VersoFest Storytellers: Alt-Rock Legend David J, in Verse, Conversation, and Song

Event Details

Musician, writer, playwright, poet, visual artist, and alt-rock legend David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) closes VersoFest Saturday with a special storytellers event.

David will read selections from his new poetry book, Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer, accompanied by original pre-recorded music. The reading will be followed by an interview featuring celebrated author Douglas Rushkoff and will conclude with a short set of acoustic songs.

Signed copies of David’s latest volume, Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer, will be available for sale on-site.

VersoFest is The Westport Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered. This year’s festival includes a kickoff storytellers with Susanna Hoffs (March 6), a conversation with folk-rock icon Ani DiFranco (March 26), a concert performance by Wyclef Jean (March 27), a VersoFest book talk with celebrated actress/performer Gina Gershon (March 28), and much, much more.

Why You Should Come

David J is one of the seminal figures of the alt-rock movement, and this is your opportunity to see him in an intimate venue, as one of just 450 attendees in the Library’s unique Trefz Forum space.

An artist of every measure, David spearheaded the post-punk alternative music scene of the early 1980s with Bauhaus, and he followed that up with the hugely successful Love and Rockets, whose hit single, “So Alive,” was a top three U.S. single, and 11 remarkable solo albums.

He has also written a memoir, Who Killed Mister Moonlight?, which was published to critical acclaim, as well as a spoken word with music album, The Mother Tree, which is accompanied by a book of poetry, Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer.

On Saturday at VersoFest, he’ll feature all his many talents in a can’t-miss evening.

About David J

David J is a founder member of the highly influential and revered Bauhaus, which put out a string of innovative albums and singles in the 1980s, including the gothic rock anthem “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” featuring the lyrics of David J.

In 1983, David regrouped with two of his former Bauhaus bandmates, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins, to form Love and Rockets, whose immensely successful tenure includes a million-selling album and sold-out stadium tours.

In his varied career, David has collaborated with many other artists of note, including painter and poet Rene Halkett; novelists Alan Moore, Jeremy Reed, and Hubert Selby Jr.; and a vast array of musicians such as T Bone Burnett, Frank Black (Pixies), Robyn Hitchcock, Wayne Kramer (MC5), Amanda Palmer, Jane’s Addiction, The Dandy Warhols, and many more.

His new collaborative project is Night Crickets, with multi-instrumentalist Darwin Meiners and Victor DeLorenzo of the Violent Femmes.

About Douglas Rushkoff

Named one of the “world’s ten most influential intellectuals” by MIT, Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. Rushkoff coined such concepts as “viral media,” “screenagers,” and “social currency,” and his 20 books include the just-published Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires, as well as the recent Team Human, based on his podcast, and the best-sellers Present Shock, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, Program or Be Programmed, Life Inc, and Media Virus. He also made the PBS Frontline documentaries Generation Like, The Persuaders, and Merchants of Cool.

Rushkoff’s book Coercion won the Marshall McLuhan Award, and the Media Ecology Association honored him with the first Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity.

About VersoFest

VersoFest is The Westport Library’s annual music and media conference and festival where knowledge is shared and inspiration is discovered — a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge.

This year’s festival, our fifth, is shaping up to be the best yet, headlined by a February 27 kickoff concert by rising rock band The Thing, our March 6 VersoFest storytellers evening with Bangles co-founder Susanna Hoffs, the March 26 Verso Visionary conversation with folk-rock icon Ani DiFranco, and a special March 27 Friday night performance featuring Grammy Award-winning artist, producer, composer and Fugees co-founder Wyclef Jean.

VersoFest 2026 weekend guests include actress, author, and performer Gina Gershon; David J (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets); Adria Petty on the legacy of her dad, Tom Petty, and the legendary Heartbreakers; a VersoFest author talk with Claire Dederer on her book, Monster; a conversation with renowned music promoter Peter Shapiro (Capitol Theare, Brooklyn Bowl); an appearance by the African dance and music troupe Cumbe Dance; and an interactive art installation exhibited by award-winning, video-based artist Holly Danger.

Visit our VersoFest website to see the lineup and schedule for 2026 (with announcements on all guests coming throughout January and into February).

Refund Policy

Programs, prices, and dates are subject to change. Tickets are transferable. There are no refunds unless The Westport Library cancels an event. If you are unable to use your tickets, please notify us more than three hours prior to the start of the event; in that case, the cost of the tickets can be considered a tax-deductible contribution supporting the Library. In the case of a postponed or rescheduled event, the Library is not obligated to offer refunds if the event is rescheduled within 12 months of the original date. No cash refunds.