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 Click for words events Spit Take A new generation of sisters at Women and Children First Bookstore
"Thank you for coming out tonight, and to some of you--thank you for
coming out in general," begins Kathie Bergquist, of Women and Children
First bookstore. On the first warm day in weeks, dozens of people crowd
into the small Andersonville bookstore for "Sister Spit: The Next
Generation," an event (originally conceived in the 1990s) that features
a group of eight lesbian writers touring the country together in one van
to share their stories of spontaneity, lust, resentment and humor. Only
about twenty-five attendees are lucky enough to get a chair in front of
the readers, while another forty or so stand for the near two-hour
performance.
The first to read is Nicole J. Georges, one of the new members of the
tour. She turns on a slide projector in the middle of the room and then
stands behind the mic. "I'm gonna show you my babies, and then I'm
going to read a short story about calling the Dr. Laura show." The
audience laughs as she clicks through several photos of her dogs. "Yay
conservative right-wing radio!"
As the night wears on, there are stories about family experiences,
being evicted, undesired encounters in Laundromats and, in between,
performances, glimpses into the chaos that ensues when you put eight
literary-lesbians in one van together and send them across the country.
Michelle Tea, who is the founder of "Sister Spit," is dressed in a
leopard-print, cavewoman-like dress and black boots. She says that one
of the most interesting differences between "The Next Generation" tour
and the "Sister Spit" tours of the nineties is that there is a real
mix of women and experiences.
"In the nineties we were all around the same age and had the same
experiences," she says. "Now it's more multi-generational." That
generational mix includes Eileen Myles, female punk-literary icon who
has, among other things, written thousands of poems, several books, an
opera and campaigned as a write-in presidential candidate in 1992. There
are also several practical and logistical differences on "The New
Generation" tour. "There's some money involved," says Tea, "and
we're staying in some hotels--instead of the beer-soaked floors of total
strangers."
Also by Stephanie Ratanas
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