Tag Archives: Live Events

Stroud Short Stories is Open for Submissions until 8 March 2020

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Stroud Short Stories is currently open for submissions for its special 20th event which is dedicated to Stroud writer Rick Vick who sadly died at the end of November. There were obituaries for Rick in The Times and The Guardian. Here is the latter.
 
The event is for all Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire writers. The theme this time is DISRUPTION. Submissions are free and you may submit unpublished or published stories. Ten stories will be selected and their authors will read/perform them at our event.
The deadline is the end of Sunday 8 March and the event is on Sunday 19 April at the 150-seater Cotswold Playhouse. Tickets will go on sale on 20 March.
 
All information about submitting is on the Stroud Short Stories website.

Story Friday LEAP! Call for submissions

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Story Friday in February has the theme LEAP! in celebration of 2020 as a leap year. Story Friday is on 28th February, the day before the leaping day, and we want to revel in the glory of this springing theme! Whether your stories feature proposals or boxing hares, Christmas lords or death defying jumps, we are so looking forward to reading what you come up with!

Story Friday LEAP! will be on 28th February, deadline for submissions is 17th February. We’re looking for stories that are 2,000 words or fewer.  (Full submission details are here).  Writers must be available to come to Bath for the event.  If you’d rather not read, we have wonderful actors who can read your story for you.

For more information about Story Friday, to listen to stories that we have recorded at our events over the years, and/or to submit your story please visit A Word In Your Ear.

Sky Light Rain book launch and literary night

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Sky Light Rain launch pic

To celebrate the launch of her second collection, Sky Light Rain, author Judy Darley invites you to an atmospheric evening of readings and music on the themes of sky, light, and rain. Drawing on her enduring fascination with the fallibility of the human mind, Sky Light Rain is a collection of short stories and flash fictions examining aspects of human existence, our relationship to nature and complex behaviours towards one another.

The event will take place at Waterstones Bristol Galleries, from 7pm on Saturday 2nd November 2019. Alongside Judy, participants include writers Paul Deaton, Kevlin Henney and Grace Palmer, and indie art-pop musician Hidden Tide.

This is a Bristol Festival of Literature 2019 fringe event.

Tickets are free but limited, so don’t forget to book yours.

Date And Time: Saturday 2nd November 2019, 7pm-9pm.

Location: Waterstones, 11A, Union Galleries, Broadmead, Bristol BS1 3XD

Book your free tickets here. Sky Light Rain will be published by Valley Press.

The Hunters Grimm- a storyhunting show in the streets of London

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Bernadette Russell of White Rabbit  joins the wonderful Teatro Vivo cast in “The Hunters Grimm” a promenade performance in the streets of Catford and Stratford, London,aiding Jacob and Wilhem Grimm along with their companion Dot Wilde, in their search for a story of hope with a happy ending. Such stories seem in short supply in our troubled times….

The Hunters Grimm on the streets

The Hunters Grimm on the streets

Come and join us on our search! Who knows who you might meet on the way: a beggar Prince, Rapunzel now working in sheltered housing as a single mum, a young jobseeker in pursuit of 12 dancing princesses, a hungry wolf reminiscing about his glory days as a restaurant critic,  a step mother who needs a Kardashian make over….and many more

Dates are:

Stratford- 30th May- 1st June- please go here for more details and tickets

 

Catford- 6th-16th June- please go here for more details and tickets

 

For a tantilising taster go here

Stroud Short Stories ‘Incendiary!’ Sunday 19 May – Tickets on Sale

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Tickets are now on sale for the 18th Stroud Short Stories event Incendiary! on Sunday 19 May  –

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/638976

Tickets are priced as usual at £8. The event, at our new venue, the 150-seater Cotswold Playhouse, Parliament Street, Stroud, GL5 1LW, starts at 8pm (doors 7.30).

Ten Gloucestershire authors will be reading their stories about fire, heat, passion, anger and rebellion selected from the 113 stories submitted.

