Come in, We're Open

The night was sweaty, steamy, and scantily clad in more ways than one. The event, titled Night of Desire, consisted of more than one hundred of New York’s finest literary snobs gathered in and around a mosaic-tiled pool, listening to performers share written works centered around their various interpretations of “desire.”

“My male gynecologist asks me if I smoke and scrapes out a bit of my cervix — scooped it like sherbet!” exclaimed Cat Cohen.

“Various” may have been an understatement.

We shivitzed and sipped as tales of forbidden workplace eroticism, drug addiction, and aforementioned fan fictions involving certain US senators echoed through the marble room.

“Mistress of Ceremonies” aka Camille Sojit Pejcha, author of Pleasure-Seeking, a multichannel platform exploring desire, sex, and modern culture, teamed up with SUBSTACK to host the event. “We wanted to push people out of their comfort zones and throw an event that wasn’t like any literary salon they’d been to before. Not a stuffy bookstore reading, but a swimsuit-clad crowd sipping Russian vodka, mingling in the sauna, and splashing around in the pool between readings” she explained.  

And push us out of our comfort zones, they did. But once the initial shock of seeing colleagues and industry associates in swimwear wore off, the evening ended up being incredibly intimate, yet casual, and I have to admit, downright fun. Once we abused the open bar and cycled through the sauna, steam room and ice bath enough times to need another drink we listened to performers including Camille Sojit Pejcha, Brontez Purnell, Cat Cohen, J Wortham, Jaboukie, Liara Roux, Mary H.K. Choi, Old Jewish Men, and Sherry Ning.

(PICTURED Camille Sojit Pejcha)

It would be an understatement to say that my prior exposure to bathhouses is limited: a couple of episodes of The Sopranos, some PG history lessons on ancient Rome, and some less PG stories from a gay friend about the West Village Equinox steam room. But even then, I shouldn’t have been surprised by the naturalness of the space. Transitioning from the social hubs of ancient Rome to shady New York mob deals, then to queer cruising, and now to an experimental literary salon feels like the most natural evolution—a culmination of a bathhouse's history and a reinvention of its taboos.

A place of great vulnerability but, at the same time, incredibly tranquil and ultimately human, the theme of the night could not have been more fitting for the setting.  “Desire drives everything" Camille went on, "from what we want in bed to how we see ourselves, the clothes we buy, and the people we spend time with. It’s a cultural force in and of itself, and we should take it seriously—but not too seriously.”

Intermixed between tie dyed speedos and wet hair, was a night of boozing, smooshing, steaming, icing, swimming, laughing, and crying. I send my sincerest apologies to the 300 people on the waitlist—it was an unforgettable evening that can’t be captured in words, the best Tuesday night I've had in New York City, and without a doubt the hardest thing I've had to describe to the office the next morning.