The Monthly Rumpus and your immediate future

Stephen Elliott + Isaac Fitzgerald @ The Monthly Rumpus

Does anyone else feel like they're already booked thru March? My brother was telling me about some festival in SF Al Di Meola's playing and assumed I'd heard about it. I told him I can hardly keep up with the literary scene. I never thought I'd say that last sentence (but I use this one a lot).

This past week (Jan 9-15 2010) was full of firsts for me. My first Writers With Drinks. My first Monthly Rumpus. The first time I ever saw my name in print. Things are exploding in Fruitvale. I feel like 'the scene' has almost gotten out of control since I moved here. Not that I'm taking credit. Jesus. But the other night at the Make-Out Room I was standing with two friends and it occurred to me that we each run a separate reading series, that one of us has started a literary journal in the past week, and that people who seemed to be as new to the scene as I am are making headlines, organizing events, and just generally kicking ass. If we keep this up we could storm the capitol and demand a Federal Bay Area Literary Fund. Or at least funding for someone else to come shoot all our videos.

I'm a bit behind because a good friend of mine flew in from Charlotte, NC and spent this past week here. I filmed all of Writers With Drinks but am awaiting a few confirmations: as you probably know, things get a bit raunchy there sometimes, and permission seems appropriate. In the meanwhile I filmed The Rumpus' party, and did a little experiment. I rendered the videos at a higher quality - it took way longer, and I'm wondering if it's worth it. Thoughts? This is when I start talking about The Rumpus.

First, I thought this at some point during the show
i don't know what i expected to find but this is a lot phucking cooler
a really fantastic combination of people
thrilled to be in the room

I only recently discovered The Rumpus. So what? I had a similar experience last night, watching Koyaanisqatsi with my roommate, who had never seen it. It reminded me of the first time I saw it: I felt 'Exactly. Why haven't I seen this before?' Probably felt the same way the first time I had pizza. For those who don't know, Stephen Elliott started The Rumpus after finishing his latest book The Adderrall Diaries—as a side project. As he told The Nervous Breakdown in July:

I don't remember what I thought The Rumpus was going to be. I look at creating The Rumpus like writing a novel. You just start, you don't know what it's going to become. The trick is focusing on creating something good. Don't worry about what other people want to read, write the book that you want to read. Same with an online publication. I created the website I wanted to spend time on.

Exactly. Wise words. Like: What the hell was I thinking starting my own reading series? I'd read in public like twice before that. But it's working. It's working because I saw a demand for it that somehow - incredibly - wasn't being filled. And I thought: I could do something with this. Like Stephen says: Who knows what it's going to become. The important thing is focusing on creating something good, something that I wanted. But he already said that. Dead-the-f-on.

As a result of this inspiration (his, not mine!) we now have a culture site that cares more about quality writing than timeliness, more about content than headlines, and does its best to provide the community with things it finds interesting. The Rumpus keeps us in the conversation. Which? See for yourself.

You may have wondered how it can have sensibilities. It = Isaac Fitzgerald, mostly, managing editor of The Rump. You see, those culture updates are not just daily. We get them throughout the day. Isaac is the man responsible for this and each month The Rumpus throws a party - featuring writers and performers of all kinds - - all proceeds go to pay Isaac's salary. Watch this video:

Aw, sweet and funny. You know, let's just get into it. Because this was my first time I recorded the whole show and will post it as such ... to give you an idea of what it's like. Several people told me it wasn't the best one ... the way people who are very proud of knowing about something awesome before you do tell you it's usually a lot better the first time you experience it. But they didn't have to convince me. I'm going back to the next one on February 8.

The first reader was Elissa Bassist, editor of the Funny Women column at The Rumpus. I jotted down some notes as I watched this after the event because it really hit home. She talks about "How to Move to San Francisco," which - as you all know - I have just done (I live close enough for that sentence to still be valid).

She is heart-wrenching in her composure - the doom and gloom of living for something you believe in and for trying to make the world more beautiful ... I know none of us can relate to that! Dear Elissa: thanks for getting through it. SF loves you. You are one of our queens.

