Sister Spit began back in 1994 as
an all-girl open mic night. While the spoken word craze of the 90s was in full
swing throughout San Francisco, the city’s open mic events were largely male,
largely straight, and largely douche-y. Recognizing a need for stages where
girls (past, present + future) could perform their work without wading through
shirtless Bukowski imitators, Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson created Sister
Spit – a weekly, free, all-girl open mic. Sister Spit ran for two years, housed
in a variety of venues – Blondie’s on Valencia (if you can believe it!), the
back room at the CW Saloon during the lez dance party Muffdive, and the SoMA
speakeasy the Coco Club.
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In 1997, Michelle and Sini brought
Sister Spit on the road. Using the same model of the touring their friends in
punk bands used, they booked a month-long cross-country tour, with shows every
night in a different dive bar, art gallery, queer club, sushi restaurant, punk
basement, community space throughout the USA. Sister Spit’s Ramblin’ Roadshow
toured constantly between 1997 – 2000 with year-round regional jaunts building
up to the massive cross-country endeavor each August.
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In 2007, Michelle Tea revived
Sister Spit as Sister Spit: The Next Generation. Having just edited an
anthology of new, young, queer writers she was looking to take some on tour.
She wanted to bring along some older Spit writers, and voila: a new generation
of Sister Spit was born. Since 2007 Sister Spit has staged one major tour each
year, bringing up-and-coming writers alongside their published, more
established peers. Sister Spit shows allow writers new and old to promote their
work to an audience they would not be able to access on their own. Books are
sold, fans are made, and new opportunities – Literary agents! Foreign
translations! – are seized.
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Sister Spit has come a long way
from the tours of the 90s, when sleeping on a stranger’s floor was the norm and
writers were paid $80 for a month of grueling, non-stop work. Nowadays we rent
our vehicles to be sure they are dependable – in the 90s, Sister Spit vans were
famous for catching fire in Nevada or outright dying in Mississippi. Now, We
stay in hotel rooms, making the rigors of touring a bit easier on the crew. And
we make a point to pay the writers for their work on the road and time away
from their jobs.
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Because Sister Spit makes a point
to travel not only to the big cities but also seeks smaller, underserved queer
populations, Sister Spit is able to provide audiences hungry for LGBTQ,
feminist, underground voices with a slew of new writers to read and watch out
for each year. By pairing up with local writers in many of these towns, local
writers get to be part of a really big show, and Sister Spit gets exposed to
even more new voices to work with in the future.
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We are asking for community support
to help this tour be as successful and far-reaching as possible! By
contributing to Sister Spit, you make it possible for us to travel into cities
and towns that might not be able to fund the full cost to
put up our show. You make it possible for us to pay writers working their butts
off to support their art. You help sustain the work it takes to get the show on
the road – work that begins nine months before we roll into town.
Please
consider making a donation today!
Help
us continue to bring Sister Spit to diverse locations across the country AND
receive some awesome perks! Just to name
a few:
- Books
out on City Lights/Sister Spit
- Your
very own screening of Valencia!
- Poetry
chapbooks
- A letterpress 'LEZ DO THIS' card designed by Jaye Fishel!
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- Your
portrait drawn by Amanda Verwey, illustrator of Valencia’s opening
credits.
- and
A PRIVATE SISTER SPIT EVENT!
Spread
the word and help keep the longest running queer literary touring troupe on the
road!![]()
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Special thanks to CAG Productions for the great video!
