Vapors Vol I: Desire

Vapors is a poetry and performance event structured around historical concepts of madness and its treatments. Vapors - the umbrella term for hysteria, mania, depression and other illnesses ascribed to women - also speaks to the nature of poetic performance, that it exists in a moment, that it can impact despite its ephemeral nature.

Each reading focuses on a different symptom associated with female mental instability in the victorian era, volume one being “Desire”. Performers from a range of literary backgrounds will explore the nature of emotion, thought and humanity in the 21st century.

Vapors will take place as part of the Mellow Pages summer pop-up at The Silent Barn

Featured Performers:

Ruby Brunton is a New Zealand-raised poet and performer who now lives in Brooklyn. She spends a lot of time thinking about how to create community and education alternatives. Find her on twitter & tumblr @rubybrunton

Jasmine Gibson is a marxist feminist, soon to be psychotherapist for all your gooey psychosis episodes that match the bipolar flows of capital. Will be publishing chapbook of poetry with Commune Editions.

Faith Heyliger is a Harlem-born poet, mover, and educator. Her work awakens consciousness, embodies presence, and honors the self existing self. Her words will kick you in the teeth, leave you in a trance, and send chills down the spine.

Stephon Lawrence is a Brooklyn born & based writer, poet, & artist. She goes to art school, watches anime, & shouts at white people. You can find her on twitter @nnohpetss

Melissa McDaniel is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Psychopomp Magazine, Luna Station Quarterly, Be About It Press, and Witch Craft Mag. She is an editor at tNY.Press, and she runs GetLitNYC.tumblr.com, a guide for finding readings in NYC.

Kayla classy Morse is a writer/etc living in brooklyn + working on a long poem/project/thing called Kill Girls Watch. Zines include SLUTTISH SPOILS / GURGE (with clara lipfert, HAG Collective), CRUSHED and .snakebite. (Birdsong Press). Is into collaboration, is into talking it out.

Invitation Image by Isabel Iris Schneider: http://www.isabelschneider.com/