Reading Frenzy ~ An Independent Press Emporium

2010: KICKSTARTED!

February/March 2010

Dear Readers,

Our deepest thanks and gratitude go out to the folks at Kickstarter as well as to all 307 of our backers and everyone who helped spread the word!

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last two months, we launched a fund raising effort to pay for the publication of the next issue of Crap Hound (revised and expanded No. 4: Clowns, Devils & Bait) and it was 118% funded! We are proofing the final version and it looks like we'll be going to press a couple weeks earlier than we thought!

Our Kickstarter experiencing was truly amazing and inspiring. It was also a huge boon to the magazine, the press, and the shop. What a welcome event after such a long, hard haul! We encourage everyone to check out the site and start pledging and promoting worthwhile projects!

Your Faithful Proprietress,
Chloe

The Ledger

Matthew Stadler to talk at PAM, Mar. 11th

Every second Thursday the Portland Art Museum invites an artist to speak about a few pieces from the permanent collection, and this upcoming Thursday we have Matthew Stadler to look forward to! He'll be giving a tour centered around two paintings: Mark Tobey's Western Town, 1944, and Whiting Tennis' Bitter Lake Compound, 2007. Both paintings address urban environments and growth within the context of their respective time periods.

Matthew Stadler is a novelist and editor here in Portland and is known most recently to have opened up the Publication Studio, a pop-up, print-on-demand bookshop across the way from Reading frenzy. Stadler's work has also appeared in Frieze and ArtForum, among others!

Chicago Zine Fest, Mar.12 +13th

Chicago's first ever Zine Fest is less than a week away! If you are even remotely in the midwestern region, I suggest high-tailing it over to the windy city for an overwhelming mix of workshops, panels and tables upon tables of self-publishing zinesters. Check out the full breadth of events on their website!

Read to Rebuild, Mar. 16th

Reading Local and the Writer's Dojo in St.Johns have teamed up to bring you a wonderful night of entertainment to benefit relief in Haiti. Kevin Sampsell and Ariel Gore, among other Portland greats, will give readings; and a few of Mercy Corps finest will also be on hand to share their experiences rebuilding Haiti. To round out the night acoustic duo Sweeter than Later will perform!

Suggested donation is $10 and includes participation in a raffle.

Northwest Passage Lecture, Mar. 11th

The wondrous Dill Pickle Club has teamed up with PDX Pop Now! to present a slew of lecture series this spring, beginning March 11th with Northwest Passage. The night, hosted by the Waypost, will focus on the rich history of independent music in our region, and includes a vegetarian dinner. Later this spring we'll hear from Fred and Toody of Dead Moon and Clavin Johnson among other greats! But till then, here's the equally awesome line-up for next Thursday!

"A Life in Soul"/ URAL THOMAS/ Longtime Portland R & B and soul singer

"Rock n' Roll, Race & Poster Art"/ JOE KREGAL/ Slide lecture of 60s/ 70s Portland rock posters w/ music clips

"Hippies, psychedelics and the 60s Portland folk/ acid rock scene"/ VALERIE BROWN/ Writer and cultural historian

Guest interviewer ERIC ISAACSON/ Founder and proprietor of Mississippi Records

For more information and in-depth presenter biographies, hit up their website!

IPRC Yeti Research Station, Mar. 4

Amidst the First Thursday hubbub, you should definitely try to stop by the IPRC's unveiling of the Yeti Research Station tonight! Director Justin Hocking was mysteriously moving large pieces of wood into the building yesterday, and rumor has it the staff has erected a tree in celebration of the event! A slew of wonderful artists will also be showing off their own renditions of the man-beast!

Interview with Ayun Halliday

February 28, 2010:

Ayun Halliday, the prolific author of the East Village Inky series and resident columnist at Bust Magazine, will be stopping by Reading Frenzy March 6th to celebrate and read from Issue 43! In anticipation for her arrival, we chatted about past issues, future projects and how one can become 'heine'!

Read the entire post »

"shadows" release show, Feb. 25!

This Thursday, join photographer/writer Megan Mcisaac and artist/poet Renee Lilley for the release of their collaborative zine, "shadows". The night will include a few musical performances, as well as another collaboration between artists Ashley Forrette and Jolby. The opening will begin at 6 over at the Together Gallery.

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Upcoming Events

SUNDAY, MARCH 21st, 7PM

Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge

with Gordon "Zola" Edgar

We're so excited to host Gordon Edgar during his visit to Portland in celebration of the recent release of Cheesemonger: Life on the Wedge, a memoir of Gordon's unlikely move from punk-rock political activist to a serious career as a cheesemonger at San Francisco's worker-owned Rainbow Grocery Cooperative!

Mr. Edgar bluffed his way into his cheese job knowing almost nothing, but quickly discovered a whole world of remarkable artisan cheeses and developed a deep understanding and respect for the styles, producers, animals, and techniques that go into making great cheese. Cheesemonger intertwines his own life story with his ongoing love affair with cheese, and offers readers an absorbing, on-the-ground look at Amercia's growing cheese movement. From problem customers to animal rights, business ethics to taste epiphanies, this book offers something for everyone.

Gordon Edgar is the cheesemonger for Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, San Francisco's biggest independent grocery store and the country's largest retail worker co-op. He helps organize national and regional worker-cooperative conferences and regional cheese conferences, and serves on the board of directors for the California Artisan Cheese Guild. Edgar's writing has been published by HipMama.com, Clamor Magazine, MaximumRocknRoll and Zine World.

Free beer from Ninkasi!

THURSDAY, APRIL 1st, 6PM

The Natural Man

New Works on Paper by Shelley Turley

Reading Frenzy is pleased to present the first Portland solo show by artist Shelley Turley. The Natural Man features two dozen pieces, all works on paper, that employ a process of "paper doll cut-out" college, water color, gouache and acyclic. In this body of work Ms. Turley explores themes of modern American spirituality, and the search for tradition, ritual and meaning in everyday life. The exhibit will run for the month of April.

Shelley Turley was born in a small town on the eastern edge of Arizona. She has since lived in Yuma, Arizona, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Brooklyn, New York. She received a BFA from the University of Utah. Currently, she lives and works in Portland, where the trees, clouds and Oregon's history of cowboys, Indians, hippies, gurus, and explorers have all influenced her work. While she has focused on oil painting for years, she has recently began exploring different media on paper, as seen in this work. Shelley has had exhibitions in New York City and the inter-mountain West. Reading Frenzy is her first Portland show.