DODIE BELLAMY
HOSTS A COLLECTIVE READING OF
KEVIN KILLIAN'S
AMAZON REVIEWS
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Limited capacity
HOSTS A COLLECTIVE READING OF
KEVIN KILLIAN'S
AMAZON REVIEWS
Become a member and save on tickets
Limited capacity
Thursday,
December 12, 2024
6:30pm
Doors open
7pm
Event begins
with:
Wayne Koestenbaum
Lee Ann Brown
Lonely Christopher
Dia Felix
Kay Gabriel
Stephen Ira
Journey Streams
Lynne Tillman
December 12, 2024
6:30pm
Doors open
7pm
Event begins
with:
Wayne Koestenbaum
Lee Ann Brown
Lonely Christopher
Dia Felix
Kay Gabriel
Stephen Ira
Journey Streams
Lynne Tillman
Ever have one of those days when your alarm clock rings and you bound out of bed and even before you get to a mirror you know your hair is out of control? Some call it “Bedhead” but on me, it’s like the enchanted broccoli forest. For years I’ve been looking for a cheap, elegant solution to the problem of overnight curl, and now thanks to the good people at HAT I think I’ve found it.
This is how the late Kevin Killian began one the many reviews he wrote on Amazon. This one, written in 2006, is for the HAT Straightening Boar Hair Brush (Teal).
Between 2003 and 2019, he wrote more than two thousand others. Reviews of duct tape, of cookbooks, of the Highland Black Rainproof Car Top Carrier and Duffel Bag (Pack of 2) or the Brillo® Hotel Size Soap Pad. He rose to Amazon's rarefied “Top 100” and “Hall of Fame” status.
This is how the late Kevin Killian began one the many reviews he wrote on Amazon. This one, written in 2006, is for the HAT Straightening Boar Hair Brush (Teal).
Between 2003 and 2019, he wrote more than two thousand others. Reviews of duct tape, of cookbooks, of the Highland Black Rainproof Car Top Carrier and Duffel Bag (Pack of 2) or the Brillo® Hotel Size Soap Pad. He rose to Amazon's rarefied “Top 100” and “Hall of Fame” status.
The writer and poet Dodie Bellamy, Kevin's wife and widow, hosts a celebration of Kevin's new book: Selected Amazon Reviews (Semiotext[e], 2024). Co-editors Hedi El Kholti and Robert Dewhurst read all the reviews (over a million words), which, they tell us, all subvert the Amazon platform, queering it to his own play with language, identity, genre, and critique.
Dodie begins with a conversation with Wayne Koestenbaum, who wrote the book's introduction. Then, a group of other writers each read a few reviews of their choice, including Lee Ann Brown, Lonely Christopher, Dia Felix, Kay Gabriel, Stephen Ira, Journey Streams, and Lynne Tillman.
“They’re reviews of a sort,” Kevin has said, “but they also seem like novels. They’re poems. They’re essays about life. I get a lot of my kinks out there, on Amazon.”
Organized with Anthony Huberman
Dodie begins with a conversation with Wayne Koestenbaum, who wrote the book's introduction. Then, a group of other writers each read a few reviews of their choice, including Lee Ann Brown, Lonely Christopher, Dia Felix, Kay Gabriel, Stephen Ira, Journey Streams, and Lynne Tillman.
“They’re reviews of a sort,” Kevin has said, “but they also seem like novels. They’re poems. They’re essays about life. I get a lot of my kinks out there, on Amazon.”
Organized with Anthony Huberman
Kevin Killian (1952 - 2019) was a poet, author, editor, and playwright. For decades, he was a charismatic participant in San Francisco's New Narrative writing circle. He was the co-founder of the Poets Theater, an influential poetry, stage, and performance group, and co-edited My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer (2009) with Peter Gizzi.
