The People Say Project presents Lafcadio Hearn, late night at the Tennessee Williams Festival

Jeez, the titles of these posts are getting increasingly genius, aren’t they? It’s a rough world in this local literary blogosphere, kid. Sometimes it kills the head (and the heart … and the liver? no, we don’t have no time for drinkin’).

You know who did have time for drinking? Lafcadio Hearn. His portrayal of New Orleans, at once romantic and grotesque, could not have come from a sober mind, though who knows exactly the ways in which it was intoxicated? That mind will be explored and extrapolated on Friday, March 23, at 8 p.m. at the New Orleans Healing Center’s Cafe Istanbul, during a satellite event for the Tennessee Williams Festival organized by NOLA Fugees and The People Say Project. The lineup of performers is varied and lascivious, including people both reading and taking off their clothes (though not at the same time, I imagine). I’m not sure exactly how dark and dangerous one can be in a Healing Center, so it might be a bit of a letdown to those looking to invoke Hearn’s seedy essence, but the lineup of performers is decent, and The People Say Project has reliable programming.

Find out more information about the event here (note that steep cover) and read an interview by Susan Larson with Brian Boyles and Jarret Lofstead, the brains behind The People Say Project.

Performers for Literary Late Night: Lafcadio Hearn include burlesque star Trixie Minx and Chris Lane of Fleur de Tease, poet Chuck Perkins, musician Ratty Scurvis, playwright Andrew Vaught of the Cripple Creek Theater Company, the Hip-ocracy belly dancers, slam poet Kataalyst Alcindor, and writer CW Cannon.   The splendor on display includes new video work, a track by Evan Christopher and Tom McDermott, and photos by Leslie Addison and George Yerger.