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anti-readings By March 2001 James Hoff and Ryan Haley of Loudmouth Collective had begun preparations for the Anti-Readings, which were to be organized with the assistance of the members of Ugly Ducking Presse. Anti-Readings started as a bi-monthly series of events centered around alternative means of literary dissemination, with an emphasis on decentralization and interactive projects. Joel Schlemowitz’s projections became a staple at Anti-Readings, and many other artists and writers contributed works, games, ideas and installations. An Anti-Reading in Montreal When the New York Press advertised these events, they said “be warned, or cheered, as the word "experimental" hovers about this event like the plague.” Anti-Readings quickly became a scene of their own, occurring five times at Tonic in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and culminating in a triumphant Anti-Reading #6 at the Poetry Project at St Mark’s Church in March 2002. After one further Anti-Reading in Montréal, Loudmouth Collective discontinued the series. However Anti-Readings have since sporadically emerged in Charlottesville, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, and Cambridge, MA, finding new forms and probing boundaries of the format. They may or may not happen again. See the film “Loudmouth Collective/Ugly Duckling Presse” by Joel Schlemowitz, for a taste of what went on. LINKS TO ANTI-READING-RELATED MATERIAL —my first reading (a performance at St. Mark's Poetry Project for the New Year's Marathon 2004) photo#1 | photo#2 —speech acts (a related event around the inception of the Anti-Readings, Spring 2002, including performances by Wanda Phipps, The Yogurt Boys, Eugene Ostashevsky, David Shapiro and panel with Charles Bernstein) read about it —a gallery anti-reading (at Gallery 108 in Cambridge, Spring 2004) read about it