Liars of Orpheus: Appreciating Gay Icons
Liars of Orpheus is a kids show for adults where writers produce small lectures on strange topics. This month, writers will be creating fun biographical work on Gay Icons like Elton John and James Baldwin, Judith Butler and Laverne Cox. They win points from bootlegging their truths past their opponents or having their lies mistaken for truths. You can call it literary comedy or an excuse to eat chocolate outside of the house. You can say it’s a slapstick slam where the points don’t matter, if you wish. What you can never say is that its tepid or plain.
This episode will celebrate Gay Icons and features Ashley Fehr, Catherine Lewis, GOLDBard and Spillious the Ridiculous One.
Bios:
Ashley Fehr (she/her) is a queer settler living on the unceded, ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. She is a community organizer, a politico, a lover and prefers cold orange juice with pulp. An accidental adult jock, she runs two queer sports leagues in Vancouver. When she's not on the field, Ashley is walking her dog, JoJo Geena Davis, and taking pictures of bees. Reading out in the wild for the first time since college, she's just happy to be here.
Catherine Lewis (she/her) is a Chinese Canadian writer and poet who lives in Vancouver on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Her debut poetry chapbook Zipless is a finalist for two Bisexual Book Awards, including Bi Writer of the Year. Her poetry and prose have been featured in PRISM international, The Humber Literary Review, Pulp Literature, and Plenitude Magazine. First runner-up for Pulp Literature’s 2023 Magpie Award for Poetry, Catherine has been a finalist in creative nonfiction contests hosted by The Fiddlehead, Room Magazine, and The Humber Literary Review. She has performed at the Poets Corner Reading Series, Word Vancouver, and the Verses Festival of Words. A graduate of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and of the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive, she is a Banff Centre Literary Arts alumna. Catch her on Twitter or Instagram at @cat_writes_604 or at www.catherinewriter.com.
GOLDbard (they/them) is a queer blues songwriter, artist, poet and drag thing from the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples in that moodiest of ports, Port Moody, BC. Their art centers Queer Joy as a spiritual practice, and their new single "Look Back" is an homage to all the Queer Creatives who paved the way for them to be a Professional Queerdo.
They are indomitable in spirit with the voice of a wry angel. They love with abandon, command the stage, yet share the spotlight with love. A true entertainer with a voice full of soul, GOLDbard will make you laugh and cry, as they share songs and stories to remind us of our wholeness.
“With little more than guitar, percussion, and a story, GOLDbard brings listeners into their world, encouraging them to find joy in the resistance of those that came before.”
-V.S. Wells, The Georgia Straight
Spillious the Ridiculous One aka Trevana Spilchen is a Trans feminine settler parent, musician, spoken word artist and educator of Ukrainian and Irish decent. They are 2024 recipient of the Zacheus Jackson Memorial award won the 2017 Grand Slam Championship of the Vancouver Poetry slam and finished 6th at the 2018 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam.
Thursday, July 31 · 7 - 9pm • Doors at 6:30pm
The Pleasant FOOD•DRINKS•COMMUNITY
2434 Main Street Vancouver, BC V5T 3E2