The authors are –

Robin Booth

Joanna Campbell

Louise Elliman

Michael Hurst

Jason Jackson

Emma Kernahan

Geoff Mead

Chloe Turner

Steve Wheeler (aka Steven John)

Alwin Wiederhold

All info on the Stroud Short Stories website

 

Story Friday The Garden – Call for Submissions

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Story Friday in May has the theme The Garden.  I don’t know about where you are, but here in Bath the blossom is blooming, the tulips are budding and spring is definitely springing. So take a stroll down the garden path and let your imagination fly.

Story Friday The Garden will be on 3rd May, deadline for submissions is 22nd April.  That’s very soon, so get writing! We’re looking for stories that are 2,000 words or fewer.  (Full submission details are here).  Writers must be available to come to Bath for the event.  If you’d rather not read, we have wonderful actors who can read your story for you.

For more information about Story Friday, to listen to stories that we have recorded at our events over the years, and/or to submit your story please visit A Word In Your Ear.

Story Fridays ‘2018’ – call for submissions

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How was 2018 for you?

We think it has been quite a year.  We’d like to reflect on it and even  celebrate it at Story Friday with stories that are inspired by events that happened in 2018.  These events can be personal, local, national, international; they can be political, environmental, romantic, comic, tragic.  We’d like a whole range of responses to what we’ve just experienced, as we usher in the new dawn of 2019.

Story Friday 2018 will be on 25th January 2019, deadline for submissions Monday 14th January.  We’re looking for stories that are 2,000 words or fewer.  (Full submission details here).  Writers must be available to come to Bath for the event.  If you’d rather not read, we have wonderful actors who can read your story for you.

!! STORY FRIDAY CHALLENGE !!

January’s Story Friday is all about events that have just happened, so for this Story Friday we have a special challenge.

As well as the submissions about 2018, for the first time we want to include ONE special story, inspired by a NEWS story the week before Story Friday! (ie between 18th and 24th January).  Deadline is Thursday midday 24th January, the day before Story Friday.  Max word count is 1,000 words. You are very welcome to submit both to Story Friday 2018 AND to the Challenge. The chosen story will be read by an actor at Story Friday.

Talk about HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!

For more information: A Word In Your Ear

Story Friday Feast – call for submissions!

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As we hurtle towards Christmas we’re planning our next Story Friday and the theme is Feast!  We’re looking for stories long and short that touch on feasting. You might go traditional and give us tables laden with roast meats and suet puddings, or take us to far-flung corners of the globe for fresh mangoes and newly dropped coconuts. You might decide that lack-of-feast, or famine, is your interest, or look at a feast that has nothing to do with food. However you want to interpret the theme we know we will be intrigued by your offerings!

Story Friday Feast will be on November 30th, deadline for submissions is on 19th November.  Please check that you are available to come along to Burdall’s Yard in Bath on the 30th November before you submit.

We are looking for short stories or monologues, fact or fiction (but mainly fiction), maximum 2,000 words. If you want to enter a flash piece that can work too, either for the stage, or in print – recently we’ve included a flash piece in our programme for the audience to read in the interval and take home with them. No poetry, thank you.

We have some wonderful professional actors who are very happy to read your story if performance gives you the jitters. Olly Langdon of Kilter Theatre (who is also our brilliant host) will read a male voice, and we have a number of female actors who can read stories which need a female voice.  Let us know in your email when you submit if you’d like someone else to read your piece.

To submit, click here.

Story Friday: Call for Submissions

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Story Fridays‘ theme for September is ‘Tomorrow’. Tomorrow could mean Saturday – or it could mean the year 2060. For Story Friday Tomorrow we’d like to explore what happens next. We’d love utopias, dystopias, dreams and expectations in this step into the unknown. This is one where you can unleash your imaginations, go wild, surprise us with your visions for the future, near and far. Go on – you’ve got all summer to weave us your dreams!

