This post was submitted by John "Jolly" Bavoso

It’s not often that you get to see a huge lineup of the some of the best queer writers from around the country all performing at the same event. But that’s exactly what you’ll get when you check out 3 Dollar Bill, the queer reading at the 2011 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference taking place in DC next week. To get a sense of what the event will be like, we chatted with Ilse Bendorf, Lead Curator of the event and one of the author scheduled to perform.

The New Gay: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you became Lead Curator of 3 Dollar Bill?

Ilse Bendorf: I’m a poet and Iowa native who has lived in Washington, DC, for two years. The annual AWP writing conference is in DC this year, and my original idea was to organize a reunion reading for myself and the other writers who were named Emerging LGBT Voices by the Lambda Literary Foundation in 2010. But then local poets Julie Enszer and Dan Vera approached me and asked if I’d be interested in collaborating on a bigger LGBT reading, and I happily signed on. We’ve joined forces with a fantastic planning committee and roster of sponsors to make the event happen, and I had the honor of being the one to reach out to writers and assemble our breathtaking lineup.

TNG: Where did the name of the event come from?

IB: It’s a reference to the saying, “queer as a three dollar bill” — because the reading will be just that.

TNG: What kinds of poetry and prose can audience members expect?

IB: Almost everything! You’ll hear fierce spoken word performance. Romance fiction. A memoir excerpt about a then-married man coming out as gay. Poems by award-winning established authors, and poems by those who just signed their first book contract. There’s Eileen Myles, whose new book, Inferno: a poet’s novel, rocked the literary world when it was published in November. And Regie Cabico, who’s been called “the Lady Gaga of poetry” by The Kenyon Review. You’ll hear work being created all over the country– ten of the writers are based in the DC area, while others will travel from Utah, New York, South Carolina, Mississippi, Chicago, California, and elsewhere. These writers are also educators, students, editors, ex-cheerleaders, grandmothers, Stegner Fellows, birth doulas… I could go on.

TNG: Why did you choose the rapid-fire, two-minute format for the reading?

IB: Our vision for the event is that it will be a “queerapalooza” of sorts. By having each writer read for just two minutes, we’re able to feature thirty talented and exciting voices in one room, on one stage. We aim for 3 Dollar Bill to be the queer night at AWP, and with so many amazing writers on the line-up, it won’t disappoint.

TNG: Are there any other queer literary events on the horizon that our DC readers should know about?

IB: Yes! There’s *Sparkle*, a queer-driven reading series, on the last Wednesday of every month at Busboys and Poets on 5th and K. *Sparkle* is hosted by Regie Cabico and Danielle Evennou, both of whom will be reading at 3 Dollar Bill. Also, on June 11 is an event called Queering Sound, which bills itself as “the annual staging of alternative performance, sound + digital arts, and spoken word, focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, post-gender-identified, supportive and queer artisans.” The venue is the Artisphere in Arlington, and Danielle Evennou, Dan Vera, and I are slated to read at the event.

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