Word Without End: The Cincinnati Review's Interactive Reading Series

Date: Friday April 3, 2009

Time: 8:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M.

Where: Catskeller in TUC

WORD WITHOUT END

Part 1: Call for Readers

The Cincinnati Review invites you to participate in “Word Without End,” a night-long, open-mic, cross-genre extravaganza.

Take the stage to read, rap, clog, semaphore, or otherwise perform in accordance with the night’s theme—lost objects. This rough beast of an event will slouch toward the Catskeller (lower level of Tangeman) at 8 p.m. on April 3. For those unfamiliar, Catskeller has a pervasive sound system, billiards, beer of many varieties (some of them good), and yea, perhaps most important, chicken wings and waffle fries.

The theme was taken from Michael Czyzniejewski’s story “The Time Traveler Laments” (in the current issue), about an inventor who goes back in time, then returns to discover that—as a result of the butterfly effect—pineapple no longer exists. The author himself will be on hand to kick off the open-mic revelry. 

Email nicola.mason@uc.edu to sign up for a 5 to 10 minute spot. Read your own stuff—excerpts or pieces entire—read someone else’s stuff, play an instrument with a missing string, or sob uncontrollably while passing around pictures of your childhood dog, Wiggles. Make YOUR loss OUR loss. (But, you know, in a fun way.) This event is open to the community, so feel free to give non-UC people a heads up—and have them email me to get on the roster.

We are planning a silent auction of once-lost-now-FOUND objects. I personally will donate my prize electromyograph. (An astonishing piece of medial equipment from bionic-man era.) I’m told there will also be a lone sock, a filthy Barbie with matted hair, a pineapple (in honor of Michael’s story), a hungry hippo, Best American Short Stories of 1921 (a very good year). If you have fantastic crap like this, we want it! (Email me so I can collect.) There will also be some pristine off-theme but apropos items like a complete set of TCR issues. Proceeds will go to a local food bank, so dig deep in your basement and other creepy places. We’ll take the good stuff too!

(And hey, this is a lit-mag-sponsored reading, so you can make it a line on your CV.)