San Pablo Arts District Fund Presents Lip Service West: True Stories Featuring Authors Marcus Banks, Lauren Becker, Joe Clifford, and Alan Kaufman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 10, 2010 -- OAKLAND, CA –The San Pablo Arts District Fund (SPAD) is proud to host the debut of Lip Service West: True Stories, Friday, June 11, 2010, at 8 p.m., at 5512 San Pablo Avenue in North Oakland’s Golden Gate District. The featured readers include Marcus Banks, Lauren Becker, Joe Clifford, and Alan Kaufman. The event is free.

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San Pablo Arts District Fund Presents Lip Service West: True Stories Featuring Authors Marcus Banks, Lauren Becker, Joe Clifford, and Alan Kaufman

Welcome visit Our WebSite:

http://www.sanpabloarts.org/truestories

Originating in Los Angeles and made famous in Miami, where it’s been touted as the “hottest, smartest, most-honest literary event in South Florida,” Lip Service has now returned west to the Bay Area. Since 2006, Lip Service has provided writers, professional and amateur alike, a forum to share their work, unfiltered, uninterrupted, and unapologetic. The stories are all true and no subject is off limits. Pairing gritty, real, and raw writing with live performance, Lip Service offers audiences the rare glimpse into the personal lives of the artist.

Joe Clifford, a Bay Area transplant, produces the event, having served as co-producer (along with fellow writer Andrea Askowitz) for Lip Service Miami, where the series was featured on NPR and showcased at the annual Miami International Book Fair.

The event is made possible by the San Pablo Arts District Fund, which is dedicated to promoting the art while facilitating urban development in the Golden Gate District in North Oakland. SPAD is currently showcasing Michael Perez’s multimedia exhibition, Silver Screen Meltdown, which will be on display during the reading.

Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, embarrassing and brutally honest, Lip Service West promises to be unlike any literary event you’ve ever experienced.
Marcus Banks is a librarian at UC San Francisco. His piece “Divorce and Gratitude” recently appeared in the Superstition Review. Marcus has also published book reviews in the SF Chronicle and RainTaxi.

Lauren Becker is editor of Corium Magazine, and also founder and host of East Bay on the Brain, a distinctly East Bay showcase of fiction and poetry. Becker’s most recent publications include Pedestal and Opium magazines.

Joe Clifford earned his MFA degree from Florida International University in 2008. His publications include Big Bridge, CT Review, and Thuglit, among others. His memoir Junkie Love has just been accepted for representation by MDM Management in New York.

Alan Kaufman is author of the memoir Jew Boy and the novel Matches. He is editor of the anthologies The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, The Outlaw Bible of American Literature and The Outlaw Bible of American Essays. He is currently at work on a new memoir for Cleis Press.

Lip Service West is a bi-monthly, open submission event. The next reading is slated for August. For submission guidelines, please visit www.joeclifford.com

Media Contacts:
Idan Levin, Executive Director, San Pablo Arts District Fund: idan.levin@gmail.com
Joe Clifford, Producer, Lip Service West: www.joeclifford.com

More information can be found online at http://www.sanpabloarts.org/truestories

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