Fiona Alison Duncan
Fiona Alison Duncan is the Canadian-American author of Exquisite Mariposa and the organizing host of Hard to Read,
a lit series. 1. Grazie a Dio Per L’Aborto
‘Grazie a Dio Per L’Aborto’: This year, artist Viva Ruiz merchandized her graceful dove, hands, and “Thank God for Abortion” slogan into a series of postcards, posters, tote bags, and t-shirts, available in seven different languages. I bought Spanish, French, and Italian editions of the poster as gifts for friends from New York’s Participant, Inc., where Ruiz had a show.
2. Central Casting
Central Casting: In 2019, I played a sick patient on New Amsterdam, a 1980’s AIDS ward visitor on Pose, and a 1970’s Zurich bank client on the forthcoming Hunters starring Al Pacino. It takes an hour to register as a background actor with Central Casting. Though the work dries up as fast as it comes on (as productions prioritize new faces), CC is great if you want to get fed, paid within a week, and bear witness to America’s entertainment industrial complex for a few shifts.
3. Nancy Lupo’s
Open Mouth
In October 2019, LA-based artist Nancy Lupo installed a jaw and tooth-like assemblage of benches in Downtown LA’s fabled Pershing Square park. There, I hosted one of my favorite Hard to Read events of the year, an ode to LA communities, history, and architecture, featuring Lupo, Norman M. Klein, the work of John Rechy, and Reynaldo Rivera, whose beautiful monograph Provisional Notes for a Disappeared City is forthcoming from Semiotext(e) press in early 2020.
at Pershing Square, LA