We are looking for short stories that work out loud, or monologues, fact or fiction (but mainly fiction). Maximum 2,000 words. If you want to enter a flash piece that can work too. No poetry, thank you.

The event will be held on Friday September 21st at Burdall’s Yard in Bath. Please check that you are available to come along on the 21st September before you submit.  We like the writers to be in the audience for these events.

We have some wonderful professional actors who are very happy to read your story if performance gives you the jitters.  Let us know in your email when you submit if you’d like someone else to read your piece.

For more information go to our website.

You’ve read Bunbury, now listen to us!

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Hello to you all from Bunbury Magazine!

We’re just dropping by the give you a quick update on what we are up to at Bunbury HQ.

Did you know we’re now doing podcasts? Well we are. This is a very exciting development and means you won’t be too long between bouts of Bunbury. Currently, we are running two.

Bunbury Speaks, which is a monthly interview podcast with a twist. As well as talking to some very special people about writing, inspirations and all manner of other things, each guest contributes to a chain story, taking a starting point to some very interesting places. Currently, there is one episode available where the guest is our very own poetry editor Malika Street.

Just Write Speaks, the recording of our monthly spoken word event. There are open micers and special guests bringing a huge variety of rhymes and words to your ears. There is almost 6 months worth of events live right now, with guests including Rose Condo, Genevieve L Walsh, Broccan Tyzack-Carlin and many more!

Both of these can be found by clicking the lovely photo below.

This month, we have Joe Williams as our special guest. If you are in or around Manchester, please drop by. There are open mic slots available as well as the chance to compete in the Haiku Death Match. Search Just Write Speaks on Facebook or follow the link to the event right here – Just Write Speaks June.

If you enjoy the podcasts, please consider subscribing and reviewing us on iTunes while you are there.

In other news, Bunbury is still open for submissions. The theme is run and we are looking for short stories, poetry, flash fiction and all manner of writing. Details of our submissions guidelines can be found below.

That’s all from us, folks. Before submitting, consider looking through some past issues to see the kind of thing we do. You can get to our past issues through our website.

Much love and keep scribbling,

Christopher and Keri.

Story Fridays – Call for Submissions

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The next Story Friday has the theme of ‘Stolen’: stolen hearts, stolen kisses, stolen jewels, stolen lives… who is the thief in your story?  Will you go all Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or are your robber’s deeds more domestic?  We can’t wait to read your stolen stories!  2,000 words maximum, no minimum, deadline Monday April 30th.  Story Friday Stolen is on Friday 11th May – please ensure you are available to come to the event before submitting.  We have fine actors who are happy to read your story for you if you’d like them to – please let us know when you submit.  For more information about Story Fridays, to listen to stories that we’ve recorded, for full submission details and to submit your story click here.

SMALL & BEAUTIFUL flash fiction, Tue 10 April (Liars’ League’s 11th birthday bash)

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From action heroes to Irish farmers, murderers to museum guards, via cuckolds, crosswords, “relationship wine” and a man who starts growing balloons all over his body, we at Liars’ League have ten wild, weird and wonderful flash fiction stories for you in our birthday special* on Tuesday 10th April (click for Facebook event link).

Tickets to this terrific tasting menu of tiny tales are just £5 on the door (cash only) which adds up to 50p per story: probably the biggest entertainment bargain in the West End. Your £5 will also get you a programme, birthday cake, entry to our literary quiz (win books!), and of course all the small and beautiful sweets you can eat. 

