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Sex & Monkeys: Kerry Cohen, Leanne Grabel, and John Dooley
March 16, 2019 @ 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
FreeJoin us on Saturday, March 16 at 8 pm (late start) for Sex & Monkeys, a triple-tiered lit-fit, featuring three of Oregon’s uniquely distinctive writers. Witness the literary luxury of an independent bookstore! Watch as chapters and verses tumble from the mouths of light-hearted, heavy hitting, deep-thinking, local writers; debatably three of Oregon’s finest. No real sex, no live monkeys. The title is an esoterically metaphorical expression meant to attract attendees. However, bananas will be available.
Kerry Cohen is the author of Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity, Lush: A Memoir, and 10 more books, and she’s been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Dr. Phil. You can learn more at www.kerry-cohen.com.
Leanne Grabel, M.Ed., is a writer, illustrator, performer & special education teacher (in semi-retirement). In love with mixing genres, Grabel has written & produced numerous spoken-word multi-media shows, including “The Lighter Side of Chronic Depression”; and “Anger: The Musical.” Her poetry books include Lonesome & Very Quarrelsome Heroes; Short Poems by a Short Person; Badgirls (a collection of flash non-fiction & a theater piece); & Gold Shoes, a collection of graphic prose poems [Finishing Line Press, 2018]. Grabel has just completed Tainted Illustrated, an illustrated stretched memoir, serialized in THE OPIATE. She is working on a compilation of 45 years of illustrated writing. She and her husband Steve Sander are the founders of Café Lena, Portland’s legendary poetry hub of the 90s. http://www.orartswatch.org/conversations-with-leanne-grabel/
John Dooley is a retired poetry slammer (three years on the Portland Nationals team), former columnist and features writer. He has nine spoken-word albums to his credit, and 40-some small press publications. Recent appearances: John Natsoulas Gallery, Cascadia Poetry Group, Neon Dreams 2, and opened for Hamell On Trial for three Pacific Northwest Performances. He lives near an owl, in Gladstone, Oregon.
John’s albums Oral Foibles, and Oral Foibles II – The Jackening are on Amazon and iTunes. His ancillary audio adventures include: Dr. Andy’s Poetry and Technology Show (KDVS), Indiefeed Performance Poetry, RC Weslowski’s Oh No Not Another Podcast, and radio appearances on KHSU, KBOO, KMUD, BBC World Service, and Poetica – ABC Australia. He’s toured the west coast and points beyond, since 1995. Oral Foibles III will be available spring 2019. JohnDooleyOralFoibles.com
“John Dooley somehow makes me simultaneously love and despair for humanity. In “Oral Foibles,” John’s first solo album, he reveals himself to be a cross between Salvador Dali and Charles Bukowski, but with a sharper-edged sense of humor than either. These tracks break-dance their way across our pop culture landscape and psychoses without a moment of mercy. Through John’s lens, human existence is just so freakishly absurd that laughing at it and enjoying the ride is probably our only valid option. He’s a joy and a wonder, and one of the most insightful performance artists working today. Listen and love. Listen and despair.”
Wess Mongo Jolley, President, The Performance Poetry Preservation Project