Leah Griesmann

Leah Griesmann’s “Standpoint of Water”

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What does a hurricane feel like from the perspective of water? Is it a crashing, a reunion, a departure, a homecoming? Leah Griesmann’s “Florence, Katrina, Maria: The Standpoint of Water” offers three stories of hurricanes, as reflected by the water itself. We’re delighted to welcome Leah back to Play On Words on January 12 at our Beyond Boundaries show at the San Jose Museum of Art, where we will be performing this great piece. Leah was one of our featured writers from our POW premiere way back in October 2013, so we are excited to welcome her back to San Jose!

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Hilton Head, South Carolina, from the perspective of water. Photo courtesy of Leah Griesmann.

Leah has received grants and residencies for her fiction from the MacDowell Colony, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, the Virginia Quarterly Review Writers’ Conference, The Key West Writers Workshops, The Writers in Paradise Conference, as well as a Steinbeck Fellowship in Fiction. Her short fiction has appeared in The Weekly Rumpus, PEN Center’s The Rattling Wall, J Journal: New Writing on Justice, and This Side of the Divide: Stories of the American West, among other publications. She will be a writer in residence at the Studios of Key West in summer 2020.

She agreed to answer a few questions in advance of the show.

 

What inspired you to participate in Play On Words?

I’ve long been a fan of reading series in which actors perform pieces of literature. California is home to several great reading series that I’ve been thrilled to participate in, including Sacramento Stories on Stage, the New Short Fiction Series in North Hollywood, and of course San Jose’s own Play on Words. I also participated in a reading at the Shanghai American Center, when I was on a writing residency at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Two of my Las Vegas-based stories were performed by actors, and I took questions from the local audience afterwards, including, “Why does your country have so many guns?” I much prefer to see my work performed on stage by talented artists than read it myself!

Name a book or performance that fundamentally affected you.

Recently I visited Chicago for the first time, where I got to see the improvisational comedy troupe The Second City. Particularly in dark times, good comedy has a way of calling BS and shining a light on truth while making people laugh. But more than that, I was struck by how humanizing good comedy can be. There was one piece—totally improvised—which was a sort of “This is Your Life.” A random audience member, in this case a teacher from New Jersey, answered a few questions about a typical day, and then the cast improvised a scene with her sitting on stage. Not only was the scene hilarious, with Second City cast members playing her colleagues, family, and friends, it was also incredibly humanizing in that it made this “ordinary” teacher the ass-kicking hero of an otherwise (hilariously) dysfunctional day.

Come see us perform Leah’s work! Tickets are free but going fast; reserve yours now for our January 12 show at the San Jose Museum of Art. Entrance includes free admission to the museum.

Ivette Deltoro reads Leah Griesmann

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What does activism look like in the 21st century? Leah Griesmann’s flash piece, “Before the War,” offers one street-level perspective. We were delighted to include her work in our January 2018 show at Cafe Stritch–as performed by the magnificent Ivette Deltoro–as well as in our forthcoming chapbook, which you will be able to check out in person tomorrow night at DeAnza’s Euphrat museum.

Until then, however, we hope you enjoy Ivette’s performance from last month:

Want to participate in our next show? We’re reading submissions for our April 11 show through March 10. Email us your original fiction, theatre, nonfiction and poetry as attachments to playonwordssj@gmail.com. We look forward to reading your work!

Leah Griesmann on Activism

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We at Play On Words are always delighted to follow the careers of previous contributors, writers and artists. That’s one of the reasons why we were excited when Leah Griesmann answered our call for submissions for Activate, the chapbook we are producing in conjunction with San Jose’s Flash Fiction Forum and other local community activists.

In addition to being one of our first featured writers, Griesmann has has received grants and residencies for her fiction from the MacDowell Colony, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, Seoul Art Space Yeonhui, the Key West Writers’ Workshops, the DAAD (Berlin), and the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University.  Her fiction has been read or performed at Sacramento Stories on Stage, Lit Quake San Francisco, PEN Center USA, the New Short Fiction Series in North Hollywood, and the Shanghai American Center.

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Source: Twenty20 Stock

She was kind enough to answer some questions about her latest contribution to Play On Words.

What inspired “Before the War?”

