Edwin Decker is a freelance writer and performance artist residing in San Diego. He regularly publishes articles in various newspapers and magazines in San Diego and around the country.
His work has appeared in, to name a few, The San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Reader, Modern Drunkard Magazine, Seattle Stranger, Tucson Weekly, Creative Loafing (in Atlanta), Cleveland Scene and his mothership magazine San Diego CityBeat.
Though a freelancer, it is in CityBeat where his column Sordid Tales runs biweekly. Sordid Tales is a satiric look at the world from the perspective of a veteran bartender. It is often irreverent, seedy, controversial and, of course, sordid.
He has performed spoken word in venues around the country and extensively in San Diego county including the California Center for the Arts in Escondido and the Museum of the Living Artist in Balboa Park.
His book Barzilla and Other Psalms was nominated for a 2007 San Diego Book Award and his performance piece, “Questioning Innocence is Questionable,” won the San Diego Visual Arts Network multi-genre Performance Slam grand prize.
Aside from writing, he is also an event planner and produces and/or operates several major, southern California productions including the Southern California Writer’s Conference, San Diego Music Awards, San Diego IndieFest, The North by North Park Music Conference and the Ultimate Music Challenge.
Last but not least, Decker is bartender, having slung drinks in several San Diego’s premier live music clubs including the now defunct Bacchanal, 4th and B, Buffalo Joe’s, Club 710 (formerly Blind Melon’s) and Winston’s Beach club where he served as General Manager before being abruptly fired by an alcoholic, semi-insane, though lovable boss.
Decker grew up in Monroe, New York, a small suburbia about 50 miles northeast of Manhattan. His father (retired) was a grounds-keeper for the New York School for the Deaf. His mother (also retired) was an elementary school teacher and union President for the Cornwall school system in upstate New York. Decker is married with no children thanks to the wonders of birth control and a like-minded wife who would rather have her eyeballs sandblasted than get pregnant.
Another smart New York spoken word artist? I guess we need to be friends. I was on the Slam Poetry team in 2002. We must know a lot of the same people. Jimmy Jazz and Michael Klam were on the team with me that year. You must know them. I was the only one with money and bought airplane tickets and paid for the hotel for some of my poorer team mates. I guess having a lawyer around is good for something. I look forward to meeting you at the event at Ducky Waddle’s on the 28th.