GONNA WORK THAT SPACE. Last night at the Kessler Theater, WordSpace announced its WordSpace at The Kessler Season (see how that worked out? It almost rhymed.) And it’s a pretty amazing lineup of four performers: comic-singer-actress Sandra Bernhard (Oct. 23), poet Nikki Giovanni (Dec. 8), performance artist Laurie Anderson (March 13) and director-writer-actor-wit John Waters (May 29). For all the extra info, like tickets and whatnot, make the jump down below.

THE NEGLECT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE WHINING STOPS. Quit complaining. Artists feel significantly more job satisfaction than other folks. It’s true. Their jobs are interesting, allow them to learn new skills and follow their own initiatives.

In addition, “Being self-employed raises job satisfaction,” the researchers write, “and artists are self-employed more often than other individuals.” Self-employment also tends to mean flexible working hours—another factor linked to high job satisfaction.

But even after factoring in all of those advantages, artists remain more satisfied with their job than non-artists. This “can be attributed to the satisfaction artists get from creating artworks,” the researchers write.

On the other hand, the study was done in 49 countries — all in Europe.

FOLLOWING IN HER FOOTSTEPS. North Texans know Catherine Turocy from her occasional, always enchanting appearances with husband James Richman, artistic director of the Dallas Bach Society — that’s when she brings along her New York Baroque Dance Company and they trip it as they go, on the light fantastic toe (that’s Milton, folks). But New York Times critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim thought she’d get a little closer to the action. She wrote up her experiences in Turocy’s three-day workshop in New York on 17th-18th century dance methods. Let me tell ya. Turocy’s Sarabande rocks the house.

WordSpace Announces Kessler Season

DALLAS (Sept. 5, 2013) – Wordspace, a non-profit literary organization that supports literature in North Texas, has announced its exciting lineup of performers for its upcoming “WordSpace at The Kessler” season.

The 2013-2014 season, sponsored by Half Price Books, will feature four great acts at The Kessler, including Sandra Bernhard, Nikki Giovanni, Laurie Anderson and John Waters.

“We’re thrilled to bring you another great season of performers for our ‘WordSpace at The Kessler’ series,” said Karen Minzer, executive director of WordSpace. “WordSpace strives to bring top-tier performers to the Metroplex to further enrich the literary and cultural landscape of our community. We look forward to evenings with these outstanding artists.”

Tickets are available at www.prekindle.com.

The artists will perform at The Kessler on the following dates.

October 23

Sandra Bernhard is an American comedienne, singer, actress and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy in which she often bitterly critiques celebrity culture and political figures. The New York Times described Bernhard as a “living, breathing bonfire” and has applauded her shows as “an angst driven, foul-mouthed, poison-laced joy ride that banks and careens frenetically through the worlds of fashion, celebrity, rock, and religion.” Bernhard has also written three books, and her work has been published in numerous magazines, including, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveler, Rolling Stone, Interview, and Spy.

December 8

Nikki Giovanni is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator. Over the past thirty years, her outspokenness in her writing and in lectures, has brought the eyes of the world upon her. One of the most widely-read American poets, she prides herself on being “a Black American, a daughter, a mother, a professor of English.” Giovanni remains as determined and committed as ever to the fight for civil rights and equality. Always insisting on presenting the truth as she sees it, she has maintained a prominent place as a strong voice of the Black community. Her focus is on the individual — specifically on the power one has to make a difference in oneself, and thus, in the lives of others. The author of some 30 books for both adults and children, Nikki Giovanni is a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

March 13

Laurie Anderson is one of today’s premier performance artists. Known primarily for her multimedia presentations, she has cast herself in roles as varied as visual artist, composer, poet, photographer, filmmaker, electronics whiz, vocalist, and instrumentalist. Anderson has published six books.

May 29

John Waters is an American film director, screenwriter, actor, stand-up comedian, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films. Waters’ 1970s and early ’80s trash films feature his regular troupe of actors known as the Dreamlanders. John is also an accomplished writer and photographer. He has published two volumes of his journalistic exploits, one screenplay collection, and a great big book of pictures he took of his television.

About WordSpace

Founded in 1994 by poet Robert Trammell, WordSpace prioritizes multi- and cross-cultural diversity to promote established and emerging artists using imaginative language in both traditional and experimental forms. WordSpace has presented programs with poets, prose writers, songwriters, playwrights, filmmakers, and performance artists–from world masters to emerging local artist–across the broadest possible spectrum–in webcam readings, films, panels, exhibitions, plays, concerts, multi-media extravaganzas and literary festivals. WordSpace also sponsors the innovative Next Generation Project that includes the Dallas Poetry Slam partnered Youth Series, offering free writing and performance workshops at Half Price Books and annual Student Readings at SMU Lit Festival and the Kessler Theater. The WordSpace board of directors is made up of working writers, educators and artists who collaborate to produce 50 plus events a year. The board of directors includes Charles Dee Mitchell, Jean Lamberty, Steve Cruz, Alexandra Marie Thurston, Rock Baby, Sanderia Smith, Jerry Kelley, Young Eui Choi and Karen X Minzer.

About The Kessler Theater

The Kessler Theater is a world class performance venue, hosting an eclectic presentation of the finest in music and other performing and visual arts. The Kessler is owned by Edwin Cabiniss with recording artist Jeffrey Liles as Artistic Director. Built by Gene Autry and then destroyed by a tornado, the Kessler Theater was rebuilt by Cabiniss and retained the ambience that has resurrected as a gem of artistic value. It is the preferred showcase for many top artists. They have won many city wide and media awards and have been highlighted in articles in the New York Times. Watch an interesting video by Jeff Liles on the History of the Kessler.

About Half Price Books

Half Price Books is the largest family-owned new and used bookstore chain, with 116 retail locations in 16 states. Stores are open seven days a week and buy and sell new and used books, magazines, comics, records, CDs, DVDs and collectible items. Half Price Books has been dedicated to environmental and literacy efforts for more than 40 years by supporting hundreds of projects including the annual Half Pint Library Book Drive, which provides hospitals, clinics and pediatric centers nationwide with book donations collected at all store locations. In addition, Half Price Books is a founding contributor to Laura Bush’s National Book Festival, as well as a supporter of the National Center for Family Literacy and Feed the Children. For more information about Half Price Books, please visit www.hpb.com.