On Monday, instead of getting a damn thing done, I took a bus into the city and headed downtown to (Le) Poisson Rouge, where Mike Geffner was hosting Titillating Tongues: NYC Erotica in Poetry & Prose. My favorite, sex-positive feminist was reading, and I was also excited to catch my very first glimpse of Rev Jen, a writer, performance artist, and elf I’d first become aware of when she was writing the old-school “I Did It For Science” column on Nerve.

Before we could bask in the awesome glow of the featured readers, however, there was an open mic.

I didn’t read, because I don’t write erotica (I just enjoy it recreationally, and ghostwrite essays that accompany erotica), but I enjoyed the mix of people who did have the balls to get up there (including my friend Claire, who had made a resolution to read, perform, and tell stories in a public setting).

And as I sat there and listened — impressed by how successful writing was about so much more than just the words — it occurred to me:

We should poetry slam all our writing before considering it Good. [Read more…]