Literary event fused with First Friday

Friday, Nov. 3, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.

What: "Rotating Heads"

When and where:

Admission: Free

Information: vegasvalleybookfest.org or firstfriday-lasvegas.org

The literati descend on Las Vegas today for the fifth annual Vegas Valley Book Festival.

The two-day program celebrating the written, spoken and illustrated word features "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk at UNLV and a children's book festival at Centennial Plaza. But most of the events fused with First Friday are taking place today and Saturday in the Arts District. They include "Rotating Heads," a collection of spoken-word artists giving 30-minute performances on three stages beginning at 7 tonight.

Expect theatrically annunciated (and sometimes humorous) tales of woe, love, lust, urbanity and more.

Dayvid Figler, Las Vegas writer, defense attorney and National Public Radio commentator, assembled the group and will kick off the first of three performances with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who is scheduled to recite a handful of First Friday Haiku.

Yes, haiku.

Here's the roster :

Beau Sia: The slam poet lives and writes in Los Angeles after years of touring and performing, including Broadway's Tony Award-winning "Def Poetry Jam." (Please see accompanying story.)

Beth Lisick: The writer, musician and spoken-word artist co-organizes the Porchlight Storytelling Series in San Francisco. She'll read from her very funny 2005 memoir, "Everybody Into the Pool," and try out some new stuff she's writing.

Jami Attenberg: A freelance journalist who lives in Brooklyn, she plans to read from her book, "Instant Love," a collection of linked "sexy, funny, dark stories about dating in urban America."

Whitney Pastorek: She is a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly and executive editor of the literary Web site Pindeldyboz.com . She will perform her Phil Collins Operetta and Journey Operetta with Sarah Balcomb, an Oakland-based short fiction writer who will also be reading. "Singing along is encouraged," Pastorek says.

Derrick Brown: He is a Tennesee-based performance poet and author of "Born in the Year of the Butterfly Knife" and "I Love You is Back" who travels the United States and Europe performing spoken word, often augmented by music and visuals.