OUT LOUD!! You're Invited
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You're Invited...
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Come hear Shanghai Writers
Out Loud!!
Featuring
Sarit Monastyrski, Carol Becker
&
Richard Watkins
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
4:00 pm
@
The Glamour Bar
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If you ask me what I came to do this in this world,
I, an artist will answer you: I am here to live out loud."
-Emile Zola
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Greetings!
The time has come for another Out Loud!! Reading.
Come to the Glamour Bar this Sunday, November 13th, at 4:00pm to listen to Shanghai writers, featuring Sarit Monastyrki, Carol Becker and Richard Watkins.
Sip on a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Curl up in a comfy chair. And listen. What better way to spend a late Sunday afternoon?
This Sunday's Reading will be guest-hosted by Writer/Poet and co-author of Thrive, Lisa Blunt-Rochester.
Readings by Sarit, Carol and Richard will be followed by open-mic sessions. (Please note that there will be a limited number of open-mic readers. Come early to sign up. Open-mic readers must be 18 years old to participate. Complete guidelines are listed below.)
I look forward to seeing you.
Ruth Kuguru
Curator
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MEET THE FEATURED READERS
| SARIT MONASTYRSKI & CAROL BECKER
 
Both Sarit and Carol moved to Shanghai in 2007 and met in the world's tiniest classroom in a Mandarin school. Their teacher, a 'ferocious' Dragon Lady, taught them Mandarin for three years and inspired them to write their first book together: a humorous 'semi-autobiographical' novel set in 2010 Shanghai entitled, The Revolving Doors of Shanghai. Their book is an incisive satire of expatriate life where the authors caricature themselves with Sarit a lost expatriated Swedish housewife, and Carol an extravagant French fashionista cougar.
In the real life, Sarit was born in Italy but grew up in Sweden. She has a journalistic background, working for the national radio in Sweden for more than 15 years. She still works for the radio during the summers broadcasting shows and annual big outdoor events.
Carol is French but lived in Vancouver and London for many years. She traveled the world as a marketer for the Louis Vuitton Group for more than ten years, worked as a freelance for marketing and communications missions in Shanghai, and now develops new media concepts for trend conscious consumers. Sarit and Carol have now started writing their second novel together.
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RICHARD WATKINS
 Richard Watkins brings vast thoughts packaged in subtle phrases, and sparkling delivery. A familiar face on the vibrant London poetry scene, he has also graced stages in Australia and across the US. Since arriving in Shanghai earlier this year he has performed at venues across the city, opened the Naked Retreats By Candlelight festival in Morganshan, and was part of the team that started United Verses 译站, a cross-cultural project where Chinese and English language poets mutually translate each other's work. Richard is also handy with a sketchbook, and the man behind Pen Paper Pause (penpapepause.com), a blog of his literary art that turned into a book, a gallery show and a collaboration with 40 other artists.
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GUIDELINES FOR OPEN-MIC READERS
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Are you a writer living in Shanghai? Interested in reading at the next Out Loud!! on November 13th?
Terrific!
Open-Mic Readers can sign up at the Glamour Bar on the day of the event. You can read up to 650 words (approx. 2 double-spaced pages).
Length will be strictly monitored, so be sure your piece meets the requirements. (NOTE: I will be wielding a large sheep's hook with which she will pull from the stage any reader who attempts to defy the guidelines by reading his or her 650-page memoir!)
Open-mic readers may read fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.
All readers must read from a paper copy of their work. Sorry, no laptops.
If you have questions about what to read or have never read to a live audience, feel free to drop me a line at outloud@publishedbygrace.com.
NOTE: Open-mic readers must be over 18 to participate.
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| TIPS FOR OPEN-MIC READERS |
HOW TO CHOOSE A PIECE
THAT WILL GRAB (AND HOLD)
THE AUDIENCE'S ATTENTION
The word limit for the open-mic session is 650 words. This is approximately four minutes of reading time, give or take thirty seconds. Not all pieces of writing work well given these constraints. Here are a few tips for deciding how to choose a piece that will grab (and hold) your audience's attention:
* Choose a piece that stands on its own. (Remember, you're not going to have time to introduce or set up your piece. Choose a piece in which what is happening is clear from the very first word.)
* Choose a scene (a scene has three elements: action, dialogue, setting). In other words, people are talking and doing something in a particular place.
* Choose a piece that starts right at the moment something is happening. (A good place to start if you were Karen Connelly reading from The Lizard Cage would be page 90--"Teza smiles when the metal bolts of the window trap starting clicking.")*
* Choose a funny piece. (A good place to start if you were Amy Krouse Rosenthal reading from the memoir Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life would be in the middle of page 80--"While getting my annual checkup at the doctor's, the nurse says, as she's preparing to draw blood from my arm, You've got great veins. Thanks, I say, as if it were a compliment, as if I had anything to do with the creation of my veins.")**
* Choose a piece about sex. (If you were Audrey Niffenegger reading from The Time Traveler's Wife, you might begin reading in the middle of page 18--"We are in my lobby"--and stop reading on page 20--"She pinches my nipples, hard. The hell with virtue. I've figured out the mechanics of her dress.")***
* Choose a funny piece about sex. (A good place to start if you were Sherman Alexie reading from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian would be near the bottom of page 25--"Most guys, no matter what age, get excited about curves and circles, but not me. Don't get me wrong. I like girls and their curves. And I really like women and their curvier curves.")
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Polish up a journal entry. Maybe a dream, a letter never sent, or a description of a place.
Make sense?
I look forward to hearing your pieces.
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*Connelly, Karen. The Lizard Cage. Vintage, London, 2008.
** Rosenthal, Amy Krouse. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. Three Rivers Press, New York, 2005.
***Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler's Wife. Vintage, London, 2005.
****Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little, Brown and Company, New York, 2007.
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WHY READ OUT LOUD!!
| Glad you asked. Here are a few reasons:
- experience the thrill of reading to a live, supportive audience
- listen to your storytelling voice
- get inspired
- have fun! (Yes, I know. It can be a wee bit scary to read to a room full of people, but the more you do it, the more comfortable you get and the more you learn about your own writing.)
- mingle and talk shop with the Shanghai writing community
- because your work could be included in the upcoming SHANGHAI OUT LOUD!! publication
- be the star!
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Curator Ruth Kuguru is, among other things, an author. Her debut non-fiction anthology Thrive (Grace Publishing) was publish ed in June, 2010.
With a deep appreciation for writers who find the discipline, determination and inspiration to write, and simply a lover of a good story, Ruth is honored to carry the Out Loud!! torch. |
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