I Only Have Eyes For You”: Live readings by Aisha Sasha John and Julie Joosten at the words(on)stages reading series
June 24, 2014
Rain didn’t deter the audience and participants from coming out to the words(on)stages reading series, hosted by founders Nicole Brewer*** and Will Kemp of words(on)pages. Held on Wednesday, June 18 at The Central, the venue offered outdoor seating on the second-floor deck, where the audience looked inside into the performance space. Drinks came in mason jars, buzzing things buzzed, easily seen against the malibu blue walls, and there was an opportunity for other poets to perform during the open-mic session.
Julie Joosten was the second poet to read. She read poems from her book Light Light: “Once Sun”, #1 and #3 of “Light Fragments”, “The Cause Closest to the Body”, and “Storm Front Then”. At one point, when the speakers interrupted with a song, it was The Flamingo’s crooning “I Only Have Eyes For You”, and Julie unfazed, flashed a warm and friendly smile, and said this is great, I like it!
After the break, Aisha Sasha John read poems from her book THOU: “His Beautiful wife. I said give her a kiss for me”, “The day is ordinary and beautiful.”, “Tangier at the blue hour.”, “Can’t believe I’m saying this but I gave too much of my left body to the sun.”, “Today I account for yesterday”, and, “It’s four o’clock.”. Her vivacious sense of humor occasionally punctuated the room with exchanges that made the audience laugh along with her.
The night ended with a raffle-prize giveaway, prize ticket #36, which our very own Hazel Millar won! For upcoming readings and other summer events, visit our Event Page.
P.S., we’d like to extend an official welcome to the newest member of the BookThug family, a baby kitten! Please meet Tess Disco. Cutest office mascot ever.
***If the name Nicole Brewer sounds familiar, it is! She was BookThug’s very own intern, and has now branched out on her own with words(on)pages. We continue to wish her well on her literary endeavors.
The views expressed in this BookThug blog entry are held by the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of BookThug.
Puneet Dutt is a MA candidate in the Literatures of Modernity program at Ryerson University and currently works as an intern for BookThug. She has completed a marathon, and when she is not working, running, or doing coursework, she tastes the words of great poets on her tongue. Her poems have been published in Canadian Literature, the White Wall Review, and the League of Canadian Poets published “The Lonesome Lunch” for the 2013 National Poetry Month’s New Poet Selection. She resides in Toronto with her husband. (Follow her on Twitter: @Puneet_Dutt.)