WINNING STORIES for SMALL & BEAUTIFUL
  • Action by William Conway & Chiaroscuro by Richard A. Shury, read by Rich Keeble
  • Lighter than Air by Anton Rose & Mugged by Stephen Baily, read by Miranda Harrison
  • Wine Frame of Mind by Joseph Francis & The Last Real Thing by MFC Feeley, read by James Price
  • Losers by Nicolas Ridley, read by Will Goodhand
  • 24 Tiny Tales by Andreas Paraskevaides, read by Claire Lacey & Will Goodhand
  • Decluttering by Sue Smith, read by Claire Lacey
  • Mandatory Meeting for Museum Guards Before The VIP + Members’ Exhibition Opening Reception by Rachel Karyo, read by Keleigh Wolf

As always, doors open at 7pm and the show begins at 7.30. Drinks and food will be available at the bar, and the infamous interval quiz will feature fabulous free books to be won! There’s no pre-booking, but tables for four or more can be reserved by calling 07808 939535. And finally, if for whatever unimaginable reasons you can’t make the show, performances are recorded for podcast and videoed in HD for our YouTube channel.

The venue is the downstairs bar at:
The Phoenix pub
37 Cavendish Square
London
W1G 0PP
(The Phoenix is 5 minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus tube station, which is on the Victoria, Bakerloo and Central lines. Map here)

*we’re 11 this year, since you ask …

Live Lit Leamington Returns!

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The Anthology of Authors returns! Following our postponed event (March 1st) at The Stagey Fox Leamington, we are pleased to announce – YAY! – (that’s us being pleased) that we will be back to entertain you with shorts, poems, flashes, flishes and most likely flushes on THURSDAY 22nd MARCH at The Stagey Fox, Regent Street Leamington Spa. Free to enter, free to listen, free to applaud and do feel free to flatter. First sentence 7.15pm, closing paragraph 9pm. Come one, come all!

Liars’ League KISS & TELL event (+#LoveLit blind date) this Valentine’s Eve, Tue 13 Feb

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kiss tell CROPFrom stolen kisses to cartoon crushes, telltale spirits to synaesthetic lovers, via vengeful exes and Powerpoint presentations, Liars’ League is showcasing tales of lust, romance & betrayal in our dirt-dishing Valentine’s special – and our first event of 2018 – on Tuesday 13th February (click here for Facebook event with full details).

Forget the pink roses as our actors bare their hearts (and more) for just £5 on the door, which includes a programme, entry to our sexy book quiz, and of course all the Lovehearts you can eat. (And if you’re single, just tell us your favourite literary character and we’ll find your perfect match – see below for more …)

WINNING STORIES for KISS & TELL
Three Months by Caroline Hardman *NEW AUTHOR* – read by Clareine Cronin
Tasting the Rainbow by Alejandra Zannier *NEW AUTHOR* – read by Keleigh Wolf
Slide Show by Alan Graham – read by Gloria Sanders
A Kiss A Day by Liam Hogan – read by Sophie Morris-Sheppard
Father Figure by J. A. Hopper – read by Rich Keeble
The Tell-Tale Art by Andreas Paraskevaides – read by David Mildon

As always, doors open at 7pm and the show begins at 7.30. Seductive drinks and food will be available at the bar, and the infamous interval quiz will feature fabulous free books to be won! There’s no pre-booking, but tables for fouror more can be reserved by calling 07808 939535.

Single? Sign up for our #LoveLit Blind Date
Ever wondered if Lizzie Bennet would hook up with Christian Grey? Whether Harry Flashman could charm Hermione Granger? Then we’ve got something for you this Valentine’s eve! Our #LoveLit Blind Date is simple: just email liars@liarsleague.com (or tweet us @liarsleague, hashtag #LoveLit) with your name, age, preferred gender of date & the name of your favourite fictional character, and we’ll match you up with someone else’s favourite. Not only might you find the love of your life, you’ll also get free sweeties and a night of brilliant stories to enjoy with your new squeeze into the bargain.

(NB: you don’t have to join in the blind date to come, it’s just a service we’re offering singles this month. As ever, anyone who loves stories is welcome.)

