Atomik Aztex: Reading and Book Signing with Sesshu Foster

Thu, Jan 19
7 -9PM
donations welcome

Join Kearny Street Workshop and City Lights for a reading and book =

signing with Sesshu Foster, author of Atomik Aztex, a fantastical =

gonzo Aztl=E1n mythology, where modern Aztecs and immigrant ghosts =

uncover blood sacrifice in Los Angeles In the alternate universe of =

Atomik Aztex, the Aztecs rule, having conquered the European invaders =

long ago. Aztek warriors with totemic powers are busy colonizing =

Europe, and human sacrifice is basic to economic growth.

Reading will be followed two days later by a two-hour workshop with =

Sesshu Foster.

Sesshu Foster has taught composition and literature in East L.A. for =

20 years. He's also taught writing at the University of Iowa and the =

University of California, Santa Cruz. His work has been published in =

THE OXFORD ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN AMERICAN POETRY (seehttp:// =

www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/foster/foster.htm) and, recently, =

XCP: STREETNOTES (www.xcp.bfn.org/foster.html). One of his last =

readings at St. Mark's Poetry Project NYC is Mp3 archived at =

Salon.com (www.salon.com/audio/2000/10/05/foster/). He is currently =

collaborating with artist Arturo Romo and other writers on the =

website, www.ELAguide.org. His most recent books are the novel ATOMIK =

AZTEX (City Lights, 2005), and AMERICAN LONELINESS: SELECTED POEMS =

(Beyond Baroque, 2006).

About Atomik Aztex
A fantastical gonzo Aztl=E1n mythology, where modern Aztecs and =

immigrant ghosts uncover blood sacrifice in Los Angeles
In the alternate universe of Atomik Aztex, the Aztecs rule, having =

conquered the European invaders long ago. Aztek warriors with totemic =

powers are busy colonizing Europe, and human sacrifice is basic to =

economic growth.

Zenzontli, Keeper of the House of Darkness, is plagued by nightmares =

of a parallel reality where American consumerism reigns supreme. =

Ghosts of banished Aztek warriors emerge to haunt contemporary Los =

Angeles, and Zenzontli's visions of Hell become real as he's trapped =

in a job in an East L.A. meatpacking plant.

"If the Aztecs had defeated the conquistadores and had eventually =

become the mainstream, what would our world be like? Where is =

Teknotitl=E1n located? In Robo-Los Angeles, Mexico D.F., or in the =

imagination of Sesshu Foster? If Ancient America had triumphed over =

savage capitalism, chicanismo would be the (poetical, political, and =

spiritual) center of it all. Atomik Aztex is a graphic, hilarious and =

violent chronicle of multiple realities that could emerge out of this =

proposition. It's an amazing exercise of radical imagination." - =

Guillermo G=F3mez-Pe=F1a

"Punk sci-fi and kitchen-sink realism create a startling, morally =

fraught vision in Foster's genre-straddling tour de force. . . . =

readers will be blown away by Foster's control over the =

material . . . brilliantly inventive . . . " -Publishers Weekly, =

Starred Review

"This is one mad neighborhood carnival roller coaster ride through =

Aztl=E1n, the underground, the QT-a smoky universe hall of mirrors =

cosmik barrio existential comic strip. Oddball, hilarious-deep. =

Sesshu Foster delivers." -Marisela Norte, author of East L.A. Days/ =

Fellini Nights

"Burroughs meets G=F3mez-Pe=F1a . . . nah, Roque Dalton meets Kurt =

Vonnegut . . . or how about Cesaire meets Nezahualcoyotl? Dare we say =

original? Yes! Hilarious, poignant, and at times devastating, Foster =

has crafted a fine post-global poetic, a cocktail of sublime anarchy =

to toss into the machine." -Rub=E9n Mart=EDnez, author of The New =

Americans: Seven Families Journey to Another Country

"Anyone who reads Atomic Aztex is doomed. Those who don't have lost =

their opportunity to go out with a salubrious whimper, never to know =

why they were condemned. The prose is an electrifying, eclectic =

phantasmagoria of Groucho's marxism, dadada, surreal and natural (ism =

and ain'tm) combined with double-edged intellectual/historical =

hysteria." -Rick Harsh, author of the Driftless Trilogy

Venue:

space180
180 Capp Street, 3rd Floor
San Francisco
415.503.0520
http://www.kearnystreet.org

By Public Transit
BART
From 16th Street BART Station, walk down Mission Street to 17th Street.
Take a left onto 17th Street.
Take your next left at Capp Street.
Find Space180 on the left side, 180 Capp Street. KSW is located on =

the 3rd Floor.
Bus
KSW is located on Capp Street at 17th Street. We are near all Mission =

Street bus lines.

To plan your trip, we suggest visiting transit.511.org.

By Car
From East Bay
I-80 W/BAY BRIDGE.
I-80 W/BAY BRIDGE becomes I-80 W.
Take the exit towards 9TH STREET/CIVIC CENTER.
Go straight onto Harrison Street.
Turn right on 17th Street.
Turn right on Capp Street.
Space180 is on the left at 180 Capp Street. KSW is located on the 3rd =

floor.
From the North
101 South to GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
Take Lombard Street Exit..
Go straight on Lombard Street.
Take a right on Van Ness Avenue.
Take a right onto Market Street.
Take a left onto Valencia Street.
Take a left onto 17th Street.
Take a left onto Capp Street.
Space180 is on the left at 180 Capp Street. KSW is located on the 3rd =

floor.
From the South Bay/ Peninsula
US-101 N.
Take the Vermont Street Exit.
Turn left onto 16th street.
Turn left onto Capp Street.
Space180 is on the right at 180 Capp Street, right before you hit =

17th street. KSW is located on the 3rd floor

Additional Info:

415.503.0520
http://www.kearnystreet.org