Listening to the TireFire, 2/2

by Kimberly Ann Southwick

The TireFire reading series is one of my favorites in the city, says someone who wishes she’s been to more readings in Philly. Why is it one of my favorites despite my admitted limitations of being able to say something like that legitimately? Christian TeBordo & Sarah Rose Etter know what they’re doing. They don’t mess around. These are facts.

The venue and time are both key. Upstairs at Tattooed Mom opens up right before the reading begins, so by the time the readers have read it’s filling out. The seating arrangements are neat: I’ve always wanted to sit in an old bumper car while listening to someone read something I want to listen to. And I get to do that. And finally: the readers, the reason that one really goes to a reading in the first place. Sarah and Christian are good at picking them, good at introducing them, and good at letting them read for the right amount of time. I don’t want to sit in a bumper car listening to people I don’t want to read read. And I never have had to with TireFire.

I first went to the series back in November because I had heard Mike Young would be reading. I had taught some of his short stories to a literature class this semester and tempted my students with extra credit if they showed. Last Thursday, TireFire attracted Kirsten Kaschock, Kendra Grant Malone, Matthew Savoca, and Scott McClanahan to serenade us—sometimes literally. All three acts were compelling to listen to and presented a wide variety of engaging material. TireFire wants to be a fiction series, but when they attract writers they like, even if they are of other genres, they don’t turn them down. Kirsten went first, reading both poetry and a novel excerpt, followed by a joint poetry reading between Kendra & Matt. Scott was the grand finale, a true performer who ensnared the audience with his story and presentation of it.

Kendra and Matt read together from their collaborative book of poetry, Morocco. As they explained at the reading, they didn’t co-write the poems but co-edited the collection. As you read through it, some of the poems are obviously written by one voice or gender, while others seem to be a combination of the two talents. This overlap in voice isn’t a detriment, but adds a sort of unity to the collection, as though the voices each knew where to come in for harmony. I highly recommend this collection, as well as making sure you make it out to the next TireFire reading series. They have the line-up set, but their facebook page doesn’t boast a date yet. Keep checking in on them, as you don’t want to miss it!

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 11:36 am. It is filed under APIARY Attends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.