Tags
89.3 The Current, Bedlam Theatre, Biblio Bash, books, Coffee House Press, dylan hicks, Lightsey Darst, Literature, Minneapolis, poetry, Sarah Fox
If there was ever any question as to whether bookish people know how to get down, last night’s Biblio Bash (a literary carnival/benefit for Coffee House Press) was cold, hard proof. Located at the old Grain Belt bottling house on 13th Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis near the site of the Coffee House office, this vibrant carnival-themed party featured interactive performances, theatrical stagings, delicious carnival fare and ample opportunity for mingling. While I’ve attended several impressive literary events this year (i.e. Super Super Tuesday and the Great Twin Cities Poetry Read) that transcend the foldout chairs/quiet applause model characteristic of readings and book talks, Biblio Bash so far takes the cake in terms of originality and all out party-ness.
As stated on the Coffee House website, “Biblio Bash is focused on engagement and participation. We want to encourage our readers to literally interact with our authors and books, stage dramatic interpretations, play games, and create their own unique experiences of our mission.”
Volunteering at the coat check for the first few hours of the evening, I was able to take pretty thorough stock of everyone in attendance. There were quite a few familiars from Coffee House Press and Milkweed Editions, a handful of authors I’ve seen at other recent events, and a host of pumped-up Twin Cities bookworms ready to party. Dressed in jeans, t-shirts, suit coats or cocktail dresses, guests roved about the spacious and dimly lit venue playing scrabble with authors, making book-related crafts, participating in crowd-based theatrical performances, munching on popcorn and brats, sippin on dranks and dancing to music by DJ Jackie Fuller from 89.3 The Current.
When my shift at the coat check ended, I enjoyed a Summit EPA while catching the tail end of Dylan Hicks performing Sings Bolling Greene, the musical companion to his brand new novel Boarded Windows. I stopped to arrange a few words at the magnetic poetry station, ate lots of veggie pita, and participated in a community text activity facilitated by a couple of actors from Bedlam Theatre traversing the room with a wheelchair and a typewriter. “We were interns,” I soliloquized when they suggested I say something to add to the script, “but now we have black dresses.”
For me, the highlight of the evening was a dance performance by poets Lightsey Darst and Sarah Fox. I sat down on a metal chair in the Coffee House office expecting some sort of recital where they (the poets) were the stars and we (the audience) were the spectators, but the “performance” ended up being an interactive activity where the audience formed human sculptures based on lines of poetry read aloud by Darst and Fox. We all stood in a circle and joined the sculpture when the line or word we had been assigned was read aloud. Beers in hand, we crouched, knelt, held hands, reached for the sky, spread our wings and giggled. Authors, publishers, volunteers and book lovers of all persuasions were united in this playful, physical, slightly awkward literary party game, and it was absolutely delightful.
-by kasey