Stronger Together: World AIDS Day Celebration
Dec
1
12:00 PM12:00

Stronger Together: World AIDS Day Celebration

Join us on Sunday, December 1, for the 21st Annual Stronger Together: World AIDS Day Celebration. Gather in community and remembrance of those lost to AIDS and celebrate how far we’ve come while looking to a future that’s stronger than HIV.

Expect speakers, refreshments, a silent auction, A community vigil, and a procession through the AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway directly following the event.

Time: 12pm-3pm

Venue: The Century Ballroom, 915 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122

Suggested minimum donation: $150

Please save the date and reserve your tickets now!

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Other People's Poems ft. Quenton Baker, Jane Wong, Yanyi
Dec
7
7:00 PM19:00

Other People's Poems ft. Quenton Baker, Jane Wong, Yanyi

New poetry open mic and reading series!

Join us at the store at 7pm on Saturday, October 26, 2024 for Other People’s Poems, featuring Quenton Baker, Jane Wong, and Yanyi.

Other People’s Poems is a poetry series centered on readers of other people’s poems. Sometimes these readers are writers too, but often they are also lovers of poetry who can’t get enough of those lines that evoke the sense of the exclamation O!. They are no-I’m-not-a-poets who secretly scribble their innermost thoughts in the most delicate of deckled journals. This series features these readers and the poems they love.

This series, hosted at Open Books, will consist of an Opening Reading track, in which any reader can sign up to 5 minutes of someone else’s poems, followed by the Round Robin track, in which the two hosts, Ally Ang and Cody Stetzel, invite 3-4 writers to select and read poems from one of the other readers or their favorite poets for 10-15 minutes.

At Other People's Poems events, there are low lights and snacks and always a reason to leave one’s winter depression pit, to warm the freeze one has acquired in many cities, and a reason to come together for the thing we love, which is reading, and poetry, and a hot cup of meaning.

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Other People's Poems ft. Gabrielle Bates, Rachel Edelman, Luther Hughes
Oct
26
7:00 PM19:00

Other People's Poems ft. Gabrielle Bates, Rachel Edelman, Luther Hughes

New poetry open mic and reading series!

Join us at the store at 7pm on Saturday, October 26, 2024 for the inaugural event, featuring Rachel Edelman, Gabrielle Bates, and Luther Hughes.

Other People’s Poems is a poetry series centered on readers of other people’s poems. Sometimes these readers are writers too, but often they are also lovers of poetry who can’t get enough of those lines that evoke the sense of the exclamation O!. They are no-I’m-not-a-poets who secretly scribble their innermost thoughts in the most delicate of deckled journals. This series features these readers and the poems they love.

This series, hosted at Open Books, will consist of an Opening Reading track, in which any reader can sign up to 5 minutes of someone else’s poems, followed by the Round Robin track, in which the two hosts, Ally Ang and Cody Stetzel, invite 3-4 writers to select and read poems from one of the other readers or their favorite poets for 10-15 minutes.

At Other People's Poems events, there are low lights and snacks and always a reason to leave one’s winter depression pit, to warm the freeze one has acquired in many cities, and a reason to come together for the thing we love, which is reading, and poetry, and a hot cup of meaning.

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[#AALF2024] A Bicoastal Trans Kinship Reading
Sep
18
5:00 PM17:00

[#AALF2024] A Bicoastal Trans Kinship Reading

Join Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Reorienting Reads to share space for a luminous bicoastal evening of connection and kinship, uplifting our trans, intersex, non-binary, and gender expansive communities. We’ll be joined in person and through the ether by Ally Ang, Fatimah Asghar, Wo Chan, Persimmon Tobing, Pauline Park, Såhi Velasco, and Yanyi.

📍 Common Area Maintenance
2125 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98121

📍Asian American Writers’ Workshop

112 W 27th St #600, New York, NY 10001

This event is free with RSVP and will be simultaneously live streamed.

RSVP HERE!

For more information about the 2024 Asian American Literature Festival, visit www.asianamericanliteraturefestival.org

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Katie Prince with Ally Ang at Elliott Bay Book Company
Sep
4
7:00 PM19:00

Katie Prince with Ally Ang at Elliott Bay Book Company

Local poet Katie Prince reads from her debut poetry collection alongside fellow poet Ally Ang at Elliott Bay Book Company.