It’s a flash fiction piece, and takes place in a fictional world, but the kernel of the idea came from attending the march against the Iraq War in San Francisco some time after September 11th. The protestors I interacted with knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the march was going to have no impact on the war. The most vehement protestors disputed the idea that the U.S. was a representative democracy, or that human actions would have any impact on the machine. And yet, there everyone was, marching. Many were marching out of a sense of personal responsibility, or even futility, rather than hope that the protest would make a real change. Years later, even before the Trump era, those thoughts and feelings of futility have often filled my mind as well. It’s hard not to give into them. Still, the idea that people show up to make their voices heard, putting their bodies and livelihood on the line, is powerful, and one of the most hopeful things I can think of. As a fiction writer, this type of tension and contradiction interests me.

Do you have any personal experience with activism?

In the U.S. I have attended marches and protests, and have been active with several causes, including National Adjunct Walkout Day. There’s a strange tension I feel within the U.S.—the fact that Americans think we can make a difference, that we can see victories of activism here and there, but also incredible setbacks, and the difficulty to create lasting change. Sometimes activism can seem like a band-aid on a broken system while the system’s injustices just continue. Recently I’ve been living outside the U.S., and have been able to witness successful activism in in other forms. In South Korea for example, citizens brought down their corrupt president through week after week of candle light protests. It’s always inspiring to see activism succeed—to see people unite rather than fight, within their own power.

What do you think about Play on Words San Jose’s plan to read your piece? 

I am always excited to hear what actors bring to a piece. I write characters with a certain image or voice in mind, then am amazed when performers bring their own interpretations and talent to them. Speaking for my own work, I think the dramatic power of the written word is best achieved when the works are read by actual actors.

Want to hear Leah’s work performed live? Join us next Wednesday, January 17, at Cafe Stritch! Learn more on our Facebook event page.

Leading Women: October 9 at the Dragon Theatre

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For the first time ever, Play On Words is performing in a theatre! We are kicking off our 2017-2018 season with a special reading at the Dragon Theatre in Redwood City on Monday, October 9. This show features work by Bay Area women writers who challenge–and occasionally mock–gender norms. Unlike our ensemble shows, Monday’s performance will showcase two short stories and one translated monologue. Look forward to work by:

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Leah Griesmann

Leah Griesmann has received grants and residencies for her fiction from the MacDowell Colony, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Key West Writers’ Workshops, Seoul Art Space Yeonhui, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, the DAAD (Berlin), and the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies. Her stories have appeared in Burrow Press Review, J Journal: New Writing on Justice, The Weekly Rumpus, Union Station, The Boiler, The Cortland Review, Boston University’s 236 Magazine, and PEN Center USA’s The Rattling Wall, and have been performed at Litquake San Francisco, The Center for Literary Arts, Sacramento Stories on Stage, the New Short Fiction Series in North Hollywood, and the Shanghai American Center.

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Melinda Marks

Melinda Marks, Play On Words co-founder and casting director, has performed as an actor for more than 25 years. Melinda has an MFA in Shakespeare and Performance with a concentration in directing at Mary Baldwin University and an MA in Theatre Studies from San Jose State University.

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Julia Halprin Jackson

Julia Halprin Jackson, Play On Words co-founder and publicity director, is a writer whose work has appeared in Oracle Fine Arts Review, West Branch Wired, California Northern, Fourteen Hills, as well as selected anthologies. She has an MA in creative writing from UC Davis and currently contributes to Washington Square, San Jose State University’s alumni magazine.

 

 

We are delighted and grateful to showcase performances by Melinda, as well as:

ivettedeltoroIvette Deltoro is the casting assistant and patron experience manager at City Lights Theater in San Jose and artistic manager of the Mini Lights Emerging Artist Program at City Lights. She is also a local actress whose credits include City Lights Theater Company’s I and You and Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

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April Culver

April Culver earned her BFA in Acting at Drake University. Some recent roles include Mrs. Givings (In the Next Room, Pear Theatre), Cordelia / The Fool (B8 Theatre), Catherine (A View From the Bridge, Pear Theatre), Gillian (Permanent Collection, Piedmont Players ), Constance (Three Musketeers, Silicon Valley Shakespeare), Calpurnia (Julius Caesar, Silicon Valley Shakespeare), Sonya (Uncle Vanya,  Pear Theatre), and Olivia (Shakespeare in Hollywood, Silicon Valley Shakespeare).

RSVP for our show here. There is a $5 suggested donation for Monday’s show. Hope to see you there!

“Unigirl,” by Leah Griesmann

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We chose Leah Griesmann’s “Unigirl” for the Lit Crawl reading in part because it fit our San Francisco setting so well. The entire story, which you can read at Pif Magazine, is masterfully written, but we only had time to read a brief excerpt. Leah was unable to join us on Saturday because she is en route to a writing residency at the MacDowell Colony, a wonderful honor and opportunity. Here’s a clip of Melinda Marks performing an excerpt of “Unigirl” at Clarion Alley this past weekend:

We hope to film or tape Melinda reading the story in its entirety soon. Stay tuned for more Lit Crawl recordings this week–and please submit to our next show!

