Curators of the Late-Night Literary SALO+N, which was the talk of last yearâs O+ Festival in Kingston, are seeking participants for Octoberâs happening. The SALO+N this year is paired with a CO+LLAGE Cafe and centers around the festival-wide theme: The Other. It takes place Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 from 8 p.m.-midnight at outdated: an antique cafe, 314 Wall St. in Kingston. Both professional and amateur writers will read, recite, sing or say some words on this yearâs theme.
Hereâs the call for participants from writer Benjamin Obler:
If you came by Outdated CafĂ© at the right time during the 2014 Festival, you saw and heard people at a microphone, reading letters of various sorts. Letters they wrote, letters written by others, by famous people, by not famous people. Love letters, hate lettersâimaginary letters. Last year, the theme was Correspondence, and the theme was explored in the most creative and hilarious ways. Rich Reeve from Elephant read Yelp reviews with great aplomb. Maria Philippis from Boitsonâs Restaurant read letters from a former obsessive admirer. It was great fun. This year, weâre doing it again. This year, the festival-wide theme is: The Other.
Will you please participate by reading or reciting, singing or saying, some words on this theme? Will you enhance O+Positive Festival-goersâ experience by sharing your wit and wisdom, your searing insight, by perfuming the air with your verbal potpourri? We hope so!
Some words on the theme. Letâs explore the theme, The Other, as a group in as thorough a way as possible. I think the first thing that comes to mind is the idea of alienation, of difference. Iâm me, but he or she is the other. Not this or that, but the other. The enemy, the outcast, the misfit, the pariah. The excluded. Maybe you write about a way that you are, or were, an other. Maybe you write about someone elseâs experience. But we donât want it to be a litany of painful exclusion and injustice. Maybe an Other-type person, artist, teacher, figure, inspired you. And the Literary Salon is, after all, part of the festival. If you were there last year, you know, that outrageous tales get lots of laughs, and funny pieces will be welcome. Itâs easier said than done to be entertaining and poignantâbut let this be your goal.
You have total freedom as to how to incorporate the theme, and you may or may not say something at the start that directly informs us of where your work meets the theme, that serves as a guide to the meaning. But letâs not leave people guessing. While granting you total creative freedom, I would like the event to come off as a program of sortsâcohesive, and even, I would say, hard-hitting. Like we attacked The Other with our collective consciousness. So if itâs not obvious how your work is theme-inspired, please tell us.
So take care with your topic, and think of what will go over well. But I would also encourage you to get creative with your form so that we have a nice variety. You might assume another voice, stage a press conference, approach a podium somberly and eulogize something, be in character, monologue, use props, sound effects. Or simply captivate with the stilling effect of your unfiltered personhood. We know youâll surprise and delight us (see intro, joie de vivre, etc.)
But! You are not required to author original content. OTHER ideas (get it?) include: Maybe you want to read a passage from a work that touches on or depicts OTHERness, such as characters who are famous isolates, misfits, outcasts, or exiles. At least one person Iâve spoken to would prefer to take this route. A couple of you are musical talents, and Iâve spoken to you about singing a song. I think that would be a nice addition, but please speak to us if you want to do something musical. The O+ Positive Festival is of course primarily musical, and the Literary Salon is meant to counterbalance thatâa place where folks can sit down and recoup and enjoy something a little quieter. We donât want to compete with the musical acts. So a few songs in the acoustic vein I think will be just right.
We hope to make the Literary SALO+N a fun experience for participants as much as for people who pop in throughout each four-hour run. Thanks for expressing interest. Some of you are reading this on a contingent, to-be-determined basis. We understand, but please do let us know sooner rather than later if you wonât take part. (Please RVSP to [email protected] in the affirmative, too, if you will take part.)
OTHERwise (see?)⊠we hope your creative butter churns are churning already. As the festival nears and the line-up is known, weâll have one workshop/meeting to plan, collaborate, coordinate and an excuse to have a drink some Thursday evening and assure ourselves that the SALO+N will be a knock-out.
