Sh!

Friday night, the second poetry/ fiction night of my week.  After some faffing with the wrong bus-stop, I navigated myself onto Hoxton Square and along to Sh!, a "Women's Erotic Emporium in Hoxton Square."  I paid my £3 to get in, collected my first glass of free bubbly and shifted, late, into the seat behind my friends.  I was midway through one of KD Grace's readings, about a woman's threesome with two blokes.  So very not my thing, but to be honest, I didn't expect a lot of women's erotica to be very much my thing.  KD had a lovely way of reading it and I reckon if I had even half an inclination to think about "members" or bumholes, it would have been great.


Events like this are naturally going to be awkward at first.  There was a fair amount of giggling.  Some was conspirational, as with Meg Philip's readings ("ladies, you do know that feeling").  Some was outright hilarious- Meg again, reading out a passage on "persistent tongue-fucking of the ear."  Some was awkward (at least... I am guessing that I am not the only person who felt less than  fully comfortable at hearing the word "anal hooks" for the first time.)  But it was very fun and, of course, free bubbly does nothing if not ease nerves and awkwardness. 


I think everyone who read was pretty brilliant.  Mel Jones' poems had me giggling right through and their outright naughtiness made it hard to feel awkward at all.  I really enjoyed the way they flowed and the general aura of sexycalm she exuded.  She read them naturally, naughtily, no-nonsense-illy.  Fun.  Meg Philips' work had a great, easy conversational tone and, considering that it was "straight," was actually pretty hot.  And well, she's just so cute!   KD's writing was hard not to be impressed by, it was pretty adventurous.  Again, despite being not my "thing" there were some hot moments.  Who'da thunk it?

My favourite story, by Nonika, was about kissing- "just" kissing- in a rave.  The kind of intense moment with a perfect stranger that makes the only option turning, and running away. It was a really beautiful story, with funny moments and pretty moments and honest moments. Actually, it was one long honest moment.  I liked it a lot.

It takes something like serious bravery even to acknowledge thinking some of that stuff, let alone to write and then read it.  I don't think I would do it (besides anything else, there is a huge wide range of phrases and words I just do not like.)  So I was  impressed at the way the writers had thought, acted, researched, written and then read.  And at the way the writers and the staff helped us as an audience to navigate the inevitable blushes and shuffles and get involved.  There was a sexy-text competition, and Nonika's phone buzzed with sexiness the whole way through the night.  The resulting messages ranged from humour and gentleness to actual pure filth.  It says something for the way they handled the night, that people were able to come up with some of that madness (and yes, some of that madness was mine!)


GATE! was not.


Afterwards we drank a little more bubbly and browsed the shop.  Sex toys have never really held that much interest for me, except to say "what the hell would you need that for?" and flinch in vague imagination of pain.  But the atmosphere in Sh! on Friday and, I am assured, in general, was very un-horrific.  I would definitely reccommend going to the next reading.  For the fun, the cupcakes, the bubbly, the experience, the dare-i-say education?




http://kdgrace.co.uk/blog/poetry-smut-and-humour-interview-with-mel-jones/