There is an absence at the heart of Katie Prince’s debut collection, Tell This to the Universe, and an obsessive search to find what’s missing. Like moons around faraway planets, the poems orbit the strange and brutal landscapes of longing, alienation, and grief as they move through physics to philosophy, linguistics to mathematics, fairy tales to science fiction. It could be said that this book is trying to find god—to name it, to hurt it or hold it, to make desperate demands of it—but it’s just as true to say it’s looking for a home, a family, an answer to a question it still doesn’t know how to ask.

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Julian Randall with Ally Ang: Past, Present, and Prevail
May
16
7:30 PM19:30

Julian Randall with Ally Ang: Past, Present, and Prevail

In his latest release and nonfiction debut, The Dead Don’t Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Shit, New York Times bestselling author Julian Randall braids past with present as he retraces the life of his grandfather, a white-passing patriarch driven from a town in Mississippi, all the way to Randall’s own internal battles with depression and how he ultimately emerged from its depths.

Randall weaves pop culture into his pages, exploring grief, family, emotional health, and the American way with a medley of media ranging from Into the Spiderverse and Jordan Peele movies to BoJack Horseman and the music of Odd Future.

Seattle writer Ally Ang joins Randall in conversation for an evening of laughter, tears, and everything in-between.

Date: Thursday, May 16

Time: 7:30 pm PDT

Cost: $5 – $25 Sliding Scale

Purchase tickets here.

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Apr
26
7:00 PM19:00

Reading with Ally Ang & Summer Farah at Open Books

Join us on Friday, April 26, 2024 at 7pm for a reading featuring poets Ally Ang and Summer Farah! This will be a fabulous event celebrating the recent publication of Farah's chapbook I could die today and live again (Game Over Books, 2024).

Please note that masking is required during the event.

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet and editor based in Seattle. They are a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts fellow and MacDowell fellow, and their debut poetry collection, Let the Moon Wobble, is forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2025. Find them at allysonang.com or on Twitter and Instagram @TheOceanIsGay.

Summer Farah is a Palestinian American writer from California. The author of the chapbook I could die today and live again (Game Over Books, 2024), she organizes with the Radius of Arab American Writers and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. She is calling on you to recommit yourself to the liberation of the Palestinian people each day.

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Gretchen Yanover Holding/Movement Album Release Concert
Mar
24
2:00 PM14:00

Gretchen Yanover Holding/Movement Album Release Concert

  • Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Holding / Movement album release concert! Arrive early to purchase a CD, which will include a booklet of poetry from Seattle poets whose work is paired with Gretchen's compositions. The program will include dance, as well as readings by poets involved with the project. Pay-what-you-can at the door.

PROGRAM:
Through Chenoa's Eyes
Bisoux
"Such Things Require Tenderness" (poetry of Luther Hughes)
"& when we unmake the making" (poetry of Abi Pollokoff)
"in your wings, querido" (poetry of Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs)
"Shhh. We are walking on Lushootseed words" (poetry of Jourdan Imani Keith)
"the coinciding" (poetry of Karin de Weille)
Poetry reading by Ally Ang
Ara (with dance by Anastasia & Willow)
Poetry reading by Luther Hughes Taken From Us (part one)
Taken From Us (part two)
"to solve for heart" (poetry of Shin Yu Pai)
"this four-walled pasture" (poetry of Luther Hughes)
"At the end of reason, I am locked in place" (poetry of Quenton Baker)
"i have spread my roots across borders/and i am growing still" (poetry of Ally Ang)
Poetry reading by Raúl Sánchez
"If brown angels could fly" (poetry of Raúl Sánchez)

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Jane Wong PNBA Celebration Reading
Mar
15
7:00 PM19:00

Jane Wong PNBA Celebration Reading

Join us to celebrate Jane Wong's recent Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award for her memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City. Jane will appear onstage to accept the award and discuss the book. Ally Ang, Quenton Baker, and c.r. glasgow will join Jane onstage.

In the late 1980s on the Jersey shore, Jane Wong watches her mother shake ants from an MSG bin behind the family’s Chinese restaurant. She is a hungry daughter frying crab rangoon for lunch, a child sneaking naps on bags of rice, a playful sister scheming to trap her brother in the freezer before he traps her first. Jane is part of a family staking their claim to the American dream, even as this dream crumbles. Beneath Atlantic City’s promise lies her father’s gambling addiction, an addiction that causes him to disappear for days and ultimately leads to the loss of the restaurant.

