Our spring premier features Burroughs Centennial readings and essayist Stefani Torres.
Snow storms and a polar vortex may have kept us inside during the early days of February, but Sunflower Reading Series was still able to bring you coverage of local literary events. This month we celebrated the William S Burroughs centenary by attending a tribute reading of Burroughs’ work and sitting down with the director of “The Nervous Set”, a beat generation musical. We also sat down with Stefani Torres, KU student and essayist.
Download the full episode here, or scroll down for individual pieces!
“An Offbeat Literary Tribute to William S. Burroughs”
A poetry reading celebrating selected Burroughs excerpts on the day of his 100th birthday (well, the day after due to snow). Organized by Megan Kaminski and Jim McCrary, readers selected their favorite sample of the writer’s work to read and discuss at the Spencer Art Museum.
“The Nervous Set”
Originally staged in 1959, the Lawrence Art Center and director Ric Averill revived and updated this Beat Generation musical with a staged reading as part of the Burroughs Centennial lineup. Ric sat down with Christine Noriega to discuss the play’s history and read from the novel on which it’s based.
Stefani Torres
Stefani is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing at KU, focusing in nonfiction writing. She joined Scott Ross and Sara Leavens in the studio to share her essay “Naked”. It’s everything you ever wanted to know about drawing nude models when you really, really don’t want to.