The venue is the downstairs bar at:
The Phoenix
37 Cavendish Square
London
W1G 0PP

(The Phoenix is 5 minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus tube station, which is on the Victoria, Bakerloo and Central lines). Map here

Story Friday Call for Submissions

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We all need a bit of hygge in the grey winter months so Story Fridays‘ next theme is ‘HOME’.  We’re going all cuppas with a nip of whisky and slippers by the fire.  But not all our stories will be that cosy, we can guarantee it.  If you’ve got a Home story we’d love to read it.  Stories should be 2,000 words or fewer, deadline for submissions is 26th February for Story Fridays event on 9th March in Bath.  Please ensure you are available to come along before you submit.  If you don’t want to read your story, and would like one of our wonderful actors to read it for you, please let us know when you send in your story.  We can’t wait to read them!  For more information, to listen to the kind of stories we like, and to submit your story, click here.

Story Fridays gets the shivers!

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Missing Halloween already?  Been inspired by ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night?  Story Fridays wants your stories on the theme of HAUNTING.  This is our firstly ghostly themed Story Fridays in five years, so we’re really excited and just a little bit scared already!  Stories should be 2,000 words or fewer, deadline for submissions is coming up fast on 13th November, and the date of Story Friday Haunting is 24th November in Bath.  Please ensure you are available to come along before you submit.  If you don’t want to read your story, and would like one of our wonderful actors to read it for you, please let us know when you send in your story.  We can’t wait to read them!  For more information, to listen to the kind of stories we like, and to submit your story, click here.

Story Fridays Call for Submissions

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We’re looking for your stories!  The next Story Fridays in September has the theme the Speed of Light. Take it literally or metaphorically… Perhaps we’ll go to the dark side of the moon, or the furtherest far away star, or perhaps we’ll get caught up in the state of the nation, and enjoy how political fortunes can change at the speed of..well. You get the idea. Story Friday – The Speed of Light will be on Friday 22nd September at Burdall’s Yard in Bath, deadline for submissions is the 11th September.

We are looking for short stories or monologues, fact or fiction (but mainly fiction), maximum 2,000 words. If you want to enter a flash piece that can work too. No poetry, thank you. Please check that you are available to come along to Bath on the 22nd September before you submit. We like the writers to be in the audience for these events.

We have some wonderful professional actors who are very happy to read your story if performance gives you the jitters. Let us know when you submit if you’d like someone else to read your piece.

For more information, or to listen to the kind of stories we like, click here.

Smut Slam June

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In June Cameryn Moore brings even more Smut Slam nights to the UK

smut slam

where sex and storytelling collide

You know what a poetry slam is, and maybe you know about story slams, too. Now it’s time for London’s first-ever SMUT SLAM, a fast-paced storytelling open mic based on real life, real lust, real sex. The Smut Slam features real-life, first-person sex stories, guest stories from our panel of celebrity judges, and also THE FUCKBUCKET, a convenient and funnily named receptacle for all your anonymous questions and confessions!

Tuesday 13th June: SMUT SLAM Bristol: Spring Fever! at The Brunswick Club (16 Brunswick Square, Bristol, BS2 8NX )

Wednesday 14th June: Stand Up Tragedy Presents SMUT SLAM London: BACK at the Dogstar (389 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8LQ )

Sunday 18th June:  SMUT SLAM Brighton: “It’s All Relative” Caroline of Brunswick ( 39 Ditchling Road, Brighton, BN1 4SB )

Monday 19th June: SMUT SLAM Glasgow: Sex Olympics at The Rum Shack (657 – 659 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, G41 2AB)

Tuesday 20th: SMUT SLAM Edinburgh: “Let’s Play!” at Woodland Creatures (260-262 Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5EL)

SMUT SLAMMERS sign up on the night to tell a 5-minute dirty story, based on their real lives, and a lucky eight to ten names will be drawn at random.

NOT A SMUT SLAMMER? Don’t worry. The audience is in for a good time at SMUT SLAM! Sit back and enjoy. All we ask is: – No interrupting. – No heckling. – No necking in the front row. Doors open at 8pm, and the smut starts slamming at 8:30. Admission is only £10 at the door, 18 and over please!

