Miranda July used to live here. Between Olympia and LA. She wove punk club performances, recordings on Kill Rock Stars, a video chain letter, college film screenings, short fiction, screen writing, collaborative open source art, museum installations, small films and stage performances into a beautiful dream. That is what her work is about and that is how it affects the audience. She deftly navigates identity, the black holes surrounding us and love to make something magical.
Even as she imagined and performed her stage pieces here, a full length film was outlining itself. Perhaps you have seen it, "Me, You and Everyone We know", interwoven stories of improbable love.
July is a writer and a storyteller. Her seemingly casual and geeky performances are crafted for months in written form, then memorized. So her performances, films and writings form a creative continuity. Her short stories have been published in the Paris Review, McSweeny's, the New Yorker, Harpers and elsewhere.
Tonight she reads from a new book of them. "No One Belongs Here More Than You".
Tickets, which will sell out, online at http://www.ticketweb.com/user?region=oregon&query=schedule&venue=congregational
First Congregational Church 1126 SW Park 7PM $13