“Enter>text” is a living literary journal, an immersive series of events where the audience is activated to seek out their own unique encounters with writers. There is no stage or podium. As a divergence from traditional reading series, we fill large public and private spaces with literary pieces, both installed and performed, and allow audiences to roam freely. We strive to explore the textual nature of our surroundings, always searching for new voices, histories and fictions. We have created seasonal performances since fall of 2011, mounted in galleries and private residences all over Los Angeles, and featuring an ever-evolving lineup of, on average, 15-20 writer-performers, whose contributions seek to enliven original literary work through interaction, intimacy and theatricality.

On May 30th, at Human Resources, we staged “Rumors.” Audiences were welcomed via a side alley, where, in an enclosed doorway, in groups of 1-3, they were told that if they had to speak, to whisper, as there was something inside that we were trying not to wake. Each literary work inside was presented through whispers, passed notes, and silent installation. Guests participated in a variety of encounters, exchanging secrets and gossip, designing abstracted restaurant menus and speaking last words into a blindfolded person’s ear. To conclude the evening, all performers began reading aloud at once, breaking the hush and ushering all attendees out to the street.

On September 7th we staged “In the Air” at an expansive private home in Mount Washington. Attendees ate popsicles and found fragments of a short story on the stripped sticks. A mermaid read from her book in the outdoor hot tub while guests dipped their toes and leaned in to listen. Bathrooms, closets, bedrooms and balconies were populated by press conferences, rituals and secret one-on-one readings. A drone hovered over the property. The moon replaced the sun.

“Rumors” and “In the Air” featured contributions by Karen Adelman, Diana Arterian, Sam Bloch & Mark Gerard & Ilya Malinsky, Andrew Choate, Meriwether Clarke & Claire Cronin, Sam Cohen & Stephen Van Dyke, Stacy Elaine Dacheux & Danielle Sommer, Kate Durbin, Emma Zakes Green, Dan Hockenson, Jen Hofer & Yelena Gluzman, Jen Hutton, Nicholas Katzban, Emily Kiernan, Janice Lee & Laura Vena, Joseph Mosconi, Beau Rice, John Rossiter, Sylvie Spencer, UNFO (with Harold Abramowitz, Amanda Ackerman & Andrea Quaid), Matias Viegener, Writ Large Press, Emerson Whitney and Yelena Zhelezov.