DTLAB: the Individual and the Community

UPDATE: We have changed the location for the entire duration of DTLAB. It’s now at happening at Les Noces Du Figaro – 618 S. Broadway Ave., LA CA 90014

The opening weekend of DTLAB @ Kitchen Table is almost here!

Our first night, Friday 6/27, we will be presenting PUBLISH!. There will be a microphone set up at the bar, connected to a laptop running speech-to-text software. Everyone who orders drinks or chats near it will be translated into a joint document. The document will be projected upstairs all night long, with live updates as people continue to speak downstairs.

The final document, having translated and recorded the speech of all the guests that first night, will be published by Writ Large Press.

On Saturday, we will be presenting a two-part event centered around the relationship and tension between Interior and Exterior.

The first part, which begins at 6PM, will be a panel discussion between Luis J. Rodriguez (Tía Chucha Centro Cultural), Chris Anthony (Shakespeare Center LA), and Jessica Ceballos (Poesia Para La Gente) regarding community building around literature and around the personal experience.

At 8PM, there will be a reading from three authors who have each found a unique way to share their personal narrative: Douglas Kearney (Patter), Wendy C. Ortiz (Excavation: a Memoir), and Amarnath Ravva (American Canyon). The reading will be followed by an open discussion session between the writers and the audience.

And wrapping up the first weekend will be a reading Sunday evening curated by journalist and art critic Shana Nys Dambrot. The readers will each read a piece around the theme of home.

As you can see, our opening weekend events all revolve around the idea of private/public, of interior/exterior, of inner/outer, of personal/communal.

This is not by coincidence. As writers and as publishers, our focus and effort has always been to explore the way the two seemingly opposing realms (inside and outside) not only co-exist, not only feed into each other, but can each serve to strengthen and protect the sanctity of the other.

Meaning: we share personal words, some embarrassingly private, hoping that by speaking we will be able to find our tribes, that we will contribute to the building of a community. And the community will in turn care for each and every one of these words, these memories, these personal experiences, nurturing the individuals who have offered them up to the world.

Join us to learn about each other’s personal experiences.
Join us as we continue to build and strengthen this community that we share.

#dtlab #90for90

DTLAB @ Kitchen Table – 410 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013

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