Published by Erato Press, which operates with one foot in the secretive and mysterious New Orleans swamp and the other on the hard-edged New York concrete, (the invisible city) includes the work of twenty writers and eight artists inspired by Italo Calvino's fantastic book. The writers included are some of contemporary poetry's most exciting movers and shakers-many of them editors of small presses devoted to underground art and poetry publications. The artists included in (the invisible city) represent New Orleans' burgeoning art scene, where young painters, printers and sculptors are busily turning the Big Easy's many abandoned warehouses into vibrant art galleries and performance spaces. These writers and artists have their urbanism in common: they all create with a particular and crucial awareness of the potentialities of cities. (the invisible city) is scheduled to be released in early May.

Readers include:
Anselm Berrigan is the author of Integrity and Dramatic Life (Edge Books, 1999) and the forthcoming Pictures for Private Devotion (Edge Books, 2001)

Marcella Durand is the poetry editor for (the invisible city). Her next book, Western Capital Rhapsodies, is forthcoming from Faux Press this fall.

Joe Elliot is the author of If It Rained Here, 14 Knots and many handmade objets d'art chapbooks. He is the publisher of Situations Press and the founder of the Zinc Bar reading series.

Betsy Fagin is the editor and founder of the webzine and press, Blue Press(t).

Laird Hunt is the author of The Paris Stories, just published by Smokeproof Books.

Lisa Jarnot is the author of Ring of Fire, just published by Zoland Books, Some Other Kind of Mission, and many other books.

Rachel Levitsky is the author of The Adventures of Yaya and Grace and the curator of the Belladonna reading series at Bluestockings Bookstore.

Pattie McCarthy is the author of the b(k) of h(rs) and the publisher of the BeautifulSwimmer chapbook series.

Lytle Shaw is the author of Cable Factory 20, published by Atelos Press, and the curator of the Line Reading Series at the Drawing Center.

Edwin Torres is a multimedia phenomenon. His books and CDs include Fractured Humorous and Holy Kid. He has performed at the Kitchen, Nuyorican Poets Café, the Poetry Project at St. Mark's and many other venues for innovative theatre.

Kevin Varrone is author of g-point almanac, published by ixnay press and the co-publisher of the BeautifulSwimmer chapbook series.

Karen Weiser is the author of Bloom and Quarter and the publisher of Hophophop Press.

On View Through May 19th - Cities and Desire
Offering promise, teeming with conflict, the city lures adventurers and visionaries. Urban landscapes reflect conscious artistic design as well as the vagaries of chance, and our shared histories and buried memories. Curating Cities & Desire, Janet Riker and Meridith McNeal used keywords from an evocative passage in Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities that touches on the concept of the city, models and desire, to lead them to a range of work in the Rotunda Gallery Slide Registry. In this exhibition a woman's purse becomes a home, water plants echo urban architectural forms, and bathroom tile patterns are transformed using lush, improbable materials. While some of the artists depict intimate interiors, others use models to distort perspective and the experience of place. An exhibition with literary undertones, Cities & Desire offers alternative and divergent ways to look at the spaces in which we live.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, Noon - 5 PM and Saturday, 11 AM - 4 PM.

The ROTUNDA GALLERY, housed in an award-winning space designed by Smith-Miller + Hawkinson, showcases the work of Brooklyn artists. The ROTUNDA GALLERY's educational programs reach 6,000 students each year with gallery visits and in-school art making projects. Janet Riker is the Gallery Director; Meridith McNeal is Associate Director. The ROTUNDA GALLERY is a project of the not-for-profit BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture, Inc. (Nanette Rainone, President).

Located in Brooklyn Heights, just over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Gallery is also easily accessible by public transportation. It is a short walk from the 2,3; 4,5; M; N or R trains at the Court Street/Borough Hall station; or the A, C trains at High Street.