Leah Griesmann and the Art of Place

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Leah Griesmann’s writing leaves an indelible impression–whether you are reading it on the page or watching it performed aloud. We were so excited to perform Leah’s short story, “Slave” at our Play On Words premiere last October, and were delighted when Leah submitted “The Unigirl,” for our Lit Crawl show on October 18. We’ll be reading an excerpt of this memorable piece, originally published in Pif Magazine, in Clarion Alley. Leah is an accomplished fiction writer whose work has taken her around the world. She graciously agreed to speak with us about her literary aesthetic and the experience of hearing her work performed aloud.

POW: What interests you most as a writer of fiction?

LG: I’m definitely interested in character-driven fiction. I like using fiction to explore human beings in all their complexity. I think what I’ve realized most as a writer, and as a person, is that human complexity is boundless. That capacity humans have to be complex, contradictory even, is what interests me, and often what creates interesting fiction. I’m also very interested in place. I’ve written a collection of linked stories set in Las Vegas, a number of stories set in San Francisco (“The Unigirl” is one), and am currently working on a collection of stories set in cities around the world. “The Slave,” which was performed at Play on Words’ inaugural performance, is from this latest collection. “The Unigirl,” however, is a real San Francisco story, so I’m happy to see it performed in San Francisco.

POW: In your experience, what are the ways that a physical environment can play a role in character and story development? 

Las VegasLG: Physical environment is huge. It’s not just the physical environment though, it’s also the social, cultural, and economic environment that has such a big impact on characters. As one example, I set a collection of linked stories in Las Vegas when the city was going through a major growth boom. Not only was the city developing, and seeing an influx of new residents, the major industry was also transitioning from an old business model to near-total corporatization.  Many factors unique to Las Vegas—the harsh physical environment of the desert, the unique economic model of gambling with its boom or bust mentality, the ersatz cultural environment of faux Eiffel Towers and Venetian gondolas, and then the rapid shift away from old business models towards corporatization have a major impact on the characters. The fact that the characters, like humans everywhere, continue to search for love and community in a place where all the elements seem to conspire against them, creates some interesting settings (a Karaoke bar at a casino about to be bombed, a low income apartment complex called the Desert Rose) as well as some interesting tension. And in fiction, of course, the more tension, the better. So place has a huge impact on the characters, and on their resulting stories.

POW: What is the experience of seeing your fiction performed?

LG: It’s really wonderful for a few reasons. To begin with, I’m a writer, not an actor, and I’m not at all in my element reading my work on a stage. I think actors have those performance chops which can really bring something to a piece that most writers can’t. It’s also very fulfilling on a personal level. As a writer, you get used to sending your work out into a void. You hear things occasionally, that such and such person “liked” your story, or comments on something fairly specific, but you never have that feeling that I imagine a musician has, for example, of instantaneous reaction to a piece. With a performance you get to see first of all, how the performer has understood the story, based on the choices they are making in reading the piece. Secondly you get the audience’s reaction—whether they are quiet or laughing, or showing interest at certain key moments. That’s very gratifying because in the life of the writer, it’s really rare.

POW: Give us a little backdrop on “The Unigirl,” the story that we’re performing at Litcrawl. 

LG: First of all, it’s really exciting that “The Unigirl” is being performed not only in San Francisco, not only in the Mission, but in Clarion Alley, which is one of the alleys that inspired that particular story. It’s very much a San Francisco story in that much of the action is happening on the street, and nearly every encounter the main character has is with a complete stranger. I think that’s a quality unique to pedestrian urban centers–San Francisco especially–because it’s so dense, and because the weather is mostly pleasant—that San Franciscans end up having numerous interactions with all types of people. In addition to being a story very much about a place, it’s also about character. Without giving too much away, a woman gets involved in a line of business many would consider to be extreme, but has a range of experiences beyond just the stereotypes that exist. Her experiences provoke her to question herself, and lead to an insight arrived at in a most unpredictable way.

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Leah Griesmann‘s stories have recently appeared in Union Station, The Cortland Review, J Journal: New Writing on Justice, The Weekly Rumpus, and PEN Center USA’s The Rattling Wall. A 2010-2011 Steinbeck Fellow in Fiction, she is the recipient of a 2013 DAAD grant in fiction and a 2014 MacDowell Colony Fellowship. She is currently at work on a collection of stories.

