Smart Gals and Mama's Hot Tamales Present

365 Days/365 Plays, Week 39 August 6 - August 12, 2007 365plays365days.com

2122 West Seventh Street
(West of Alvarado St., across from MacArthur Park)
Los Angeles, CA 90057
Tel. 213.487.4300

Admission to all events is absolutely free.
(But why not buy a tamale or two?)

Curious? Questions? 323.302.2257 or christine@smartgals.org.

Suzan-Lori Parks wrote a play a day for a year, so we decided to follow her lead and kick off our week with free, nightly writing workshops. Each evening will be devoted to a different style of writing, led by local writers: poetry, short fiction, playwriting, nonfiction and songwriting. No prior experience required. A selection of Mama’s signature tamales will be available for purchase.

Nightly Writing Workshops
August 6 – August 10, 7:00 – 9:00pm
scroll down to find out more about our writers

Monday
Poetry, Chris Davidson

Tuesday
Short Fiction, Noël Alumit

Wednesday
Playwriting, Arturo Aranda & Katy Hickman

Thursday
Nonfiction/Developing a Writing Habit, Neda Pourang

Friday
Songwriting, Holly Ramos

Our performances will happen on Saturday & Sunday. The experience begins at Mama’s Hot Tamales, a nonprofit organization that has been elemental in the park’s restoration. Come to Mama’s, read the plays (don’t fret, they’re short), get a map, then set out across the street to find our incognito installations in MacArthur Park, an underserved and underused public space. We hope that in trying to find the plays, you will discover the park. You may want to bring some cash to ride the paddle boats, and of course some tamale money. Mama’s will extend a generous 25% discount to all who arrive by public transit, www.mta.net, or by bike.

Performance Installations

Saturday August 11
10:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm

Sunday, August 12
10:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm

Participants include: Shirley Anderson, Dalit Berkowitz, Christine Louise Berry, Kathleen Coyne, Juli Crockett, Saku ee, Enci, Elizabeth Hickman, Katy Hickman, Andrea Iaderosa, James Jewett, Chet Leonard, Maureen Longaker, Albert Malvaez, Patrick Moore, Sierra Pecheur, Beth Powers, Allain Rochel, John Spence, Amy Trulock, Kev Tutunjian, Vince Waldron, Ben Wegener, Lisa Welti, Tau-Mu Yi

Writer Bios

Chris Davidson
Poetry, Monday, August 6
Chris Davidson received his MFA from UC Irvine, and his poems have appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Dust Up, Caesura, CRATE, and elsewhere. He is one of the founders of the Casa Romantica Reading Series, and has edited three anthologies culled from recordings from the series, most recently Work Backward (2007). He has taught at UC Irvine, Chapman University, Whittier College, and currently teaches at Biola University. He has given readings and/or performances with Chuck Palahniuk, Stephanie Brown, and Steven Almond, and has participated in two Dead Poets Slams held at the Smart Gals Speakeasy in L.A. His next readings are on August 5, at the Broadlind Café in Long Beach with Derrick Brown and Aimee Bender, and August 15th, as part of the Poetry Idiots series in Orange.

Noël Alumit
Short Fiction, Tuesday, August 7
Noel Alumit wrote Letters to Montgomery Clift and Talking to the Moon, a Los Angeles Times Bestseller and nominated for a Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Award. He teaches Intro to Fiction Writing for UCLA Extension. He writes a literary blog: thelastnoel.blogspot.com.

Arturo Aranda Lopez
Playwriting, Wednesday, August 8
Arturo Aranda Lopez is a Los Angeles playwright, actor, and cyclist. He is co-founder of Midnight Theatre and is part of the LA Eco Village community. His work is described as surrealist, fantastical, and absurd. His work has been presented at Red Cat in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Cal Arts School of Theatre, CASA 0101 in Boyle Heights, Odyssey Theater in West LA, and Midnight Theatre Arts in Hollywood, and is a member of Viejascandalosas Collective, a collective of artists dedicated to raising awareness about the murdered women of Juarez, Chihuahua. Arturo attended L.A.C.C. Theatre Academy, and is currently working on his Bachelor's in Chicano Studies.

Katy Hickman
Playwriting, Wednesday, August 8
“And, in this milieu of overdone caricature, Katy Hickman dares to underplay her role as a starlet on the lam from too many “Sex Kitten” sequels.” Written about her performance in Psycho Beach Party, it could apply to her approach to the world around her: outwardly serene, vigilant, and trying to find a way out.
Member of Dog Ear Playwrights at dogear.org.

Neda Pourang
Nonfiction/Developing a Writing Habit, Thursday, August 9
Neda Pourang was born in Tehran, Iran, then relocated at age five, raised in Oxford, England and Los Angeles. She studied at New York University, has written and reported on the Arts for WNYC, New York Public Radio and Public Radio International. At the same time she has been and still is a union Costumer in television and film. She lives in Los Angeles and her two favorite films are Blade Runner and Chinatown.

Holly Ramos
Songwriting, Friday, August 10
Holly Ramos latest performance received this delicious write up by the LA Weekly. We would not seek to improve upon it: "When Holly Ramos was fronting the New York trio Fur in the 90's, she sang with a sweetly endearing voice over a buzzing beehive of punk tempos and power chords on souped-up Blondie-ish tunes like "Beautiful Wreck". She was at the center of the Manhattan underground- rock scene, backing the late Joey Ramone on guitar at one of his Christmas concerts and later working with Jesse Malin and Antony & the Johnsons. Now she’s performing solo and living in L.A., but you can still hear lipstick traces of the Lower East Side in her phrasing and imagery on her new solo CD, Racehorse (on the wonderfully named Ford to City: Drop Dead Records).”