The levity of her voice ... the internships (I've had my share) ... how stark and surprising this should be, shocking that someone so healthy and prolific could have ever been poor and miserable. But there are people so healthy that they have to be poor, like Stephen was, like Isaac, I presume, like Beth Lisick + Bucky Sinister and Michelle Tea and Daphne Gottlieb and just about every other person I know around here, who have made it through the fire pure and beaming righteous, humble and untarnished gleaming, with hints of being indestructible like gold and eyes that say they know better and plan to make the best of it, smiling, and do. Thank you. Those of us not quite out yet, or not quite used to it - still wading in the fire - well, we look up to you.

Watch Allison Hoover Bartlett read an excerpt from her incredibly non-fictional The Man Who Loved Books to Much. It seems to be a superb job of investigative journalism with an absorbing narrative and is already much-acclaimed:

Alright, let's take a raffle break! The Rumpus has a monthly porn raffle sponsored by Phucking Machines (oh, excuse the consorship). In fact, you know what? I'm going to put the rest of the rafflin' together:

Elissa Bassist's Imaginary Interview with Elaine Showalter

There is so much more to The Rumpus' monthly parties than just fantastic readings. This edition featured MC Lars + KFlay, who started out with a hip version of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven." Check these guys out—I thought they were amazing. There were a few technical difficulties in the beginning but they handled them quite professionaly. In fact, this included a shout-out to Lars' folks, who were in the crowd. His father, Robert Nielsen, is a poet, and he performs later in the show. But that's not all! The inimitable Chicken John + Dr. Hal perform their hilarious and spontaneous song bit, where members of the audience write down 4 words apiece - any words - and, while Chicken John plays guitar, Dr. Hal composes lyrics to an improv song. Watch this! We demanded another round and got it!

MC Lars

KFlay

Chicken John + Dr. Hal

I don't know. I think there was a break at this point or something. It's been almost a week and a couple of other series since then (!). But let's get back to the readers. Michelle Tea read from a novel-in-progress, you guys. I sometimes am in a room and I see Michelle and I think 'Oh my god she's sitting in a both like a regular person who buys beer and drinks it.' Adorable and beloved are two of my favorite adjectives re: Michelle. You hear them all the time. Readers and writers who would be readers, tip: watch how Michelle gets up and readsreadsreads and then when she's done she says thank you and gets right off the stage. Also: I've noticed how she leaves events right as the last reader has finished. I just think it's so amazing that she's such a good sport (I hate that phrase) about appearing all the time. I mean, to be in such high demand and to be so adored has got to be hard ( I am serious). We all just love you and want to hear you read! Thanks so much for coming!

The last reader of the night was a surprise: he wasn't added on the lineup until later, in case anyone needed last-minute convincing. D.A. Powell is a professor at USF and a National Book Award finalist for his poetry book Cocktails. Publisher's Weekly had this to say about his recent book Chronic: "simultaneously an accessible heartbreaker, a rare gem for connoisseurs, a genre-altering breakthrough and a long anticipated follow-up." I split up his reading because I thought each poem stands for itself.

To end out the show MC Lars and KFlay came back up for another few tracks. The first one is an homage to George Orwell's 1984, and the second is freestyle over KFlay's live beat. And then, gosh, I'm such a sucker for any familial collaborations, MC Lars' father Robert Nielsen joined the stage and read some of his poems while Lars took over the beats.

Rumpus interviews an anonymous FB employee

So that was The Rumpus, condensed into one evening. I think everyone had fun. I know I did. The main thing is to raise awareness of the site, I think, because I really am finding it more and more invaluable; and to raise money for Isaac, so the site can continue to grow and provide even more of a service to those of us who care about literary culture. If you haven't yet, I highly suggest you go there right now! And, if you haven't had a chance to check out a Monthly Rumpus yet, join me on Monday, February 8. Special guest Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) has just been announced. You won't want to miss this. I recently met Daniel at a Mechanics Institute Library event for a debate about the future of publishing and the fate of the book; he's one of those rare people that says something funny every time he opens his mouth. Not just on the panel, either. More to follow soon!