In conjunction with the release of its seventh issue, the biannual non-profit arts magazine Esopus organizes an evening of readings and live music by past and present contributors. The evening’s theme—creative collaboration—is approached from four different angles by the four collaborating groups, echoing the breadth of content published in Esopus. The event will take place at The Kitchen (512 West 19th Street) on Tuesday, October 24 at 7pm. Admission is free.

For this event, film production designer Therese Deprez (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Dark Water) and cinematographer Ellen Kuras (I Shot Andy Warhol, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) discuss with critic Amy Taubin the process of working together to create the look and tone of a feature film. Having collaborated on three films (including Tom Kalin’s Swoon and Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam), they offer specific examples of their working process. Additionally, Christopher Durang stages and co-performs a reading of a short parody of Medea with actress Alma Cuervo that he co-wrote with Wendy Wasserstein in the late 1990s. Finally, in Autographs, actress Jennifer Jason Leigh reads poems by Vincent Katz, alongside projected images of drawings by his father, artist Alex Katz, who had made one drawing for each poem in the series. The entire suite is published in Esopus 7. The evening ends with a performance by the Wrens, who plan to create a “collaborative song” with audience members.

Esopus is dedicated to providing the public with a broad array of ideas and thoughts on contemporary culture from various creative professionals. The publication includes diverse forms of writing, artists’ projects, visual essays, interviews and music.