MC Vendetta kicks off the festival at Nietzsche's and Staples.

If the point of the Infringement Festival is to be a sort of artistic, utopian critical response to what can be described as the “oppressive neoliberal worldview”—the commercialization, and therefore depoliticization, of people and the “fringe” movement—then it’s surprising that there are only four literary events planned for Buffalo’s upcoming Infringement Festival. Literature, after all, ha traditionally been one of the most democratic, subversive and empowering forms of art—accessible to nearly everyone. That said, those four events are certainly worth attending, and, in the uncritical, democratic spirit of the Infringement Festival, they run the gamut from an exhibition of scholarly papers to the rhythmic floetry of a poet-turned-rapper. Here’s a run-down of what to expect:

Catch The Freedom Within tonight at Nietzsche’s, a performance of spoken word poetry by MC Vendetta, the self-proclaimed “white rappin’ female extraordinaire.” It will be a typical performance by Vendetta, who transitioned from straight poetry to in-your-face rhyming about political and social issues some time in 2005. If you’ve never seen her before, though, stop in. The show begins at 7pm, and she’ll be performing across the street (at Staples) later in the evening, as part of the Infringement Kick-off Party.

Epicenter: The Ed Powell Project is called “an archival wormhole witness to history,” and the exhibition is just that. Erin Verhoef, charged with organizing and processing Elwin H. “Ed” Powell’s papers, decided to exhibit the late social activist and UB professor’s papers, allowing Powell “another chance…to shine in this physical plane.” The result is Epicenter, a showcase of his papers that includes not only his own scholarly work, but also some of the countless protest pamphlets he printed up, mountains of newspaper clippings and three cartons of yet unsorted documents. When Powell died of a heart attack in 2001, he’d reached legendary status in Buffalo as a lifelong defender of self-expression, academic freedom and human rights. The exhibition, which has been on display for a week at Rust Belt Books, only shows through tomorrow night, July 27. In his book Design of Discord: Studies of Anomie, Powell wrote, “I am all those who have touched my life.” If that is true then you, too, should visit Epicenter, literally take home some of Ed’s work and let him become a part of you. For you will surely be touched.

Is This Any Good? That’s the question poet Ice 9 (a pseudonym borrowed from Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle) asks of the audience at Steel Crazy tomorrow night, in the course of delivering a humorous piece of performance poetry that is critical of the way society critiques poetry. The show, which will also feature some “serious” poetry, runs for an hour from 5:30 to 6:30pm.

The editors of Earth’s Daughter Magazine have Something to Say, and they’ve been saying it for 37 years, right here in Buffalo. The feminist literary and arts periodical began publishing in 1971, and though its editing format changed from three editors to a collective, three women—Kastle Brill, Joyce Kessel and Ryki Zuckerman—have been involved in the process since nearly the beginning. As long as these poet/editors are in town, Earth’s Daughters will continue to be a relevant publication, putting the experience and creative expression of women into the spotlight. Brill, Kessel and Zuckerman will read on four separate nights at Sp@ce 24:

Friday, July 27, 9-9:30pm

Saturday, July 28, 8:30-9pm

Thursday, August 2, 9:30-10pm

Friday, August 3, 8:30-9pm