“One, two, three, blam,” shouted the audience in unison at the Decatur High School auditorium. The crowd was counting down a game of Rock Paper Scissors to see which author would strike first in a combative literary event called Write Club.
Typically held at PushPush Theater, this event was part of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival, but the format was the same. Three or four pairs of writers go head to head in seven-minute readings on opposing topics in a performance that is part storytelling, part debate. Speaking on the merits of “style” was novelist Susan Rebecca White, author of “A Soft Place to Land.” Delivering a rousing defense of “substance” was Jessica Handler, author of the memoir “Invisible Sisters.”
The winner was determined by audience response, and the din of stomps, claps, whistles and woo-hoos more appropriate to a wrestling match was loudest for Handler, who bested White and delivered a victory for “substance.”
Write Club is the latest in a growing number of informal literary groups and events that have sprung up in theaters, coffeehouses and restaurants around Atlanta.
“We like to call it the tenderest blood sport,” said Nicholas Tecosky, a filmmaker who runs Write Club’s new Atlanta chapter along with Myke Johns of WABE. “We use this combative language. All of the imagery we use for our website is pugilistic. Everybody comes looking for a fight. But when they get here they see it’s all for charity.”
In addition to giving writers a place to share their work and readers a chance to interact with them, the events have helped establish a loose-knit community of sorts for literary types. Poetry open mics and slams have been around for years, but for the first time local prose writers — especially the nonfiction variety — have public forums of their own.
The trend started two years ago when WABE producer Kate Sweeney and Dionne Irving, a Ph.D. candidate in English at Georgia State University, started True Story, a nonfiction reading series at Kavarna Coffeehouse in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood. Every other month, three writers are invited to present “artifacts” from their youth and give readings. Topics on a recent night ranged from a death investigator’s memoir to a revealing profile of Blondie, the Clermont Lounge’s venerable stripper.
Early last year, Manuel’s Tavern began hosting MothUP, a monthly offshoot of the New York-based storytelling event, the Moth. In May the group ended its association with the Moth and changed its name to Carapace, a move that did not diminish its packed crowds. Once a month, prospective tellers put their names in the hat for an opportunity to tell a story in five minutes or less, and no reading is allowed.
“The audience becomes the performer becomes the audience and back and forth,” said writer Randy Osborne, who co-founded the series with artist Joyce Mitchell. “Not only does that happen but it happens unpredictably. ... You don’t even know who [the next teller is] going to be, and it might be you if your name is in the hat.”
Similar events are popping up at under-the-radar venues such as Eyedrum in Castleberry Hill, CouchCouch in the Old Fourth Ward and The Goat Farm in Midtown West. Melysa Martinez, a production assistant for Creative Loafing, runs Kill Your Darlings, a blog and writing workshop that hosts occasional readings such as the upcoming 7 Deadly Sins in October. Writer and former AJC staffer Ed Hall hosts The Writers Exchange forum, a monthly reading workshop held in the Warhorse Café at the Goat Farm. On Monday, the Goat Farm hosts a launch party for Nothing is Beyond, an Internet series of science fiction prose by Davy Minor featuring readings by Johns of Write Club and Martinez of Kill Your Darlings, among others. That’s the other thing about the recent rash of literary groups and events — they tend to cross-pollinate.
“We think this is something that could explode all over the place and not just Write Club but all these underground literary events,” said Tecosky. Efforts are already under way to spread Write Club to San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. “Newspapers are struggling, bookstores are shutting down. With the Internet, so much good work is lost in the wash,” he said. “These underground literary circles work because they are accessible and they appeal to a generation that grew up with the Internet; that grew up with 24-hour news channels. When somebody goes to Carapace or True Story, they see people who are like them and they see that it is accessible. That is what feeds it. We take an idea of dry, dusty literature and try to make it fun and as accessible as we can.”
At the Write Club event in the Decatur High School auditorium, the crowd was characteristically raucous. Host Ian Belknap, founder and “overlord” of Write Club in Chicago, where the nonprofit organization started, fueled the frenzy. His bellicose antics succeeded in amping up the energy of the room. “Did I hear a whoop-whoop-whoop?” Belknap asked as he waved his fist over his head like Arsenio Hall.
The event ended with a match between Belknap and Tecosky on “words” vs. “deeds.” Another close match handed it to Tecosky. And once all the bouts were over, the victors not only won boasting rights, but donations were made to their favorite charities.
For good or bad, technology is changing the way we buy and read books. But instead of clutching their pearls and fretting over the decline of print, these loose collectives of writers and storytellers are reviving a literary tradition older than paper. Their ability to pull people away from their laptops, Kindles and smartphones and transfix them with a simple story speaks to a basic human need to connect with a medium warmer than an electronic device.
“We just want to ... ‘like’ something beyond clicking on it,” said Osborne. “That’s not liking something, that’s moving your fingertip,” he said. “You like something when you get up out of your chair, drive to a location, sometimes pay money, sit there and listen. That, to me, is liking something.”
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Upcoming literary events
Carapace
Formerly MothUP, this open storytelling event is hosted by Lance Colley. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Meets every fourth Tuesday. Free. Manuel’s Tavern, 602 N Highland Ave., Atlanta. 404-525-3447. on.fb.me/pEcVM4
Seven Deadly Sins
Presented by Hyde and Kill Your Darlings ATL. Readers include Melysa Martinez, Jayne O’Connor and headliner Tom Cheshire. 9 p.m. Oct. 15. Free. Melvin Gallery, 684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave., Atlanta.
#!/KillYourDarlingsATL
“Nothing is Beyond” launch party
Writer Davy Minor debuts his science fiction Web series with guest readings and live music. 9 p.m. Monday. Free. Readers include Minor, Myke Johns, Melysa Martinez and others. Musician Derek Burdette and Ambulances perform. The Goat Farm, 1200 Foster St., Atlanta. www.nothingisbeyond.com
reali-TEA Storytelling
Open storytelling. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11. Hosted by Stacey Beth Shulman. Meets the third Thursday of the month. Free. Tah Cha Teahouse, 3352 Chamblee Tucker Road, Atlanta. 770-454-8103.
Stories on the Square
Open storytelling about personal stories. 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Hosted by Shannon McNeal in association with the Southern Order of Storytellers, this informal group meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Free. The Square Pub, 115 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-844-4010
True Story! Reading Series
Guest writers read nonfiction. 8 p.m. Oct. 21. Readers include Jason Myers, Krista Derbecker and Shannon McNeal. Hosted by Kate Sweeney bimonthly. Free. Kavarna, 707 E. Lake Drive, Oakhurst. 404-371-1113. on.fb.me/8VttcT
Write Club
Three pairs of guest writers duke it out with words. 9 p.m. Oct. 19. Nick Tecosky hosts the monthly event. Pay what you can, $10 to $20. (Proceeds go to the winners’ charities.) PushPush Theater, 121 New St., Decatur. 404-377-6332.
writeclubatlanta
Writers Exchange
Open workshop readings. Hosted by Ed Hall in association with Eyedrum. Held every third Tuesday. Free. Warhorse Café at the Goat Farm, 1200 Foster St., Atlanta. www.eyedrum.org
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