This is the very same Calle Ocho that hosts the giant block party that attracts millions of people every year. But since late January the famous street also has been home to Words and Music, a hip happening that features published and unpublished writers reading from their works in English and in Spanish, as well as a band that plays before, after, and in between the literary sets.
The idea of independent TV producer and aspiring writer Ana Martinez, "Words" originated in early January at Meza Fine Art gallerycafe with readings by Ana Veciana-Suarez and Daina Chaviano. After a few weeks at the elegant Meza, Martinez moved the gathering to a more casual space, Cafe Teatro Zayon. While spectators check out what's happening onstage, they can sip a beer or a glass of wine in one of the 65 crimson velvet chairs, which are clustered in pairs around tiny round wooden tables.
Although held on Eighth Street, the event attracts a diverse crowd. Past participants have included black poetry and musical group Body, Mind, and Soul; University of Miami professor and author Fred D'Aguiar; poets Richard Blanco and Adrian Castro; bolero singer Lourdes Simon; and jazz-timba band Por Si Las Moscas. Authors Armando de Armas and Rodolfo Martinez are scheduled to read along with musical accompaniment from Io this Friday.
Uniting cultures while promoting culture is not an easy feat. Preston Allen knows the difficulties. For more than two years he coordinated the Butterfly Lightning Reading Series at Tobacco Road. "I admire what she's doing; it's not easy," he notes. "Writers are extremely egotistical. They want a place to perform. Musicians, by the time they get to the point where they are performing, don't want to do freebies anymore."
Martinez concurs: The musicians need to be paid, and their funds mostly have come straight out of her pocket. But she maintains hope that soon a regular audience will gravitate to her Friday-night salon-in-the-making. "The vision is not complete," she says. "It's not just about what's happening on the stage. I'm trying to create a place for people from all the arts to gather, where they come and have a drink, listen to great stuff, and then they stay awhile and mingle. Just a place to talk, to communicate."
-- Nina Korman
Words and Music takes place at 10:00 p.m. every Friday at Cafe Teatro Zayon, 2101 SW 8th St. Admission is $7. Call 305-470-1987.
