litpunk

11 Things: LitPunk

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Comparing late 1970s America with present-day America seems to become easier with each passing day. The downswing in the economy, the upswing in lawlessness, the seemingly nationwide post-traumatic political disorder, the DIY-direction of music and media allow comparisons to one-up contrasts almost effortlessly. This weekend's LitPunk event provides us with another one-up victory for comparisons. What is it? An alternative to LitQuake. Why now? We contacted the LitPunk creators and asked them to explain:


John Shirley (author and former punk-rock front man)

1. "Local literary festivals seem too mainstream and not inclusive enough of genre - and festering deep in my brain is a lesion, or possibly a memory, of the vital intensity of punk rock and how it can be fused with words on the artistic level; anger mated with satire giving birth to irony that mates again with anger, giving birth to ... LitPunk!"

2. "Richard Kadrey, Charles Gatewood, Rain Graves, Blag, Michael Layne-Heath, Johnny Strike, Charlie Anders and I know perfectly well that it is completely impossible to shock San Francisco, especially with literature and performance art, but somebody has to try. The edge is out there somewhere. We're blindly feeling our way along the pavement, looking for it."

Blag Dahlia (The Dwarves)

3. "The new Youth Brigade movie - how did a punk band no one wants to listen to wind up making the best documentary of the year?"

4. "Franz Kafka - he died miserable and alone with nothing published, sure that his existence had no value whatsoever. Sounds pretty punk to me!"

5. "No one bought my records or my books, yet young girls from all over the world still insist on sleeping with me just to infuriate their parents. Long live the Dwarves!"

Charlie Anders (author and "Writers With Drinks" impresario)

6. "Literary peeps and punk rockers totally belong together because we have wacky hair, hate bathing and can't dance to save our lives."

7. "Writers are born crusty! And just get crustier!"

8. "If the staff at Dog Eared Books and Modern Times and Borderlands formed a band together, I would go to all their gigs and let them pierce whatever part of me they wanted. It would be that hard-core."

Johnny Strike (author and Crime front man)

9. "I consider my short stories like punk rock songs: short, raw and at times ending in sublime chaos. They're collected in 'A Loud Humming Sound Came From Above.' "

10. "I'm a crime writer. It's all the same to me."

11. LitPunk takes place 7:30-9:30 p.m. Sat. $5. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., San Francisco. (415) 647-2888. www.makeoutroom.com or www.johnshirley.net.

- Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/NSM6161UFI.DTL

This article appeared on page F - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle