Thanks to all those who came out November 6 to support award-winner Sarah Heady and Fourteen Hills at the Michael Rubin Book Award release party! The event, held at The Booksmith, was a great success. Fourteen Hills co-editor-in-chief, Ari Moskowitz, and local poet Barbara Tomash, introduced the reading, and Sarah read from her award-winning collection, Niagara Transnational, to a full house. The venue was packed with admirers of Heady's work, Fourteen Hills staff, San Francisco State University faculty, and friends. A Q&A session followed the event, and Sarah stayed after to sign books and socialize.
When large amounts of people congregate at a literary event (as was the case with this event), a couple things can be inferred. First, that people want to attend events like this; they want poetry in their lives. Secondly, and no less important, they want a sense of community—poetry is capable of creating and developing connections among people. People attend poetry readings, then, to speak the same language. With a poet like Heady spearheading the event—her work both explosive and serene, focused both inward and outward, a union of history and now—we found ourselves gathered together to commune, communicate, be communicated to.
Heady writes, “This legend helps/ me feel immortal. This legend/ owns traffic like a Hummer. This/ legend pleasures me whenever I want it.” For a moment—however brief of an escape from the monotony of our lives—when we gathered to hear her read, we were thrust into another place—a place where all that mattered was words—corroding us, smoothing us, dragging parts of us away.
It was a spectacular evening and, again, many thanks to the people who came out and helped make it a very special occasion. Niagara Transnational is currently available through Small Press Distribution.