SMUT SLAM is CREATED by Cameryn Moore, an award-winning playwright/performer, sex activist and educator, and, oh yeah: a phone sex operator. She is super excited to introduce London and Smut Slam to each other! When not performing, taking calls, or actually having sex herself, Cameryn writes Sidewalk Smut: custom type-written pornography as street performance and literary art.

The Smut Slam originated in Boston in 2011, became thoroughly established in Montreal that same year, and has since traveled all over the world, with standing-room-only shows in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a whopping 100+ crowd in Atlanta last November, and a sold-out show in Boston in 2016.


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Story Friday South – call for submissions

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Story Friday South is at the end of June, in the long hot days of summertime, and we’ve chosen the theme ‘South’ to set us all up for the summer hols. Whether you go for the blues and sleepytime down south, the breezes and tunes of South Pacific, the waves of southern oceans or the platforms of Southern Trains – or whether you take a different tack altogether – we hope ‘South’ gets your creative juices flowing. Story Friday South will be on Friday 30th June, deadline for submissions is the 19th June. Stories should be a maximum of 2,000 words. Please make sure you can come to Bath for Story Fridays on the 30th June before you submit.  We look forward to reading your stories!

For more information click here.  To submit a story please use the contact page on the website here.

Smut Slam: May

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In May Cameryn Moore brings even more Smut Slam nights to the UK

smut slam

where sex and storytelling collide

You know what a poetry slam is, and maybe you know about story slams, too. Now it’s time for London’s first-ever SMUT SLAM, a fast-paced storytelling open mic based on real life, real lust, real sex. The Smut Slam features real-life, first-person sex stories, guest stories from our panel of celebrity judges, and also THE FUCKBUCKET, a convenient and funnily named receptacle for all your anonymous questions and confessions!

In April Cameryn was stuck in Berlin (long story) and so some of the nights had exciting replacement guest hosts, but for May Cameryn is BACK and she’s also bringing her SMUT SLAM Cabaret to the Brighton Fringe!

Tuesday 9th May: SMUT SLAM Bristol: Spring Fever! at The Brunswick Club (16 Brunswick Square, Bristol, BS2 8NX )

Wednesday 10th May: Stand Up Tragedy Presents SMUT SLAM London: BACK at the Dogstar (389 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8LQ )

Sunday 11th May 11th, 17th-18th, 24th-25th, 31st May, and 1st June: 9pm (1hr): SMUT SLAM Cabaret at Brighton Fringe: at Sweet Venues (Sweet Waterfront, Jury’s Inn Brighton Waterfront, Kings Road)

Monday 15th May: SMUT SLAM Glasgow: Let’s Play! at The Rum Shack (657 – 659 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, G41 2AB)

Tuesday 18th: SMUT SLAM Edinburgh: The Great Outdoors at Woodland Creatures (260-262 Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5EL)

SMUT SLAM Manchester: Date, venue and theme tbc – Search for Smut Slam Manchester on FB

SMUT SLAMMERS sign up on the night to tell a 5-minute dirty story, based on their real lives, and a lucky eight to ten names will be drawn at random.

NOT A SMUT SLAMMER? Don’t worry. The audience is in for a good time at SMUT SLAM! Sit back and enjoy. All we ask is: – No interrupting. – No heckling. – No necking in the front row. Doors open at 8pm, and the smut starts slamming at 8:30. Admission is only £10 at the door, 18 and over please!

SMUT SLAM is CREATED by Cameryn Moore, an award-winning playwright/performer, sex activist and educator, and, oh yeah: a phone sex operator. She is super excited to introduce London and Smut Slam to each other! When not performing, taking calls, or actually having sex herself, Cameryn writes Sidewalk Smut: custom type-written pornography as street performance and literary art.

The Smut Slam originated in Boston in 2011, became thoroughly established in Montreal that same year, and has since traveled all over the world, with standing-room-only shows in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a whopping 100+ crowd in Atlanta last November, and a sold-out show in Boston in 2016.


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