Sister Spit
Encyclopedia
Sister Spit is a lesbian-feminist spoken word
and performance art
collective based in San Francisco, signed to Mr. Lady Records
. They formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2006. Founding members included Michelle Tea
and Sini Anderson
, Other members included Jane LeCroy and poet Eileen Myles
. The group were noted for their Ramblin' Roadshow, performing at feminist events such as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
. The Boston Phoenix described it as "the coolest (and cutest) line-up of talented, tattooed, pierced, and purple-pigtailed performance artists the Bay Area has to offer.
The Independent Weekly
magazine described the group as a "literary celebration of outspoken and courageous feminists". Sister Spit performed on numerous occasions at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
, as well as on multiple tours across the United States, chiefly to LGBT
audiences, including the Castro Street Fair
, Pride
and Ladyfest
in San Francisco.. They played at such locations as Boston
, Cambridge, Massachusetts
and Buffalo, New York
.
Michelle Tea
revived the tour in April 2007, calling the new incarnation Sister Spit: The Next Generation
. The new group includes original Sister Spitters Eileen Myles
and Ali Liebegott, as well as younger writers such as Cristy Road
, Nicole Georges
, and Rhiannon Argo.
.
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
and performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
collective based in San Francisco, signed to Mr. Lady Records
Mr. Lady Records
Mr. Lady Records was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. Artists on the label included Le Tigre and The Butchies. OutSmart magazine noted that Mr...
. They formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2006. Founding members included Michelle Tea
Michelle Tea
Michelle Tea is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, prostitution, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and currently lives in San Francisco...
and Sini Anderson
Sini Anderson
Sini Anderson is an American film director, producer, performance artist and poet. She is originally from Chicago, Illinois, has lived in San Francisco, California and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York....
, Other members included Jane LeCroy and poet Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles is an American poet who has also worked in fiction, non-fiction, and theater.She won a 2010 Shelley Memorial Award.-Early life and career:...
. The group were noted for their Ramblin' Roadshow, performing at feminist events such as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, called "the Original Womyn's Woodstock" and often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, is an international feminist music festival occurring every August since 1976 near Hart, Michigan...
. The Boston Phoenix described it as "the coolest (and cutest) line-up of talented, tattooed, pierced, and purple-pigtailed performance artists the Bay Area has to offer.
The Independent Weekly
Independent Weekly
The Independent Weekly is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States and distributed throughout the Research Triangle area and counties .The Independent is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and has a...
magazine described the group as a "literary celebration of outspoken and courageous feminists". Sister Spit performed on numerous occasions at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, called "the Original Womyn's Woodstock" and often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, is an international feminist music festival occurring every August since 1976 near Hart, Michigan...
, as well as on multiple tours across the United States, chiefly to LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
audiences, including the Castro Street Fair
Castro Street Fair
The Castro Street Fair is a San Francisco LGBT street festival and fair usually held on the first Sunday in October in the Castro neighborhood, the main gay neighborhood and social center in the city. The fair features multiples stages with live entertainment, DJs, food vendors, community-group...
, Pride
San Francisco Pride
The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies...
and Ladyfest
Ladyfest
Ladyfest is a community-based, not-for-profit global music and arts festival for female artists that features bands, musical groups, performance artists, authors, spoken word and visual artists, films, lectures, art exhibitions and workshops; it is organized by volunteers. The first ever Ladyfest...
in San Francisco.. They played at such locations as Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
and Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
.
Michelle Tea
Michelle Tea
Michelle Tea is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, prostitution, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and currently lives in San Francisco...
revived the tour in April 2007, calling the new incarnation Sister Spit: The Next Generation
Sister Spit: The Next Generation
In April 2007, Michelle Tea decided to revive Sister Spit as Sister Spit: The Next Generation pulling together old favourites such as Lynne Breedlove, Eileen Myles and Ali Liebegott and also introducing a whole new selection of queer/feminist/alternative literary folks such as Cristy Road, Rhiannon...
