deluxe footage + quiet lightning road trip 1

A hearty if delayed internet thank you to everyone who came out to our show this past Monday at Club Deluxe. What an incredible venue that was for Quiet Lightning. We started things off with some jazz by some of the finest musicians who frequent Deluxe (find them especially on the days in parentheses, though not only then). We’d like to thank each separately:

Danny Brown on saxophone (Saturdays)
Danny Grewen on trombone (Saturdays)
Michael Parsons on piano (Tuesdays)
Eugene Warren on bass (Thursdays)
Ulf Bjorkbom on drums (Saturdays)

As always, you can read the entire show online for free. Here’s a link. For future reference, you can always come to our website and click on the dropdown menu entitled “READ” and select the show you’d like. Every single show is archived here!

You can also watch videos of the show here. For future reference, or to watch some of our previous shows now, select the dropdown entitled “WATCH” and select your show of choice. You can decide which by checking out our “Readers” page to see who contributed to each show; you can also follow links from that page to each author to find out more information about them.

Soon, you’ll be able to listen to this show as a podcast. Stay tuned for that…

And finally, we’d like to thank this month’s artist, Molly Campbell. Do check out her work, it’s really lovely and she’s very easy to work with.

Poetry Festival Santa Cruz

The moment of truth is at hand: for the first time, Quiet Lightning leaves San Francisco! Please join us: this show will be on Sunday, February 12 at Cocoanut Grove as part of the historic – and for the first time in 30 years revived – annual poetry festival. We are accepting submissions through Wednesday, January 18 and providing transportation and/or a traveling stipend to all accepted authors. We of course want to take as many people as possible; if you have a car and are interested in carpooling, please email Meghan (meghan@quietlightning.org) to coordinate; it’s possible we’ll be able to supplement funds. Find out more about the festival’s other acts here (scroll down for links). This is going to be a momentous occasion and we are thrilled to be a part of it!

Share your story

We want to thank everyone who has shared their experiences with and thoughts about Quiet Lightning. We are putting the final touches on our case statement and would love anything you might be able to add. One sentence descriptions of what you love about the series, the story of how you found out about QL and what it has meant to you, or a paragraph about how you met your significant other at one of our shows — it all helps! If you have the time and something to say, please send it in by the 25th to Evan (evan@quietlightning.org).

A final thanks to everyone! Hope to see you soon. If we don’t cross paths before or during our Santa Cruz road trip, maybe we’ll catch you on March 5 at the Elbo Room—our first time there since our first Neighborhood Heroes show back in June ’10. That was a good one, remember?

club deluxe, poetry festival santa cruz, request for a favor

OK, welcome back to quiet lightning megaverse. We’re going to kick things off with one of the best shows ever:

John Panzer
Roz Wagner
Jarett Kobek
Cassie J. Sneider
Melissa Cistaro
Timothy Walker
Chris Carosi
Zara Raab
Amanda Meth
Boris Glants
Keely Hyslop
Davy Carren

Get ready and get there early. Club Deluxe is swanky but we’re going to be loving this show from one another’s laps (and some seats are especially prime). Why would you doubt it? Remember last month was the Neighborhood Heroes show? You know how those are followed by the best shows? Oh, definitely: Space Gallery, Public WorksThe Emerald Tablet (wait, those are great freaking names, where are we?).

This show, to be held on Monday, January 2, was curated by Charles Kruger and Kristen Kramer, come see! We’re suggesting $5—come, pay what you can. Doors are open early and the show will start no later than 7:30. We’ll be done before 9, even with a healthy drinking/smoking/you’relookinggood break between sets.

Art by the wonderful Molly Campbell! (Look:)

Get your copies here, sucka!

Oh wait, have you been to Club Deluxe?

 

 

 

 

(These pictures fail.)

If that’s not enough to get you happy for the holidays, we’re traveling south on February 12 for Poetry Festival Santa Cruz—our first road trip! We’d love it if you came along. In fact, if you have a car and are willing to drive some of our readers we will pay for your gasoline… and maybe a sandwich! Not only is this our first show out of SF, you guys, but this is historic and kind of a huge deal. The festival was an annual thing with a national pull for a long time, and this is the first year it’s being produced in 30!

With performances by Wanda Coleman, ruth weiss, Jack Hirschman, Genny Lim, Lorna Dee Cervantes, The Ellyn Maybe Band, Stephen Kessler, Charles Curtis Blackwell, Avotcja & Modupue, Jerry Kamstra, A.D. Winans, Gerald Nicosia, Andy Clausen, Mike The Poet, Michael C. Ford (with Ray Manzarek), Marc Olmsted, Gary Young, Quiet Lightning, Ron Lampi, Jane Ormerod, Jennifer Barone with Nova Jazz Band, and Peter Marti.

Click on any one of those links for mind-blowage, and submit to be a part of it here.

Last, if you have a few moments, we’d love for you to add your story to ours:

Looking ahead to 2012, we are very excited about the third year of Quiet Lightning and our first full year as a nonprofit organization. It’s been a wonderful, nonstop, unexpected delight and we appreciate your part in it thus far.

As we begin to apply for grants and seek funding, we need to compile a case statement—a document that tells our story. But the story of Quiet Lightning is by no means contained within the members of our board; our story is not complete without the stories of everyone involved, and we’re hoping you might take a few minutes to put yours into words.

If you’ve had a good experience with Quiet Lightning and believe we do or might provide a valuable role in the literary community of the San Francisco Bay Area, any personal stories, observations, and/or feelings you might share would help us—and thus the community—tremendously.

We’re hoping to begin a serious application campaign by the beginning of February, and to collect all statements by Wednesday, January 25th.

With an outreach committee to cast the broadest possible net across neighborhoods, cities, and cultures, with direct community curation and editorial feedback—rather than standard acceptance and rejection—with time, care, and proper attention, Quiet Lightning might connect all facets of the Bay Area literary world and provide a space that does not discriminate against anything—least of all inexperience.

We ask for your help to realize this vision, and sincerely thank you in advance for your time! Happy holidays, holinights, new years, and beyond everyone! Hope to see you on the 2nd.

Evan Karp
for Quiet Lightning