cave mouth tongue loose is an improvised creative conversation between visual artist Nora E Luks and writer Mary Zhou, inspired by Surrealist games. Their drawings, poems, and prophetic questions range anywhere from Greek mythology, the Cultural Revolution, and ancient Chinese divination to YouTube watch histories, psychedelics, and modern dating. At its core, the book explores the role of fortune, good or ill, and how it shapes our relationship to self, lovers, and lineage.
About the Riverwards Chapbook Series
The Riverwards Chapbook Series is a unique collaborative exhibition and publishing pilot by The Head & The Hand (H&H). The goal of the Salons was to create a space where local artists and writers could gain access to one another’s work and discover potential collaborators in their own corner of Philadelphia (specifically, the River Wards neighborhoods of Kensington, Fishtown, Port Richmond, and Olde Richmond). A hand-chosen committee of mentors nominated over 35 writers and artists with connections to the River Wards and of those 20 were selected to read and showcase at interdisciplinary Salons hosted at H&H Books over the course of 2023-2024. After each event, artists and writers were invited to consider which of the works on display felt most aligned with their own; in essence, did any feel enough visual-verbal alchemy to want to partner on a chapbook publication?
Of those 20 artists and writers, the answer was a resounding yes for the three final pairings formed after committee members considered all Salon participants’ requests to collaborate. This inaugural run of the Riverwards Arts & Letters Series features collaborations between artist Manuela Guillén and poet Pthalo, artist Nora E Luks and poet Mary Zhou, and artist Rushawn Stanley, or "Scum Lizard", and poet Gabriel Ramirez.
H&H is grateful for series sponsorship provided by the Penn Treaty Special Services District and PECO Powering the Arts.
Mary Zhou
Mary Zhou is a poet and dancer based in Philadelphia. They have been supported by Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, VONA/Voices, and Brooklyn Poets. Their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and is published in The Rumpus, Foglifter, and ANMLY.
Nora E Luks
Nora E Luks is an artist living and working in Philadelphia, PA. She creates prints, illustrations, comics, and sculpture.
