I haven’t been to an Open Mic night at Lit. On Fire since I was the featured speaker at the very first event back in September of last year. The open mic nights happen on Wednesday nights and I’m usually working. Well this week I took a few nights off of work, so I thought we’d go and check out this month’s, Get Lit. Open Mic Night at Lit. On Fire Used Books and so it’s off we go!
And here we are at the Sunbeam Building which houses LIt. On Fire and a lot of other cool businesses and galleries. If you’ve never been in here you should really check it out!
Lit. On Fire is located in the back of the building and there’s an entrance in the back that you can walk in to as well. Let’s go in and see what’s happening!
I see two familiar faces right off the bat! That’s Lit. On Fire owner Jessica to the right and her friend and confidante, Lucas to the left. Great to see both of them again!
Check it out, my two books, The Boy Who Would Be A Fire Truck and 99 Beers Off The Wall are featured here in the local authors section. Hey, who’s that James D. Sullivan that’s next to my books?
It’s tonight’s featured author and speaker, James D. Sullivan holding a copy of his book, Shibboleth. He’s going to be reading from his book and we’ll talk more about it then, it’s great to meet him!
Time for another edition of dueling photographers with Kevin! We had this adventure at the First Friday on New Year’s evening and that’s a very fuzzy memory for me! (Inside joke alert!)
Here’s Jessica starting up the open mic portion of the evening. She explained about the night and her book store and then invited people to come up and share their poetry and stories.
And that’s exactly what everyone did! John Phillips read some poems and his book is available for sale at the store. Next Wassim read a poem called, “Stress.” Then James read a story from one of his former colleagues books, Postmodern Shamanism. I apologize to the next open mic reader because I’m not sure of her name, I’m thinking it’s Erin but I could be wrong, if you happen to be reading this feel free to let me know in the comments! Tyler was the last to come up on stage before the featured speaker took over.
And here’s Jessica introducing the featured speaker and author of Shibboleth, James D. Sullivan!
James talked about his book, Shibboleth and explained that it’s a collection of retold stories from the bible, which I think is a really interesting concept! And the stories are unabashed, bawdy and filled with humor. Check out the first two lines from the book and I think you’ll want to check it out: “Philistine women really turned him on, but their uncircumcised men disgusted him. Their unwashed foreskins must fill up with filth.” That is certainly the beginning of a really different bible story!
I enjoyed watching Kevin take photos, this guy was all over the place and we even engaged in more dueling photography! I love it!
James really captivated the crowd and did a great job of reading from his book. You can check out the book right here, but you should really go to Lit. On Fire to buy a copy. Let’s keep this local, folks!
After the open mic people went and browsed the books at Lit. On Fire.
The store is expanding and this back room will soon be filled with more inventory. Jessica’s having a re-opening party on June 10th, so stay tuned for more information on that as the time gets closer!
Here’s Wassim and Justin looking at some of the books in the far aisle.
And as you can see, there’s plenty of books to check out here and lots of titles you won’t find anywhere else in town!
I love that Jessica is doing a print zine, which is a rarity these days. Stop by and pick up a copy!
MBIP was here and now we’re off to...
Broken Tree for a drink or three!
As I walked in I thought I saw a familiar face at the end of the bar and I was right, it’s Jessica from the Art Garage! Great to see her and it’s a reminder that I need to stop in there soon and make some art for another MBIP post from there!
There’s Jeremiah, the friendly owner of this fine establishment serving up a Wild Sour. This is some wild stuff!
And there’s Anna clutching a can of Pabst and smiling pretty for the MBIP camera!
Natalia is a friend of Jessica’s and she puts on art events around town. She told me she’d let me know about the next one and we can feature it here on MBIP! Sounds great to me and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
Lit. On Fire Used Books
929 N Sheridan Rd. — Suite #1A
(In The Sunbeam Building)
Peoria
309-634-5383
Hours: Tuesday - Friday: Noon to 5PM; Saturday: 11AM to 5PM and Lit. is open till 9PM every First Friday.
Broken Tree
700 W. Main St.
Peoria
309-648-1439
Related Posts: Get Lit. W/ MBIP @ Lit. On Fire Used Books and MBIP Looks @ Books—Lit. On Fire Used Books In The Sunbeam Building.