offal literary salon is nyc’s underground literary salon for the freaks, hosted upstairs at public records in brooklyn. prioritizing voices, genres, and ideas which are repulsive, abject, neurotic, and weird, each literary salon features a theme, a guest writer whose writing exemplifies that theme, and a host of readings from writers in alignment with that theme. curated by sasha ravitch, offal literary salon takes place every other month showcasing established voices and promoting emerging talent. in an aeon of perfecting filters and self-panoticonization, the offal literary salon is for the freaks, the ugly ones, the marginriders, the writers of (actually) weird person fiction and nonfiction. we accent and exalt voices writing from the grotesque inseams of human interiority, chase the sticky folds of the monsterflesh, and question the reality of nature.

attendees and participants will come into greater connectivity, empathy, and love for humanity by neutralizing the charge of shame around taboo subjects and thoughts. it’s the curator’s opinion that we are less cruel to others, and to ourselves, when we encounter transgressive and psychologically charged literature. silence and repression breed far greater monsters. writing which confronts abjection and the pathological self has been subjected to incredible scrutiny from media-illiterate audiences who conflate exploration of the human condition with narrativization of the self. ugliness is integral to art, and the stigmatization of ugliness does nothing to enhance culture. ugliness is integral to our humanity, and gazing at it without flinching makes us better humans to each other.

each salon will feature a combination of solicited and submission based writers and slush subs. sign-ups for the next salon will open at the end of each salon. individuals who attended the salon will be prioritized. folks will provide their email on the sign-up form and the curator will reach out to each person requesting a writing sample. individuals selected will be given a month’s notice to prepare and practice their piece. folks interested in reading who were not able to attend live will have the chance to email to submit, but given lower priority than those who attended previous events in person. the desire is to privilege emerging voices and talent while maintaining a fastidiously curated series with an exceptional level of talent. this is not an open mic.  

if you’ve read how it works and you want to read at offal literary salon, send us an email to offalsalon@gmail.com.

in the subject line please write READING PITCH: YOUR NAME.

in the body of the email, please clarify that you live locally or are willing to travel here to read, along with a small cover letter sharing your pub history, whether you’ve attended a salon in person, and attach a doc, docx, or pdf with a shunn manuscript style writing sample of no more than 10 pages.