An artist's talk accompanied by artist-made cocktails will follow the reading.

Cassandra Troyan is an artist and writer who investigates the supposedly hidden structures of our desires by rendering visible the daily ways we make meaning in the world, and find ourselves in relation to others. She explores the terror of becoming female amidst the accelerated haze of contemporary popular culture, yet derives pleasure from the nascent negation produced through absurd juxtapositions of submission, surrender, romance, and horror.

She is the author of THRONE OF BLOOD, a poetic novella from Solar Luxuriance and BLACKEN ME BLACKEN ME, GROWLED is slated for publication from Tiny Hardcore Pressin April of 2014, and in October KILL MANUAL (Kept In Lacerated Light) from Artifice Books. She curates the reading and performance series ARTIFICIAL EAR, in Chicago, IL.

Rachel Ellison is a multifaceted artist and writer. She received undergraduate degrees in Studio Art and Psychology at Indiana University, Bloomington. She lived and worked in Tel Aviv and then Toronto before moving to Chicago. In 2012 she graduated with an MFA in Visual Art from The University of Chicago. Her interdisciplinary and often interventionist work is rooted in performance. Projects tend to examine and prod at the intersection between staged events in relation to everyday gesture and ritual. Current independent projects include Tru Touch: Spa of guided conversation trutouch.tumblr.com and hosting the radio program We're All Dying Radio Hour: A Show About Care on Chicago's WHPK 88.5FM (the pride of the South Side) https://soundcloud.com/werealldyingradio.

She works independently and also collaborates with Cassandra Troyan and others as JIMMYBROOKS, with Coleen MacPherson as The Pocketology Collective and with performance artist Rob Andrews. You can find her atrachelellisonhappyforever.com at @YesJewess.