. The new group includes original Sister Spitters Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles is an American poet who has also worked in fiction, non-fiction, and theater.She won a 2010 Shelley Memorial Award.-Early life and career:...
and Ali Liebegott, as well as younger writers such as Cristy Road
Cristy Road
Cristy C. Road is an American illustrator of Cuban descent. Blending social principles, sexual deviance, mental inadequacies, and social justice- she thrives to testify the beauty of the imperfect. Her obsession with making art accessible began when publishing GREEN'ZINE in 1996- a fanzine...
, Nicole Georges
Nicole Georges
Nicole J. Georges is an illustrator, pet portrait artist, zinester and educator living in Portland, Oregon. She is best known as the author of the autobiographical comic zine Invincible Summer, whose individual issues have been collected into two anthologies published by Tugboat Press and Microcosm...
, and Rhiannon Argo.
Membership
Sister Spit had a rotating membership. Members for many or all shows included- Michelle TeaMichelle TeaMichelle Tea is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, prostitution, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachusetts and currently lives in San Francisco...
- writer. Cofounder and cohost of Sister Spit. - Sini AndersonSini AndersonSini Anderson is an American film director, producer, performance artist and poet. She is originally from Chicago, Illinois, has lived in San Francisco, California and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York....
- performance poet, producer, and director. Cofounder and co-host of Sister Spit. - Ida Acton - author
- Kirk Read - writer and performer
- Marci Blackman - novellist, Stonewall Book AwardStonewall Book AwardSponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association , the Stonewall Book Award is for LGBT books...
winner. - Cooper Lee Bombardier- writer and visual artist.
- Lynnee Breedlove - lead singer of Tribe 8Tribe 8This article is about the San Francisco based lesbian punk band Tribe 8. See Tribe 8 for Dream Pod 9s post-apocalyptic fantasy role-playing game.Tribe 8 was an all-women outspoken dyke punk band from San Francisco...
and writer. - Tara Jepsen - performance artist, actor, and writer.
- Kassy Kayiatos - poet and beatboxer.
- Beth LisickBeth LisickBeth Lisick is an American writer, performer, and author of four books. With Arline Klatte, she co-founded the Porchlight Storytelling Series of open-mic spoken word performances in San Francisco in 2002. Her spoken word performances were featured at the Lollapalooza festival in 1994, the South by...
- writer, filmmaker and musician. - Miranda Mellis - dancer, trapeze artist, and poet.
- Eileen MylesEileen MylesEileen Myles is an American poet who has also worked in fiction, non-fiction, and theater.She won a 2010 Shelley Memorial Award.-Early life and career:...
- author - Sara Seinberg - photographer
- Anna Joy Springer - professor at UCSD
- Samuael Topiary - filmmaker, performer, professor at SVA
- Ali LiebegottAli LiebegottAli Liebegott is a lesbian American author whose work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Her first book, The Beautifully Worthless, won the Lambda Literary Award for Debut Fiction. Liebegott is a recipient of a Poetry Fellowship from the New York Foundation for Arts. She taught...
- author - Amos Mac - photographer
- MariNaomi - cartoonist
- Myriam Gurba - author
- Blake NelsonBlake NelsonBlake Nelson is an American author of adult and children's literature. He grew up in Portland, Oregon, and attended Wesleyan University.Nelson began his career writing short humor pieces for Details magazine in the mid-nineties...
- author
Releases
Sister Spit's most noted release was Greatest Spits!: A Spoken Word Compilation, released on May 29, 2001. They released 3 other albums, including I Spit on Your Country (1997), and Sister Spit’s Ramblin Road Show (1999). Their final album, Tribe Spit Deep, was released in 2002. All their albums were released on the lesbian-feminist label Mr. Lady RecordsMr. Lady Records
Mr. Lady Records was a San Francisco-based lesbian-feminist independent record label and video art distributor. Artists on the label included Le Tigre and The Butchies. OutSmart magazine noted that Mr...
.
External links
- Sister Spit website
- Sister Spit: Who's in the Van - selected members of the original group touring with new members
- US Tour Schedule, April 2010
- Michelle Tea
- 5 Reasons To See Sister Spit in 2011 (LAist)