This last Thursday I attended the Voz Sin Tinta reading series at Alley Cat Books. It featured a reading by former Fourteen Hills Editor-in-Chief Ari Moskowitz, along with readings by local San Francisco writers John Haggerty and Luke Dani Blue. The series is sponsored by San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía, who took the mic for a moment to speak about what Voz Sin Tinta is all about—why this reading, and readings like it, matter. He stressed the importance of gathering together as a creative community to share work, as well as providing a space within this community for emerging writers who may or may not be published yet to read their work.
It’s easy, I think, to get caught up in the old ideal of the lonely writer and forget that there’s an entire living, breathing community out there doing the exact same thing as you are. On Thursday, I got to hear great readings by the featured writers as well as the open mic poets. I was reminded of how important a creative community can be, not to mention how fun it is to drink wine and listen to words for a few hours during the week. If you happen to find yourself in the Mission on the 2nd Thursday of the month and get a chance to go to this series, you most definitely should.
Voz Sin Tinta is on the 2nd Thursday of every month at 6:30pm at Alley Cat Books, 3036 24th Street in San Francisco. It is curated by Jose Hector Cadena and Marguerite Muñoz.