“Straight Girls” Poetry Night – New York Times

On a recent March evening, several creative circles merged into the red room at the KGB bar in East Village, Manhattan. I sipped my hard martini and enjoyed my dedicated playlist for “Top Hits of 2008.” The intersection of literature, fashion, art and the internet filled the room with throwbacks. They were here for the sixth installment of “Straight Girls,” a monthly poetry reading organized by poets Riley Mac and Montana James.

Just a few months later, Mcr Mac, 30, and James, 28, gained a reputation for escaping occasionally grumpy poetry scenes from the outer borough. Their trick to gathering stylish Vaudevilian parties is a breath of fresh air for many regular attendees of poetry reading.

“There are a lot of great poetry events in the city, but they can be very isolated,” said Meg Yates, an artist who works under the name of Meg Superstar Princess.

Yates, 27, praised not only for his ability to curate a strong lineup of readers, but also for his ease in organizing the stylish fetes that captivate people from the established literary world and “homeless scene stars, social people, artists.” The goal, Mack said, is that the environment reflects that of a House party held at high schools.

The evening roster included writer Gideon Jacobs, poet Jordan Franklin and digital artist Molly Soda. The flyer, which posted details about the event, featured photos from the show “Jackass,” which debuted on MTV in 2000.

Reading is often a combination of original poetry, and found texts that readers find by chance poetic. The mood was ironic, sincere and sincere, full of pastiches, and a great emphasis on the abundance of cultural relics. Poet Erin Perez held the night with work on homosexual friendship, followed by a reading of her own letterboxed review. The audience laughed when Perez, 27, wrote, “Since 2017, he reviewed “Phantom Thread.”

Soda, 36, brought a stack of printed images from casting website ModelMayhem.com. She wrote the captions in each model's voice. “After about 15 minutes, I'm fine again,” she said. “But for 15 minutes, Picasso will be proud,” she added, adding that she has a photo of the model crouching on the field.

Franklin, 34, wore a hooded sweatshirt printed in an image from the 1985 science fiction film The ReAnimator, and it was her final act in the evening. Her set included the title work “Blake: An Orde to Indonesian Action Flick,” she finished her time on stage, telling the crowd that she was very supportive.

Mr. Mack and James said they felt they were being relegated to the Bushwick basement, so they wanted to bring strange sensibilities to the Manhattan poetry scenes, where both of them live. “The poet deserves the stage and the spotlight,” James said. “And the audience deserves to be away from the stage in the darkness. You should be able to roll your eyes privately.”

Mr. Mac met Mr. James during a 2021 poem reading. James was reading a poem about “A beautiful spoiled cow.” James suggested “have lunch,” while Mac replied, “I've been really into hot dogs lately.”

“I was in love,” James recalls. (The two are not romantically involved. Ms. Mac works with artists and sometimes model Coco Gordon Moore.)

In 2023, Mac stopped drugs and alcohol, and James followed suit a few months later. When the two started straight girls last November, their names were partial winks of their new calm status, an Ode ceremony to heterosexual girls' generation.

James said it wasn't male charm that defined a straight girl, but rather the subject of self-discovery, longing, and a tendency to “self-challenge, keep a journal.” He added with gratitude, “They are completely self-conscious and not at the same time.” Sofia Coppola and Lana del Rey were cited as models of artists working in the genre.

“I believe that the straight girls in my life loved me and loved them,” said Mc. Mac, who has the phrase “everyone on earth is a teenage girl.” A small, permanently written poem.