The Book Lady Bookstore hosted the first nonfiction Seersucker Shots performance of 2014 over the weekend. Co-hosts B.J. Love and Erika Jo Brown set the stage for the three locals to read their work.
The featured writers teach at Savannah State University where Seersucker Live President Zach Powers used to teach. Ryan Clark, who works with Spoon River Poetry Review, read some of his poetry, while Neesha Navare and Dustin Michael read prose. Navare previously served as the writing director of SCAD and Michael is currently working on a collection of travel essays.
“It’s creative nonfiction,” Michael said. “So the parts you don’t like are creative and the ones you do like are nonfiction.”
Each read a sample of prose, the topics ranging from cheeseburgers, chain-smoking grandmas and working at Barnes & Noble. Even the crowd got involved, cheering on musician Brian Dean as he played the theme from “Jurassic Park.”
The challenge, as always, was bringing in new people. Love repeatedly went outside to bring in people from the sidewalk.
“Poets and writers aren’t sexy,” said Love. “[They’re] not like famous people. What we want to do is get the guy off the street — aggressively try to get people here. Then we can share our friends’ literature.”
Roddy O’Connor, a SCAD student who heard about the event by word of mouth, described the experience as “laid-back and homey.”
“It was unique,” said O’Conner. “I hadn’t seen it before, and I definitely want to go again.”
Seersucker Live is a nonprofit group that brings together national and local authors in Savannah for reading performances. They pitch themselves as part literary reading, part talk show, part cocktail party.
For more information about Seersucker Live, go to their website.
