August 14 was an eventful night for San Francisco literatti. Not only was Bang Out happening, but the Tenderloin Reading Series and Writers With Drinks, too. I opted for Bang Out because I have never been.
It was an evening fraught with difficulties. A fire broke out in a building on Valencia Street, making access to the venue rather difficult (although exciting). On arrival, I perused my ever-present leather bag only to discover my presumably ever-present video camera was absent.
But having arrived at Amnesia (the in-this-case unfortunately-appropriately-named place), I took the opportunity post-show to interview Bang Out hosts and founders Kevin Hobson and Amick Boone, over beers and Mexican food at a nearby taqueria.
Bang Out began two years ago at Litquake as an outgrowth of the Ecstatic Monkey Collective. Kevin explains, “We felt a need for a submission-based, curated series. Nobody else was doing that at the time, and we wanted to move beyond open mics.”
The title Bang Out references the sort of writing they were looking for. “We wanted less polished work,” explains Amick. “We were interested in process. We wanted to see what writers would do when they just bang something out in response to a prompt. We wanted to hear new work at every event, even if the short deadline meant it would be less polished.”
They settled on a format of quarterly, prompt based readings. They feel that the material represents real risk on the part of the writers, because it is “banged out” in a fairly short timeframe. Writers have responded; Bang Out is a popular venue with a committed audience. On this occasion, though we were packed into Amnesia shoulder to shoulder, the audience was quiet enough that you could hear the ice melting in their drinks.
The host/curators have plans to develop an online journal in 2011 to publish the readings.
Fortunately, Hobson and Boone have their own policy of recording the performances. So, despite my absent camera (no longer truant, happily), there is video posted here.
Enjoy. — Charles Kruger
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