Want to read more of her work? Check out “Desert Rats” on Union Station Mag and “Packing” at The Boiler Journal.  Be sure to join us on October 18 from 6-7 in the San Francisco’s Clarion Alley to see her story performed! RSVP here or follow us on Twitter (@PlayOnWords_SJ)and Instagram (@playonwordsanjose) to get show updates. 

 

Coming soon, to Clarion Alley…

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Play On Words is thrilled to represent South Bay at the 2014 LitCrawl in San Francisco on October 18! This show celebrates our one-year-anniversary as a collaborative reading series–and as such, we’ve curated an exciting show that showcases some of our most frequent contributors:

Leah GriesmannLeah Griesmann‘s stories have recently appeared in Union Station, The Cortland Review, J Journal: New Writing on Justice, The Weekly Rumpus, and PEN Center USA’s The Rattling Wall. A 2010-2011 Steinbeck Fellow in Fiction, she is the recipient of a 2013 DAAD grant in fiction and a 2014 MacDowell Colony Fellowship. She is currently at work on a collection of stories.

Jimmy Allan read Leah’s story “Slave” at our October 2013 premiere. We will be performing an excerpt of her story “The Unigirl” in San Francisco.

Kirstin Chen is the author of Soy SaKirstin Chenuce for Beginners. A former Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing, she holds an MFA from Emerson College and a BA from Stanford University. She has received awards from the Sewanee and Napa Valley writers’ conferences. Her short stories have appeared in Zyzzyva, Hobart, Pank and others, and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Best New American Voices. Born and raised in Singapore, she currently lives in San Francisco, where she’s at work on her second novel, set on a tiny island off the coast of southern China in 1958.

Melinda Marks performed an excerpt of Soy Sauce for Beginners at our February 2014 show. (You can watch it here!) We will be performing her short story “Boys on the Roof” in October.

Brian Van WinkleBrian Van Winkle graduated from Southern Oregon University with a B.S. in Theatre Arts. He is a member of the Pacifica Table Readers. We performed Brian’s play “The Way I Picture it in My Head Is…” in February, and it was such a big hit that we are bringing it with us to San Francisco. He is a regular POW performer.

Nicole Hughes

Nicole Hughes completed an MFA in fiction writing from San Jose State University. Her story “Impasto Portrait” was published in Liebamour. As an MFA student, she was awarded the 2011 Ann Lillis Creative Writing Scholarship and the 2009 and 2011 James Phelan Literary Award. Nicole is one of POW’s three co-founders and the current events manager at Kepler’s Books. We’re thrilled to see her perform “Illimitable Space” in October.

Melinda MarksMelinda Marks has performed in the Bay Area for over 20 years, and has more recently begun trying her hand as a writer of short plays and as a director. She holds a BA from UCSC in Theater with an emphasis in dramaturgy, and an MA from San Jose State in Theater Studies. She will be performing her own translation of Dante’s short poems in October. As POW’s casting director, she has performed in every show. Check out our YouTube page to see a sampling of Melinda’s performances.

Julia Halprin JacksonJulia Halprin Jackson has an MA in fiction from UC Davis. She has received scholarships to the Tomales Bay Writer’s Workshops and Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference. Her work has appeared in West Branch Wired, California Northern, Fourteen Hills, Flatmancrooked, Sacramento News & Review, Fictionade, Fiction365, Catalyst and Spectrum. She will be reading a selection of 100-word-stories at our LitCrawl event–and as a POW co-founder, she is thrilled to bring South Bay writers to San Francisco.

Ryan Alpers

Ryan Alpers teaches English and journalism in San Jose. He has a B.A. in literature from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a teaching credential from San Jose State University. While studying at the College of Creative Studies, he was published in the CCS Literary Magazine “Spectrum” and awarded the CCS Brancart-Richardson Award for fiction. A regular POW performer and contributor, he will be reading a few pieces for the October show.

Jeremy RyanJeremy Ryan is a POW actor who has performed as Chester “Cosmo” Collier in It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play! at Broadway By The Bay. Other favorite roles include Biff Loman in Death Of A Salesman (Broadway West,) Dennis Shepard/Aaron McKinney in The Laramie Project (Foothill Theatre,) and Chevalier Danceny in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dragon Theatre.) Jeremy is a graduate of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory. You can watch his performance of Adam Magill’s “Only Customary” here. He will be performing at our October show.

So…what are you waiting for? Swing by the Mission District’s Clarion Alley on Saturday, October 18 at 6pm to check out our one-year-anniversary show!