In his 1936 essay on the work of Russian author Nikolai Leskov, Walter Benjamin spoke of the gradual demise of the storytelling tradition. According to Benjamin, somewhere between the widespread circulation of the novel and the rise of modern warfare, man's "ability to exchange experience" had greatly eroded.
Benjamin showed uncanny foresight for the circumstances facing us today, where the unaccountable hurry we find ourselves in precludes the luxury of sitting down and listening to a good yarn. However, an event in early December organized by Peter Woods offers an opportunity to do just that. The founder of FTAM, a DIY experimental arts organization, is hosting "Told: A Night of Storytelling" on Dec. 6 at the Borg Ward (823 W. National Ave.). A circle of storytellers that includes musicians, performers, writers and activists will gather to share tales. Among them will be Insurgent Theatre co-founders Rex Winsome and Tracy Doyle, guitarist for Mahogany Throttle and Sling Dave White, and Shepherd Express theater critic Russ Bickerstaff.
"The setup for the evening is about as open-ended as I could manage," says Woods, who will also share stories over the course of the evening. "It is up to the storytellers to decide what to do… A theme might emerge, but it might not."
Although Woods has organized a number of events promoting experimental music and performance, this is his first storytelling event. "It's an idea that's been brewing in my head for a while… hopefully it translates," Woods says.
Doors open at 7 p.m. for "A Night of Storytelling." Tickets cost $5, with proceeds benefiting FTAM and the Borg Ward.
Also this week, Woodland Pattern hosts a poetry workshop that focuses on three repetitive forms of the sestina, pantoum and villanelle. Anyone who's tried writing in these forms will be familiar with both the exasperation and the sense of accomplishment they can excite. They often surprise in the unexpected direction they end up leading us. After studying the work of writers who employed these forms, such as Ezra Pound and Anne Waldman, participants will write their own pieces. The workshop, titled "Verbal Roundabouts: Writing with Obsessive Vocabularies," is conducted by Lawrence University professor Faith Barrett and takes place on Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. Fees cost $35 (or $30 for members) and reservations are required by calling 263-5001.
Remember when bands cared about albums as an art form? Instead of
slapping together a dozen tracks because, hey, they'll just end up on
everyone's iPod shuffle anyway, musicians considered how their songs
might congeal as a whole or form some sort of dram
Elvis Costello's frequent collaborator T-Bone Burnett produced Secret, Profane & Sugarcane,
an Americana-inflected album working with country and folk traditions
for images of sawdust floors set to mandolin and fiddle. Costello
intended one s
You wouldn’t expect to find T-bone and sirloin dinners at a place with stool seating and a location next to a shop hawking cell phones and cigarettes. But one of the city’s most evocatively named eateries, ZaZa Steak & Lemonade (4919 W. Capito
The enduring fantasy of older men is that a gorgeous
young woman will fall in love with them, find them sexually arousing
and long to imbibe their wisdom while sitting at their feet. That
fantasy is the spring driving Woody Allen's often-hilarious f
Away We Go, a droll comedy-cum-drama by director Sam Mendes (American Beauty),
perceptively explores the lives of more-or-less ordinary 30-somethings
lost in a world without much meaning. Verona (Maya Rudolph) and Bu
