"Everything Faces All Ways At Once" Release Party Recap, Now With Video!

Since Zulema Renee Summerfield has such a long-winded name, I'm going to refer to her as ZRS for the remainder of this blog-post. And if the remainder of this blog-post feels like a recurring set of acronym-plugs, trust your powers of observation because you aren't imagining it (how shameless of me). Oh, and since I haven't mentioned it yet, WE ALL HAD AN AWESOME NIGHT LAST THURSDAY at Space Gallery. Thank you to everyone who came to see ZRS read from her debut collection Everything Faces All Ways At Once (otherwise known as EFAWAO) published by Fourteen Hills Press. (If you missed out, copies are available at Small Press Distribution. If you want to read coverage of the event in Golden Gate [X]Press, check it out here.)

The book is amazing. For those of us who went to the book release before seeing its contents, we were blown away. Buy one today. Yoko Ono herself added visual cleavage to the event space (her sexy posters hung on the walls everywhere). It also made for a funny, anecdotal conversation-topic throughout the evening.

For example, ZRS has a section on her website that says, "Yoko Ono called." When Zulema rose to the mic, she explained that this is an ongoing fiction of hers. Within her hopeful logic, she feels that by saying it, it will happen. So in order to somehow make this phone-call manifest and get an endorsement to happen, you can send Yoko's fan-club a message. Let them know that ZRS, a unique and noteworthy author, would like to connect and to make Ono's acquaintance.

The warm-up readers included none other than DWL (D.W. Lichtenberg) and PO (Peter Orner). How did Zulema get these famous authors to come and join her, and why? DWL was last year's Michael Rubin Book Award Winner for his book of poetry, The Ancient Book of Hip. PO has been not only a creative writing mentor of ZRS's at San Francisco State University, he was written in, as a character-of-sorts to several of the "dreams" in ZRS's book, EFAWAO. He is also the author of Esther Stories and The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo.

Here are video excerpts of their warm-up readings:





ZRS's book, EFAWAO is filled with Fictions and Dreams (F&Ds). This might make you inquire, what isn't made of these things? Well, for example, a sandwich is not only made of F&Ds, it is also made of two similar outer parts containing an inner part. This book keeps to the realm of F&Ds. One of her stories included a visual cue to incorporate a pun that appeared in the text: "Impaired" vs. "Im-PEAR-ed." This particular "fiction" involved a pear-truck driver.

Because I know I'm leaving a lot to the imagination, I've included a few video excerpts to help you see how exceptional the work really is:





ZRS had many of her friends and family members in the audience, including people who have greatly missed her presence in the community of San Francisco since she moved to Canada.

Among them were her best friend, who helped her with book-signings, and her father, the dignified man with the pipe in his mouth. In addition, each and every member of the 14 Hills staff attended, as well as former staff members. In fact, a whole slice of the Bay Area literary community came to celebrate. Space Gallery catered to the crowd with a lovely selection of beer, wine, and cocktails.

Next on our calendar is the release party for Fourteen Hills Vol. 17, Issue 1. Save the date of December 16, and join us at Coffee Bar at 7 pm. There will be comedy. There will be drinks and readings. There may even be Brian Boitano. You won’t want to miss it.

-Erica Eller, Fourteen Hills staff