burroughs

William S Burroughs Centenary Celebration underway (events scheduled around NYC and the world)

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Literary and postmodern icon William S Burroughs, who died in 1997, would have turned 100 this year and there are Centenary celebration events happening all over the world. In New York, WSB100 (which was [and still is] being funded by an Indiegogo campaign) is happening the entire month of April at various venues around the the city:

Help us celebrate 100 years of America’s preeminent avant garde literary iconoclast: William S. Burroughs. As ferocious, provocative, disturbing, and exciting as the artist himself, NYC’s month-long WSB100 features extraordinary original performances, films, readings, panels, and world premiere tributes in honor of the legendary mindbending troublemaker himself.

You can buy a festival pass for $100 that gets you in to all the WSB events, or buy individual tickets.

On the musical side, the WSB100 takes over The Stone this month through April 20. Tonight is Kenny Wollesen at 8 PM and Ariana Reiens at 10 PM. Other notable nights include Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth played on WSB’s 1990 album Dead City Radio) on April 17; John Zorn and Bill Laswell on April 19; Hal Willner, Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang and Lenny Pickett on April 20. No advance tickets for these shows.

Then on April 21 at Issue Project Room, Elliot Sharp and Steve Buscemi will have a collaborative performance, creating “a collage of sound and words integrating texts by William S. Burroughs with Elliott Sharp’s vast soundworlds.” Buscemi spent a lot of time with Burroughs in the author’s later years and currently has a screenplay of BurroughsQueer in development. Tickets are on sale.

On April 22 at the Incubator Arts Project it’s a collaborative performance by Lydia Lunch and Quintan Ana Wikswo. Tickets are on sale. Then on April 23 at Poetry Project, there is a “reading marathon” featuring Anne Waldman, Penny Arcade, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, JG Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch, Elliott Sharp, Sam Mickens, and many more. Full line-up and more info is here.

There are more events happening too. Details are at WSB100 but the full schedule is listed, along with a few Burroughs-related videos, below…

William S. Burroughs A Man Within TRAILER

William S. Burroughs – ‘Commisioner of Sewers 1991’ (documentary)

William S. Burroughs – Junkie

Wednesday 4/9 The Stone
8 pm: Kenny Wollesen
10 pm: Ariana Reines

Thursday 4/10 The Stone
8 pm: James Ilgenfritz / Nick Hallett / Ryan Jewell / Richard Kamerman
10 pm: Anthony Coleman

Friday 4/11 Friday The Stone
8 pm: Raha Raissnia (film, projections) performs live visuals to John
Zorn’s Burroughs tribute INTERZONE.
10 pm: Trevor Dunn’s PROOFReaders Trio play music from Naked Lunch and
other Ornette melodies.

Saturday 4/12 The Stone
10 pm: Charles Bernstein and Bruce Andrews-a B=U=R=R=O=U=G=H=S tribute

Sunday 4/13 The Stone
8 pm: Jalal Toufic
10 pm: Andrew Lampert & Title TK

Tuesday 4/15 The Stone
8 pm: Object Collection
10 pm: Kenneth Goldsmith (readings)

Wednesday 4/16 The Stone
8 pm: VOMIT FIST with guest Todd Colby
10 pm: JG Thirlwell and Sarah Lipstate

Thursday 4/17 The Stone
8 & 10 pm Thurston Moore (guitar)

Friday 4/18 The Stone
8 pm: Billy Martin-the exploding junky
10 pm: Eyvind Kang: Hieroglyphic Silence

Saturday 4/19 The Stone
8 pm: John Zorn and Bill Laswell Duo
10 pm: Bill Laswell-THE ROAD TO THE WESTERN LANDS

Sunday 4/20 8 &10 pm The Stone
Hal Willner (tapes) Bill Frisell (guitar) Eyvind Kang (viola) Lenny
Pickett (sax)

Monday April 21: Issue Project Room
Elliott Sharp / Steve Buscemi duo

Tuesday April 22: Incubator Arts Project
Lydia Lunch / Quintan Ana Wikswo at Incubator

Wednesday April 23: Reading Marathon at Poetry Project
(featuring Anne Waldman, Penny Arcade, Jack Womack, John Ventimiglia,
Bob Holman, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Regina Weinreich, Iron Dog, JG
Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch, Elliott Sharp, Oliver Harris, Quintan Ana
Wikswo, Mike Pride, Sam Mickens, Adam Tobin, Shelley Hirsch, Simon
Pettet, Steve Dalachinsky, James Ilgenfritz, DJ Ray Velasquez, and I’m
still adding a few others)

Thursday April 24 8pm: Incubator Arts Project
Nick Zedd & Andre Perkowski

Friday April 25: Incubator & CUNY GC
9am-5:30: William S. Burroughs Centennial Conference at CUNY Grad Center
9pm: James Ilgenfritz Anagram Ensemble & Stephanie Sleeper sleepdance:
Deleted Scenes
8pm: Lea Bertucci & G. Lucas Crane

Saturday April 26: Incubator & New York Public Library
3PM: New York Public Library: Oliver Harris: Restoring the Cut-Up Trilogy
9pm: James Ilgenfritz Anagram Ensemble & Stephanie Sleeper sleepdance:
Deleted Scenes
8pm: Ecstacy Mule
7pm: Bhob Rainey

Sunday April 26 8pm Incubator Arts Project
9pm: James Ilgenfritz Anagram Ensemble & Stephanie Sleeper /
sleepdance: Deleted Scenes
8pm: Bob Bellerue
7pm: Anne Waldman & David Little: ‘Artaud In The Black Lodge’