Intrusive Thoughts
featuring poets TBD, hosted by Debasery (Leah Toledano).
Intrusive Thoughts is a multi-dimensional poetry parlor that has hosted a slew of New York's queer and trans writers, poets, and performers. It is run by Debasery, a writer and mixed-media artist from South Florida living in Bushwick. They host Intrusive Thoughts monthly at TV Eye, a bar and music venue in Ridgewood, Queens. Intrusive Thoughts is dedicated to platforming writers in all stages of their careers and was born out of necessity. Debasery spent 2022 and 2023 touring a handful of New York's open mics, met many incredible poets, and read at various venues and bars. Along the way, they discovered an absence of visibility within these spaces and a lack of readings dedicated to centering queer and trans voices. In the efforts to connect and unify queer and trans poets, create a reading series that encouraged writers to share their vulnerabilities, and highlight the importance of community building, Intrusive Thoughts was conceived, and March 8th, 2023, was the first reading. One unique feature of Intrusive Thoughts is that readings always commence with an indie burlesque act by our resident performer, Valium Housewife, before a series of four to five readers are welcomed to the stage. Intrusive Thoughts encourages writers to share their grimy, grotesque, unapologetic works and values aesthetics inherent to our readers' identities. Art and theatricality are integral aspects of Debasery’s hosting style and Intrusive Thoughts.
