country. Her work has been quoted on The Melissa Harris Perry Show and  recommended by “The Root,” “Colorlines,” “Feministing,” “Angry Asian Man,” and “Crunk Feminist Collective,” among others.

Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene is an Ijaw and Urhobo Nigerian dyke performance activist, poet, dancer, writer, actress and video artist who was born with a mouth full of dynamite and sugarcane. Etaghene is a mixed-media visual artist who has produced four solo art exhibitions. She uses her poetry to chisel a verbal sculpture of her soul for listeners while addressing social and political issues. Etaghene has toured nationally and performed in over 30 U.S. cities. She was interviewed by and was a contributing writer to “None on Record: Stories of Queer Africa,” a sound documentary project that collects the stories of LGBTI Africans from the African continent and the diaspora. In May 2012, Etaghene founded Sugarcane, an LGBTQ of color writing workshop based in the principles of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People. Through her project, “Kitchen Poems,” she curates events that blend Nigerian and African diasporic foods with various forms of art. “GUAVA,” her second one-woman show, is a multi-media performance that seamlessly blends Nigerian dyke holy texts, poems, dreams, heartbeats & dance while candidly exploring queer African sexuality and the multiple ways immigrants and children of immigrants create home. “GUAVA” debuts on June 17 & 18 at the Garage in San Francisco as part of the Queer Cultural Center’s National Queer Arts Festival.

Calendar Listings

What: Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck (Theme: Zeitgeist)
Where: SOMArts Cultural Center (934 Brannan St, between 8th and 9th)

When: Tuesday, June 18, 2013, 7:00pm–9:00pm, house opens 6:30pm

What else: Tickets are $10 advance, $5 with a potluck dish, and $12 at the door. For more information visit http://feastofwords.somarts.org or write feastofwords@somarts.org

What: Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck  (Theme: Convergence Line)
Where: SOMArts Cultural Center (934 Brannan St, between 8th and 9th)

When: Tuesday, July 16, 2013, 7:00pm–9:00pm, house opens 6:30pm

What else: Tickets are $10 advance, $5 with a potluck dish, and $12 at the door. For more information visit http://feastofwords.somarts.org or write feastofwords@somarts.org

Feast of Words host Jess Young coordinates outreach and serves as the social media voice of SOMArts Cultural Center in her role as Director of Communications & Community Engagement. From 2009–2012 she conducted and edited interviews for Aorta, a radical arts magazine featuring a diversity of emerging and established female, queer and transgender artists, and previously hosted the reading series Tales of the Sissy. She recently shared a true story at The Worst, a reading series created by Brooklyn based author Cassie J. Sneider.

About the SOMArts Studio Series

The SOMArts (South of Market Arts, Resources, Technology, and Services) Studio Series is an informal assemblage of arts classes and events designed to encourage the production of contemporary work by artists of all ages and skill levels in San Francisco.

About SOMArts Cultural Center

SOMArts (South of Market Arts, Resources, Technology, and Services) was founded in 1979 and operates the South of Market Cultural Center, one of four city-owned cultural facilities in San Francisco. SOMArts supports exhibitions, performances, classes and other collaborations that serve its mission: to promote and nurture art on the community level and foster an appreciation of and respect for all cultures.

For more information about upcoming events, space rentals and technical services, visit www.somarts.org or call 415-863-1414. SOMArts programs are supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Community Arts and Education Program, with funding from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund and The San Francisco Foundation.

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