Dodie Bellamy (b. 1951, USA) is novelist, poet, and essayist, who, in her own words, champions the vulnerable, the fractured, the disenfranchised, the fucked-up. Recent books include Bee Reaved (Semiotext[e], 2021) and When the Sick Rule the World (Semiotext[e], 2015), among others. She and Kevin Killian I edited Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative 1977-1997 (Nightboat, 2017). She lives in San Francisco.
Wayne Koestenbaum (b. 1958, USA) is a poet, critic, novelist, artist, and performer. He has published 23 books, most recently Stubble Archipelago (Semiotext[e], 2024). He is a Distinguished Professor of English, French, and Comparative Literature at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.
Dodie Bellamy (b. 1951, USA) is novelist, poet, and essayist, who, in her own words, champions the vulnerable, the fractured, the disenfranchised, the fucked-up. Recent books include Bee Reaved (Semiotext[e], 2021) and When the Sick Rule the World (Semiotext[e], 2015), among others. She and Kevin Killian I edited Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative 1977-1997 (Nightboat, 2017). She lives in San Francisco.
Wayne Koestenbaum (b. 1958, USA) is a poet, critic, novelist, artist, and performer. He has published 23 books, most recently Stubble Archipelago (Semiotext[e], 2024). He is a Distinguished Professor of English, French, and Comparative Literature at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York.
Lee Ann Brown (b. 1963, Japan) is a poet, curator, and the founder of Tender Buttons Press. Editorial projects include Far from the Centers of Ambition, a tribute anthology for Black Mountain College that includes Kevin Killian's play The Last Days of Black Mountain.
Lonely Christopher (b. 1987, USA) is a multidisciplinary queer experimental writer of poetry, fiction, and drama for stage and screen. He is the founding creative director of Inter Poets Theater, managing director of the Segue Foundation, and an editor for Roof Books.
Dia Felix (b. 1976, USA) is an experimental writer and producer living in the Hudson Valley. Works include the Lambda-nominated novel Nochita (City Lights/Sister Spit), the love-drunk poetry chapbook YOU YOU YOU, (Projective Industries), and the LA-fabulist short fiction A Star is Drunk (Third Man Books.)
Kay Gabriel (b. Canada) is a writer and organizer. She’s the author of A Queen in Bucks County and Kissing Other People or the House of Fame, both from Nightboat. She’s the Editorial Director at the Poetry Project.
Stephen Ira (b. 1992, USA) is a transsexual poet with a performance practice. He wrote a chapbook called Chasers (New Michigan 2023) and he lives in New York.
Journey Streams (b.1999, USA) is a writer and an artist. She is regular contributor to Documents Journal.
Lynne Tillman (b. 1947, USA) is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. Her book of selected stories, THRILLED TO DEATH, comes out in March from Soft Skull Press.
Lonely Christopher (b. 1987, USA) is a multidisciplinary queer experimental writer of poetry, fiction, and drama for stage and screen. He is the founding creative director of Inter Poets Theater, managing director of the Segue Foundation, and an editor for Roof Books.
Dia Felix (b. 1976, USA) is an experimental writer and producer living in the Hudson Valley. Works include the Lambda-nominated novel Nochita (City Lights/Sister Spit), the love-drunk poetry chapbook YOU YOU YOU, (Projective Industries), and the LA-fabulist short fiction A Star is Drunk (Third Man Books.)
Kay Gabriel (b. Canada) is a writer and organizer. She’s the author of A Queen in Bucks County and Kissing Other People or the House of Fame, both from Nightboat. She’s the Editorial Director at the Poetry Project.
Stephen Ira (b. 1992, USA) is a transsexual poet with a performance practice. He wrote a chapbook called Chasers (New Michigan 2023) and he lives in New York.
Journey Streams (b.1999, USA) is a writer and an artist. She is regular contributor to Documents Journal.
Lynne Tillman (b. 1947, USA) is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. Her book of selected stories, THRILLED TO DEATH, comes out in March from Soft Skull Press.
Due to the age and character of the building, the space is not optimized for ADA accessibility and is located up a single flight of 20 stairs with handrails. If you have questions about access, please contact us in advance of the event, and we will make every effort to accommodate you.
