Benefit Reading for the Ladyfest*East Anthology

Sunday, May 16th

Emily Brandt of Take Back The News
Katy Otto of Del Cielo and Exotic Fever Records
The Ladies of Jane Doe Books
Erik Gamlem of Kiss-Kill Books
Jasmine Dreame Wagner of Songs About Ghosts


EMILY BRANDT
Take Back The News is an independent media project, founded by activist and poet Emily Brandt, that counters the misrepresentation of rape by the mainstream media. It is a haven for survival stories told in the survivors’ own, un-edited words. It provides an opportunity for the public to gain insight into the realities of rape, in hopes of opening hearts and minds and inspiring action. Primarily a web-based project, www.TakeBackTheNews.net is an online resource for news, statistics, and personal testimonies about and against sexual violence. The site also contains a downloadable collection of survival stories and guidelines for starting your own project on your campus or in your own community. Print versions of Take Back The News have been published by groups in Boston, New Paltz, and at La Salle University. Emily will be reading from a selection of these stories.

KATY OTTO
Katy Otto has toured the country several times playing drums in her band, Del Cielo. She co-runs the small label Exotic Fever Records and is a co-founder of the DC Visions in Feminism Conference, held at the University of Maryland. She received training through the Speakers' Bureau at My Sister's Place, DC's shelter for battered women and their children, on public education around abuse. She has also developed and facilitated workshops to address the connections between abuse of animals and partner violence. Katy has contributed articles to several independent magazines, from Punk Planet to Off Our Backs, and was named by Seventeen Magazine as one of the 23 voices of Generation Yes, a profile of young adults making change in their communities. Ms. Otto will be reading from her book of poetry and essays, With Sunlight Interfering, published by Kiss-Kill Books.

THE LADIES OF JANE DOE BOOKS
Jane Doe Books is committed to providing an open, volunteer-run, feminist lending library and community resource center in order to expand people’s understanding of women’s lives and struggles, and to provide a space that helps strengthen and diversify the feminist communities of Bushwick, Williamsburg, and the greater New York area. The ladies of the Jane Doe collective will speak about their projects, the past and future of the Jane Doe space, and provide information about how to become involved with the community.

ERIK GAMLEM
Erik Gamlem is a music journalist and poet based in Washington, DC. Erik’s collection of poetry, Death Language, reeks of the DC area—late nights smoking cigarettes in front of 7-11 and the overabundance of overpriced chain stores. His style consists of stream-of-consciousness free verse, rife with sexual frustration and political undertones. Erik’s music reviews have appeared in PopMatters and other publications. He is also the publisher of Kiss-Kill Books.

JASMINE DREAME WAGNER
Jasmine Dreame Wagner’s work has appeared in The North American Review, The Seattle Review, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, and her zines, entitled, Songs About Ghosts, are widely distributed. “[Jasmine’s] pieces are set off with incredible illustrations and art, mostly of gloomy tenement and warehouse buildings. It sets the scene for most of this zine, as Jasmine lives in Brooklyn and explores her life, mostly lived in NYC, in half-fictionalized style. She takes up the legacy of punk rock storytelling with impressive focus and well-crafted narrative.” –Keight, Pander Zine Distro. “Everyone should read a copy of this zine.” –MaximumRockNRoll, #250