New Orleans: STILL alive and Printing

11/14/08

Hey, New Orleans is a city (despite Jim Jarmusch's scenes of OPP in the swamp) - people do stuff there besides drinking, practicing voodoo and being the subjects of more spooky songs than any other city in the world. This weekend is The 7th Annual New Orleans Bookfair, The New Orleans Fringe Festival AND North America's BIGGEST ever contemporary art biennial, Prospect 1 (although snooty New York and LA artists, names withheld, not only don't know about it, but question if I'm telling the truth - but still don't google it) is continuing through December.

The 7th Annual New Orleans Bookfair
Saturday, November 15th 2008
New Orleans. LA
500 & 600 Blocks on Frenchman Street
10AM-6PM

Prospect 1 New Orleans
Citywide

See the Flickr pool of Prospect 1 exhibitions, installations and performances
Review in The New York Times

New Orleans Fringe Festival
Citywide

"Forty groups from around the country and New Orleans will be presenting over 100 shows in venues across the city, primarily in the Marigny, Bywater and French Quarter. The shows include the exotic, the dramatic and the insane: drama, dance, one-person shows, cabaret, comedy, puppetry, clowning, circus/sideshow, improvisational, aerialist and many other creative works." - from the NO Fringe Fest website

Oxford American
Issue 62
3 Years After: New Orleans & The Gulf Coast - In Their Own Words
$5.95

The Oxford American is the wonderfully edited magazine of writing from the south. I don't know why people (New Yorkers) think all people down there are stupid; I would argue that the majority of great American writers are from the south (as are all the most fierce drag queens). Anyway, I love this magazine from Arkansas that gives the New Yorker and Harpers a run for their money. However, when it comes to representing New Orleans, I'm very particular... and I'm not really sure if I'm feeling all the writers chosen to contribute. However, the majority of work in this issue really does represent the perspective of intelligent and talented people who actually live in the city. I particularly enjoyed teacher David's Ramsey's piece on how L'l Wayne helped him survive his first year teaching in N.O public schools. I also enjoyed Anne Gisleson's piece on the history and fate of one of the greatest bars in the solar system, The Saturn Bar.

Habitus 04: New Orleans
$10

Habitus focuses on a different city each issue and their 4th is all about New Orleans. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to read it yet because it hasn't arrived in the mail! Grrr. Like The Oxford American, I'm left wondering though, because I don't recognize a lot of the names, and yes - I know all the talented people who matter in my hometown. Word. The one writer I recognize is Andrei Codrescu who I personally find to be lukewarm at best, and usually irritatingly cliché when he writes about New Orleans. However, I generally like this magazine, and I appreciate their efforts - so I think it's worth checking out. As far as photography, I do know L.J Goldstien who has always wonderfully documented the debaucheries of the city, but hasn't published - so I'm interested in seeing what Habitus has chosen. More info in the comments here once I've read this issue

Currently Reading:

Hurricane Hotel
By J.K Lawson
Published by Trafford Publishing
276 pages
$20 on J.K Lawson's website

I just started reading Hurricane Hotel and its hard to be objective because I know John, so bear with me. As I began to read this book, I actually thought it was bit heavy handed, and too furious with its descriptions and metaphors of booze, cigarettes and domestic white trash southern violence... but now I'm totally buying into the rhythm, and overlapping story lines of the characters. A lot of it is totally perposterous... but seriously, that IS New Orleans. New Orleans is an absurd wave of thematic, metaphorical and hilarious self-destruction, and so far the book is representing that quite well. I've read enough to see that both the Oxford American and Habitus should have published John. More info in the comments here once I've finished the book

Seriously, people... ask me next time.

Also, read last years posts, most of the items are still available.