Keep the Light: Literary Performance Event Hosted by Eve Packer.

A dynamic literary performance event hosted by Eve Packer. The evening weaves together the spoken word and live music, creating an immersive experience that blurs the boundaries between poetry and sound. It features an iconic lineup of artists, including Austin Alexis, Jennifer Blowdryer, Kim Brandon, Daniel Carter (multi-instrumentalist), Matthew Hupert, Yuko Otomo, Danny Shot, and Steve Wishnia (guitar).

Eve Packer is a Bronx-born poet/performer/actress who appears solo in w/music, dance, and theatre. Grants and awards include NYFA, Jerome Foundation, NEH, and NYSCA. Has appeared in works from Beckett to Baraka. She has published four poetry books, Skulls Head Samba, Playland Poems 1994-2004, and New Nails. (Fly By Night Press) & no mask no talk corona poems 2020-2021 (w/photos) from Autonomedia Press. Has several poetry/jazz CDs with/ saxophonist Noah Howard & others. She teaches at WCC. She is a mom and grandmom who lives downtown and swims daily.

Austin Alexis is the author of Privacy Issues (Broadside Lotus Press, 20th Annual Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award) and two chapbooks from Poets Wear Prada Press. His work has appeared in Rattle, Barrow Street, The Journal, Lips, The Pedestal Magazine, Paterson Literary Review, Live Mag, Big City Lit, and other journals and anthologies. He received First Prize in the Great Weather for Media Flash Fiction of the Month Contest and scholarships from the Brad Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Vermont Studio Center.

Jennifer Blowdryer is a singer, writer, and punk rock pioneer whose work captures the grit and glamour of underground culture. Formerly the frontwoman for the SF punk band The Blowdryers and co-founder of White Trash Debutantes, she now performs as Blowdryer Nouveau alongside NYC's most seasoned musicians, blending toughness with allure. Known for defying conventions, she created and hosted the legendary Smut Fest, celebrating sex worker expression and uniting diverse audiences. Her latest EP, Sometimes I Travel Just to Get Away, features standout tracks like You Weren’t Born Yet and is available on SoundCloud. Jennifer’s new book, True Blue, debuts alongside her performance at Eve Packer’s Keep the Light on December 14th.

Kim D. Brandon is a Poet/Artist/Activist/Storyteller. Her work has been included in stage performances, anthologies, and journals. She is a 2021 Brooklyn Poets’ Poet of the Week, and a VONA alum. Her poem “Love On the Front Line” was nominated for Best Of the Net. She has attended Women of Color Writers, Wild Seed Retreats and Cave Canem Writers Workshops. She is the founder of Brooklyn Society Writers group and the host of writing workshops that explore diversity and creative power .

Photo by Federico Ughi

Daniel Carter, born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1945, is a master improvisational musician and writer based in New York City since 1970. Renowned for his boundary-transcending approach to music, Carter has collaborated with countless artists across genres, from Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor to Yoko Ono and Esperanza Spalding. Proficient on trumpet, flute, clarinet, and saxophone, his artistry is celebrated for its power and beauty. Carter’s writings have appeared in publications like Callaloo and Conversations II (2015), where William Parker describes him as a "truly original human being" devoted to music and creativity.

Matthew Hupert, a writer and multimedia artist based in New York City, is the founder of NeuroNautic Institute and NeuroNautic Press. His published works include two full-length poetry collections, Ism is a Retrovirus (Three Rooms Press, 2011) and Secular Pantheism (NeuroNautic Press, 2019), as well as numerous chapbooks and contributions to anthologies from publishers like Three Rooms Press, great weather for MEDIA, and Blue Light Press. Matthew curates and hosts several poetry events, including Night in the Naked City, an annual celebration of New York voices, and the monthly NeuroNautic Institute Presents. He was honored with the 2020 New York Acker Award for his work as a show organizer and host.

Yuko Otomo, a visual artist & a bilingual writer of Japanese origin. She writes poetry, haiku, art criticism, travelogues & essays. Her most recent publications are “Anonymous Landscape” (Lithic Press), “In Delacroix’s Garden: a collaborative book with Basil King” (Spuyten Duyvil) & “PINK” (Lithic Press). She lives in New York City.

Danny Shot will publish two books in 2025: a prose book, Night Bird Flying (Roadside Press), in March and a poetry book, The Jersey Slide (CavanKerry Press), in the fall.

Steve Wishnia has played music in New York for over 45 years. He’s currently bassist in Blowdryer All-Stars and the klezmer band Kvetch and just completed a home-recorded album called Purple Ocean, on which he played all the instruments. Cofounder of the 1980s post-punk band False Prophets, he’s played in dozens of groups (including Iron Prostate and Reprieve with Daniel Carter). He’s also a labor journalist, author of the rock’n’roll novel When the Drumming Stops and two short stories in the Jewish Noir series, and was the last writer published in the original Village Voice.

Event Venue

Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, New York, United States