Tag Archives: Columbus Ohio

Photos: Plugged In at the Skylab

          The Skylab Gallery is an alternative artspace at a loft in downtown Columbus, Ohio. One room remains bare–great for art exhibitions and performance art. The other room with its six huge windows and cushy sofas has the feel of a bohemian coffee shop–poetry reading heaven.
          The evening I was there featured an electrifying performance by Adam Rose of Antibody Corporation, a Chicago dance troupe, as well poetry readings (also juiced) by John M. Bennett, Wendy Lee Spacek, and myself. Many thanks to poet James Payne for inviting me.

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Camille Martin

The Taco Trucks of Columbus, Ohio

          After reading at Detroit’s Woodward Line, I headed for Columbus, Ohio, where I read at the fabulous Skylab Gallery.
          I begin the account of my visit to Columbus with the humble yet beloved taco trucks that dot the city, dispensing Mexican street food: burritos, tacos, and–my favourite–chicken tamales in corn husks. There were two such trucks within a block of the apartment where I was staying. I had no idea that Columbus had a substantial Mexican population, almost 6% according to the most recent census. It’s the Mexican capital of Ohio.
          This wasn’t my first encounter with the taco truck during a poetry tour. When I read in Chicago a few months ago, I happened to be at the right place at the right time when the Tamale Spaceship landed in the middle of downtown:

A queue quickly formed, and trusting the locals to know a good thing, I followed suit. It was worth it. The hot tamales warded away the chill Chicago wind.
          Soon after I arrived in Columbus, Ohio, I discovered that I was surrounded by my favourite comfort food. I bundled up against the cold and walked a couple hundred feet over to Junior’s Tacos:

Three chicken tamales, accompanied by hot sauce and Robert Majzels’ *The Humbug Diet*. Heaven.

          Now I’m back in Toronto, on the lookout for taco trucks.


Camille Martin