This variety and comedy show is a cross between John Waters and Dr Ruth. Zan, the rad dyke plumber is a big mouthed- bulldagger with a teddy bear heart. It is shocking to hear such a force rave about the cuteness of testicles or the joys of shit. As she deeply inhales some imaginary shit, "Smells like money to me" and "your shit is my bread", she spins a lurid and lovely journey into liberation. Yes, a dyke plumber can shed a different perspective

Bent Writing Institute announces its third semi-annual Student Showcase featuring writers Michelle Tea, Justin Chin and Bent students. Michelle Tea will read with Bent students on August 1st and Justin Chin will read with Bent students on August 2nd, 2004. Michelle Tea and Justin Chin will also present writing workshops on Tuesday, August 3rd, from 6-9PM. Cost is $15 for one, or $20 for both. To sign up in advance, email wordyfemme@hotmail.com. We expect these to sell out!

Michelle Tea is the author of three acclaimed memoirs--The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America; Valencia, which won a Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Fiction: and The Chelsea Whistle, selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the top 100 books of the year. Her collec! ted poetry, "The Beautiful," was a Lambda finalist. With writer Clint Catalyst she edited the anthology "Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache: Adventures in the First Person;" and all by herself she edited the collection Without A Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class.

She is presently celebrating the publication of her latest book, Rent Girl, a graphic novel illustrated by the artist Laurenn McCubbin.

She was co-founder of the now legendary all-girl open mic event and coast-to-coast road show Sister Spit. Tea is one-half of the astrological duo Double Team Psychic Dream, which writes weekly horoscopes for the SF Bay Guardian, monthly horoscopes for Girlfriends and SG Girl magazines, and every-other-monthly horoscopes for On Our Backs. She also writes essays and profiles for these magazines as well as The Believer, The Stranger, BeyondChron.com and other print and web periodicals. She is presently at work on a novel of utter fiction. Michelle Tea‚s website is www.purpleglitter.com

Justin Chin is the author of two collections of poetry, Harmless Medicine and Bite Hard (Manic D Press), and two collections of essays, Burden of Ashes (Alyson Press) and Mongrel: Essays, Diatribes and Pranks (St. Martin's Press). Harmless Medicine was a poetry finalist at the 2002 Bay Area Book Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, the Publishing Triangle Awards, and the Asian American Literary Awards.

As a performance artist, he has created eight full-length solo performance works and several shorter works which have been presented nationally and abroad. "Attack of the Man-Eating Lotus Blossoms," a collection of performance art texts, documents and scripts will be published by Suspect Thoughts Press in early 2005.

Chin‚s writings have also been anthologized widely: most notably in The Outlaw Bible Of American Poetry (Thunder‚s Mouth), American Poetry: The Next Generation(Carnegie Mellon University Press), and The World In Us: Lesbian and Gay Poetry of the Next W! ave (St. Martin‚s Press), among others. He lives in San Francisco.

The SF Bay Guardian said: "Chin is one of the few national-caliber slam poets who succeed with material that‚s gut-wrenchingly personal and at the same time loaded with satire and commentary on pop culture. He alternates between the two at a dizzying pace, creating a glorious tension that few spoken-word performers can equal." More information about Justin Chin

BENT delivered two successful showcases of school-wide talent to full-capacity audiences at Seattle‚s Re-Bar. Our mission is to promote and encourage written and spoken word among LGBTIQ people and in our communities. We have offered five ongoing writing classes for three successful years. Classes teach poetry, fiction, memoir, spoken word performance and more.

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(206)860-3035 wordyfemme@hotmail.com
1205 East Pike Street. Seattle WA 98122
on the world we live in. "I've been in everybody's house, and everyone has a toilet"! Why shouldn't we talk of our bodies and their functions? There is an open mike for Shit Stories and other bodily delights. Also guests may include hot radical femme poet, Jesse Steele, and the gutter-boys (many straight & gay boys in drag) fashion show by Kimberley Montero."