It is time once again to invite you to a Tuesday Funk Reading. After our one-month hiatus, we are back to bring you awesome readers, awesome beers, and cool company. So if you’re a TF veteran, welcome back! And if you’re new to TF, what the hell are you waiting for?
April National Address is to be a real reading circle! Please bring a book with you, of any genre, length, origin, & content. Choose one you are very familiar with – you are going to want to be able to think of a passage, & flip to it. Don’t choose one you are uncomfortable reading aloud. Everyone will be involved.
National Address is the Gothic Funk Nation’s official reading circle, a safe and friendly place to informally workshop works-in-progress. Consisting of readings and round table discussions, the National Address aims to provide a forum for writers of all Gothicly Funky stripes and a voice for the Gothic Funk Nation. Attendance is open and participants are welcome to bring unsolicited material.
National Address
Thursday, April 22, 7-9pm
Barista Coffee House, 852 N Damen Ave.
Hi all. This is Reinhardt here, co-host of the Tuesday Funk Reading Series. Normally, you’d be looking at this and reading the info for our illustrious reading coming up. However, due to a semi-unfortunate event (a beer brewer’s conference coming to Chicago in early April). our lovely venue cannot host us in April. So, alas, we will take a short hiatus until May 4, when we will come back better than ever!
Until then, have at thee.
Love, Reinhardt (also on behalf of Connor Coyne and Hallie Palladino)
National Address is the Gothic Funk Nation’s official reading circle, a safe and friendly place to informally workshop works-in-progress. Consisting of readings and round table discussions, the National Address aims to provide a forum for writers of all Gothicly Funky stripes and a voice for the Gothic Funk Nation. Attendance is open and participants are welcome to bring unsolicited material.
National Address
Thursday, March 25, 7-9pm
Barista Coffee House, 852 N Damen Ave.
RSVP on Facebook
Please join us on Tuesday, March 2nd for the third Tuesday Funk Reading of 2010.
Hopleaf Bar at 5148 N. Clark Street
Reading starts 7:30 PM.
Upstairs room opens 7:00 PM.
Come early to get a good seat.
Cash only at the bar upstairs.
The Gothic Funk Nation offers its deepest sympathies to all of those who have been displaced, injured, and lost in the tragic earthquake in Haiti. We encourage all past and present participants in Gothic Funk Projects to contribute to relief efforts.
The mainstream media, focusing on the enormity of the catastrophe, has neglected to acquaint Americans with the remarkable and often tragic history of this near neighbor. With a population of over ten million, Haiti is one of the most densely populated nations in the world. The arrival of Columbus marks Haiti’s entrance into modern history. He brought with him European policy tantamount to genocide and diseases that sparked epidemics in the native population.
In 1791, responding in part to the rhetoric of freedom espoused by revolutions creating the (slavery-promoting) republics of France and the United States, slaves in Saint-Domingue, Hispanola, rose up in rebellion. The movement later expanded throughout the island and successfully rebuffed takeover attempts by the British, the Spaniards, and the French. Haiti, whose name is taken from its indigenous Taíno inhabitants, became (and remains) the only nation in the world to have been established through a slave revolution. The history of Haiti has involved frequent intervention and occupation by major world powers, including the United States, as well as dictatorships, extreme poverty, and frequent natural disasters.
However, Haiti has also given the world a unique and special perspective which is enduring and valuable to the Gothic Funk Nation specifically. Half of our ideas, “funk,” are derived from the French usage of the word fumus, or “smoke.” This complex and ancient word acquired many of its present connotations (aesthetic, sensory, and sexual) through the work of musicians like James Brown and Little Richard. The traditions of the African Diaspora, as carried over to Caribbean and American slave communities, inspired these artists. Faith traditions such as Vodou and Santería are highly developed in Haiti and the scope of their influence cannot be denied. These traditions not only form the dynamic foundations of American funk, but their affinity for the uncanny and the organic has impacted two centuries of southern gothic stylings.
The best conversations about Gothic Funk talk about a convergence between the spiritual and physical worlds, the possibility of progress through faith and ambitious humility, the paradox of human existence, and the preciousness and fragility of a living community. Our collective and cultural debt to Haiti should never be underestimated.
It is with all seriousness that we encourage you, once more, to make a donation to relief efforts in Haiti.
Your donation may be paid to the American Red Cross:
http://www.redcross.org/en/
Thank you for your consideration.
The Gothic Funk Nation Steering Committee
Dear Citizen,
The last year has been a busy one for the Gothic Funk Nation.
Because we’ve been more busy of late, and because many leaders in this group have been going through major life changes (from having a child to purchasing a house) we’re taking a look at what can stay the same and what has to change. We ultimately decided to form a steering committee of five members who will:
– ensure that Gothic Funk projects are in communication with each other
– so far as is desirable, set agendas for the Nation as a whole and articulate this
– coordinate efforts to throw parties and cross-promote across different projects
– keep open lines of communication between participants and attendees
– explore and pursue a rigorous understanding of the words “gothic funk” in a contemporary context
I am happy to announce that we have finished assembling this committee as follows:
CONNOR COYNE, representative from The Paramanu Pentaquark arts journal
SKYLAR MORAN, representative from National Address reading circle
ELIZABETH MOYLAN, member-at-large
AMBER STAAB, member-at-large
REINHARDT SUAREZ, representative from Tuesday Funk reading series
We will send you updates from time to time about the choices we make and developments in the Nation, and will also be resuming monthly Announcement emails starting this February.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me at: connor@gothicfunk.org
Best wishes,
Connor Coyne
and
The Gothic Funk Nation Steering Committee
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