In the world of post-internet art, Steve Roggenbuck is a rare gem. He's 27 now, but Roggenbuck rose to internet prominence when he was a delicate 24. He's an MFA dropout, who makes what I'm hoping is the future of literature in a digital age, pulling elements from poetry, video art, installation into exultant and strange pieces. It's kind of like if Tim and Eric and Walt Whitman had an alien child who was part-cartoon—but perhaps comparisons are best avoided with writers like Roggenbuck. He defies easy categorization, thank god!

Roggenbuck also just seems like a Nice Person, which, superficially, is kind of beside the point. Obviously, people you'd never want to hang out with and are maybe even a little afraid of can make great art. Joan Didion is my North Star, but I can't even imagine palling around with her, not for a second. Nope. See also: Bukowski, Hemingway, oh, the ENTIRE Western Canon, if we're being real. That said, there's a level of access and transparency to Roggenbuck's work that is truly admirable. His four poetry collections are all available for free through his website. He's a rare writer who seems more concerned with making his work available than from profiting off of it, which, like I said, admirable. If maybe not the smartest business plan for—hem, hem—longevity.

He also basically lives on the internet, so I was totally surprised when Mercury true friend Andrew R Tonry shared the news that Steve Roggenbuck is coming to town! Thursday night! At a reading cryptically located at a place called Witch Hazel Haus, which I can only hope is a real-life coven. The Facebook page, is, not surprisingly, titled, "There are lots of wasps here (no there aren't you won't be attacked by wasps it's just a regular reading I promise)." I'm definitely going, you should too. Gonna be weird! More details here. More Steve Roggenbuck here.