For its fifth collaboration with NYC performance and exhibition venue The Kitchen, Esopus programmed an evening of content related to Esopus 22: Medicine. Actor/director/screenwriter Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner) opened the evening by reading a 1942 letter, reproduced in the issue, written by the late Pulitzer Prize–winning poet William Carlos Williams to a medical student explaining his decision to become both a doctor and a poet. Artist Nina Katchadourian offered an audio-visual presentation related to her project for the issue—the latest iteration of her “Sorted Books” series—incorporating a range of medical thrillers from the library of the late author William S. Burroughs. The evening closed with a performance by musician, actor, filmmaker, and author Will Sheff, the front man of acclaimed alternative band Okkervil River, who performed a series of songs including “Famous Tracheotomies,” the track he created for the Esopus 22: Organs themed CD. The performances were interspersed with audiovisual elements related to the issue—including the debut of a music video for another track for the issue’s CD—Boister’s “Mr. Spleen"—directed by Jake Buhler.
