On Thursday, October 13, another packed Dada salon energized the Willa Cather room of the Jefferson Market branch of New York Public Library with explosive performances, relentless poetry, and an enthusiastic audience eagerly soaking it all in. The event was hosted by Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges as a celebration of the latest issue of Three Rooms Press’s annual dada journal, MAINTENANT 16. This issue’s theme “NYET ZERO” was in full effect throughout the night: with many poems centering on the lack of meaningful action to combat climate change, war, racism, and facism. Performers included Joel Allegretti, Mark Blickley, Billy Cancel, Terese Coe, Gabriel Don, Jeff Farr, Dorothy Friedman, Thomas Fucaloro, Robert Gibbons, Heide Hatry, Matthew Hupert, Jerry Johnson, David Lawton, Jane Lecroy, Ron Kolm, Sophie Malleret, Karen Neuberg, Jane Ormerod, Puma Perl. Zev Torres and friends.

Limited copies of MAINTENANT 16 are still available here. This issue features 240 contributors from 40 countries and 7 continents. The MAINTENANT series, published by Three Rooms Press since 2008, is the premier journal of international contemporary dada writing and art, and is also available online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and more, or can be ordered through your local indie bookstore via indiebound.org.

Check out photos from the event below (click on any photo to enlarge). All photos (c) by Kat Georges. Special thanks to Frank Collerius at the Jefferson Market Library for his support of these two historical nights of contemporary dada in NYC.