Poison Girl Lounge will host its monthly reading series Poison Pen at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, with poets Joshua Beckman and Barbara Hamby reading original work.
Beckman, a Connecticut native, is the author of six books and the editor of Wave Press. Barbara Hamby, creative writing instructor at Florida State University, is teaching a semester at UH and has published four books.
Four UH creative writing alumni who enjoyed reading series, but not the stuffiness and pretentiousness that can often accompany with them, started Poison Pen in September 2006.
‘You go to some readings and you can definitely feel that people are really worried about their persona – you get fake pieces,’ said David Maclean, a founder of Poison Pen. ‘This series allows people to read things they don’t normally read.’
A general requirement of readings at Poison Pen is the pieces must contain desire or ‘id.’
‘According to Freud, there are three divisions of a person. Id is the appetite part that wants to eat and smash things and have a good time,’ said Greg Oaks, another founder of Poison Pen. ‘There’s nothing stuffy or cerebral in our readings.’
That Poison Pen readings are set at a local bar is another factor.
Scott Repas, owner of Poison Girl Lounge and a co-founder of the reading series, relates a horrible experience he had while at a bar in New York.
‘(The reading) was so pretentious. We just wanted a setting where people could be real,’ Repas said.
Named after the old school tattoo made popular by Sailor Jerry, as well as the lyrics from a blues song by the late Houstonian Chris Whitley, Poison Girl is simply the neighborhood bar the reading series grew from.
For Maclean, there’s a slightly different story behind the founding of Poison Pen.
‘We liked other reading series, but we also liked drinking. We wanted to make it less taxing for ourselves. We wanted to stay at the bar,’ Maclean said.
And stay at the bar they have. In its second year, Poison Pen readings are routinely packed, averaging 100 to 120 patrons. Not all arrive at Poison Pen eager for a poetry review, but because of the liveliness and the id of the readings, many stay.
‘Most (of the audience) are people that come in for a drink and find themselves in the middle of a poetry review,’ Maclean said.
When choosing readers, Poison Pen aims for a variety of types of writers to keep its varied patrons entertained.
‘We try to mix grad students with professional writers, as well as with writers in the community,’ Oaks said.
Usually a mix of poetry and fiction, Thursday’s reading will feature poets Beckman and Hamby.
‘The id requirement will be met at this meeting,’ Oaks said.
Poison Pen readings occur at 8:30 p.m. on the last Thursday of every month at Poison Girl Lounge, located at 1641 Westheimer Road. Poison Girl Lounge is open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
Even if poetry isn’t one’s forte, Poison Girl is still worth a visit. With a jukebox that plays only Texas music (we’re not just talking country) and several pinball machines, not to mention a few Houston Press awards for Best Bar, you know the place is legit.
‘There’s a great mix of musicians and artists and drunks from the community, and everyone is sharing in this experience,’ Oaks said.
