There was, of course, plenty of documenting of the inaugural Sex Worker Literati on Thursday. You wouldn’t expect anything less from me, right?

The above video is a teaser, with short clips of each of the performers (with the exception of Damien Decker, who didn’t want to be on camera). I’ll be uploading one video a week, on Tuesdays, until the next reading on September 3rd. You can check out the videos as they go up on Blip, or you can subscribe to the feed on iTunes (or you should be able to shortly, when it’s hopefully approved).

More documentation: I created a group pool on Flickr and while we’re waiting for Official Photographer Baby Sinead to add her images, you should check out Gerry Visco’s pix of the evening. Also, there’s a fan page on Facebook, where I’m posting links to pieces about the series and the Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys anthology.

Whew. So that’s where you can find content that will keep you looped in and involved, regardless of whether or not you attend the events.

There were a lot of really amazing things about the debut of Sex Worker Literati, not the least of which was that the place was so packed that people were sitting on the floor. I was really inspired by the mix of performance styles – not just all reading – and I really want to make that a priority in upcoming months.

But the thing that was most striking to me was that I think I forgot a little bit that storytelling is really important. Storytelling is a cornerstone of movement building. It’s social, it’s meaningful, it brings people together on a human level. Doing my more politicized work is important, no doubt. But creating good and interesting culture, culture based around story telling, is really powerful. It’s nice to be creating a space where people can share and benefit from stories – and it is giving me something that was missing from my life, a sense of community in a different way. Like I said, social. And social is good, meeting people and inspiring them is great. The evening also made me reflect on an annoying phrase that gets thrown at sex worker activists: “the happy hooker lobby.”

In the sex work versus trafficking debates, one of the things that happens is that people who focus on trafficking (and specifically on the idea that all people in prostitution are “prostituted” and essentially being raped every day at their jobs) try to derail and discount the perspective of people who identify as sex workers by calling us the “happy hooker lobby.” But here’s the thing: most of the people who use the phrase “sex work” and address the issues in the sex industry from a labor and human rights perspective haven’t had a straight forward “empowering” or uncomplicated experience of the sex work that they’ve done. This much was certainly reflected in the stories told on Thursday night.

I’m really excited to see what this series grows into. And I’m also really proud of the fact that we’ve chosen to use the money that we earn from the bar to donate to various sex worker rights groups. I went home Thursday evening and was able to donate $125 to the St James Infirmary in San Francisco. At the next reading on September 3rd we’ll donate a percentage of the bar to $pread, and the featured readers are all folks who’ve written for the magazine. And I might even read something.

(And yes, I am at home blogging and editing video on a Saturday night)

Promoting the rights of sex workers in FYR Macedonia: Film Screening and Discussion at Bluestockings Bookstore – Thursday, July 23rd at 7 pm – FREE
WITNESS and partner organization, HOPS, will be screening their new
documentary on sex workers’ rights in Macedonia, on July 23 at Bluestockings Bookstore. Following the screening, WITNESS partner representative, Marija Tosheva will take part in a discussion on the role of the film in advocating for more just treatment for sex workers in Macedonia and Eastern Europe, and internationally as well.

Marija Tosheva is Program Director of Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS), a Macedonian NGO which since 1996 has run outreach and advocacy programs with sex workers and drug users, promoting safer behavior and enabling access to legal, health and social services, as well as resocialization and reintegration of sex workers, drug users, and their families. She is in New York for the summer editing the video with WITNESS.

DATE: July 23, 2009
TIME: 7:00 PM
PRICE: FREE
LOCATION: Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Wanted: Art Made By Sex WorkersShare
Body of Work is the working title of a small group exhibit that will take place in Providence, Rhode Island in the fall of 2009. Focusing exclusively on art made by sex workers, the show will attempt to shatter common myths about what it means to be a sex worker, while also providing much-needed gallery space for talented artists who may lack other means of showcasing their work.

With Providence quickly becoming the center of a national prostitution debate, it is vitally important to remind people that sex workers have minds as well as bodies, and should not be reduced to simple stereotypes. Because of this, work submitted to the show need not necessarily be sex work-related or even sex-related. Sex workers are a diverse group of people with diverse talents, interests, and skills, and this will be reflected in the final exhibit.

Submissions by hookers, strippers, rentboys, sex educators, porn stars, burlesque performers, dominatrices, go-go boys, and more are encouraged, though due to time and space constraints it should be emphasized that Body Of Work will ultimately focus on work by a small number of artists. If the quality of work reaches beyond the scope of the gallery, a larger exhibit may take place in a different venue at a later date.

If you are interested in submitting your work to the show, more specific/logistical deets are after the jump:

2-D, 3-D, and video media are welcome, as are works by writers interested in reading or performing at the event. Performance submissions are also encouraged, though the gallery’s small space will render large-scale performances very unlikely. The show will coincide with the second anniversary of Mixtapes For Hookers and be promoted as such, both locally and online.

To submit work for the show, e-mail (with the word ‘proposal’ in the subject line) yurigellerbentme@gmail.com. Include your name, location, and information about your work (titles, dates, dimensions, media.) Jpegs should be included as attachments. Links to artists’ websites are also encouraged.

About the show:

Work can be no bigger than 24X24, including framing. If the work is unframed, larger pieces may be acceptable.

Unfortunately, shipping will not be covered, so consider that if you are a non-local artist.

The deadline for submissions is August 7th. Work must be delivered to the gallery by the first week of September.

Any sales will be split 70 (you)/30 (the gallery.)