Tree Reading-William Hawkins

tonight in the sweltering moldy basement of the Royal Oak 2. After a long open mic set with some very touching readings and some kinda squinchy ones as usual, Bill Hawkins read in his understated way about things that are larger than life: love, King Kong. It was a wonderful reading. I would have stayed and bought his book and milled around, but I was afraid I would swoon in the heat. Sadly James announced that he and Jennifer are going to climb down the tree at xmas. Where will we get other angels for our xmas tree? They'd done such a fantastic job with Tree. The reading series always features excellent writers from afar and sometimes from here, like Hawkins. I gather the series was a disorganized incestuous mess before that. Interesting to see the room fill up with all kinds of folks. It's been a while since I've attended readings, so it was good to see everyone...albeit from a distance. But next time...if it's still this hot...somebody bring a fan...please, bring a fan.