In her debut memoir, Jane Wong tells a new story about Atlantic City, one that resists a single identity, a single story as she writes about making do with what you have—and what you don’t. What does it mean, she asks, to be both tender and angry? What is strength without vulnerability—and humor? Filled with beauty found in unexpected places, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City is a resounding love song of the Asian American working class, a portrait of how we become who we are, and a story of lyric wisdom to hold and to share.

Jane Wong is the author of the poetry collections How to Not Be Afraid of Everything and Overpour and the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City. An associate professor of creative writing at Western Washington University, she grew up in New Jersey and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet & editor based in Seattle. They have received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and MacDowell, and their debut poetry collection, Let the Moon Wobble, is forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2025. Ally unequivocally supports the liberation of all colonized and oppressed peoples, from Palestine to Sudan to Congo to Haiti to Puerto Rico to Hawai'i to West Papua to Turtle Island and beyond, and they urge you to do everything in your power to resist the normalization of genocide and halt the machinery of empire.

Quenton Baker is a poet, educator, and Cave Canem fellow. Their current focus is black interiority and the afterlife of slavery. Their work has appeared in The Offing, Jubilat, Prairie Schooner, The Rumpus and elsewhere. They are a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and the recipient of the 2018 Arts Innovator Award from Artist Trust. They were a 2019 Robert Rauschenberg Artist in Residence and a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. They are the author of we pilot the blood (The 3rd Thing, 2021) and ballast (Haymarket Books, 2023).

c.r. glasgow (doc) is a Queer, first-gen Caribbean-American somatic psychologist, interdisciplinary healing artist, Fool, and public speaker. c’s work has been supported by fellowships through UCross, VONA, The Watering Hole, Hurston/Wright, and Anaphora Arts. The work is committed to the interiority and sonics of Black Queer womanhood, nostalgia, death/rebirth, non-duality, and the cosmos/portals. Their chapbook the Devils that raised Us was longlisted by Frontier Poetry and had a 2023 Best of the Net nomination in poetry. c’s work is forthcoming in Obsidian, Black Lawrence Press, and Lion’s Roar. c can be found mimicking sounds, playing steel pan, and finding healthier versions of 80s corner store snacks.

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Open Mouth Presents: A Reading with Czaerra Galicinao Ucol
Jan
14
5:00 PM17:00

Open Mouth Presents: A Reading with Czaerra Galicinao Ucol

Join us for a reading by featured poet Czaerra Galicinao Ucol. The reading will be preceded by a round of introductory readings by Ally Ang, Hannah J. Russell, Sylvia Foster, and Zara Jamshed.

ACCESS NOTES: The reading will take place virtually via Zoom with Zoom and Otter.ai auto captions. An ASL interpreter will be present. Access copies of poems will be made available via Google Docs. Our Access Statement will be read before we begin.

Register here.

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TEAM BUILDING | West Coast Launch
Aug
11
6:00 PM18:00

TEAM BUILDING | West Coast Launch

Join us for the West Coast launch of Team Building: A Memoir about Family and the Fight for Workers’ Rights by Ben Gwin on August 11th at 6pm at the Georgetown Mini Mart Park (6525 Ellis Ave S., Seattle) with readings by Ally Ang, Vincent Rendoni, and Michael Schmeltzer.

Ben Gwin is the author of the novel, Clean Time: The True Story of Ronald Reagan Middleton (Burrow Press, 2018). His fiction and essays have appeared in the Normal School, Lit Hub, the Rumpus, and other venues. He is the editor of The Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guidebook (Belt). He lives in Pittsburgh with his daughter.

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet & editor from Seattle. Their work has appeared in The Rumpus, Muzzle Magazine, ANMLY, and elsewhere. Ally has received fellowships & support from the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, and Artist Trust. Their debut poetry collection, Let the Moon Wobble, is forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2025. Find them at allysonang.com or on Twitter and Instagram @TheOceanIsGay.

Vincent Antonio Rendoni is the author of A Grito Contest in the Afterlife, which was the winner of the 2022 Catamaran Poetry Prize for West Coast Poets as selected by Dorianne Laux. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions multiple times and has appeared/will appear in Prairie Schooner, The Sycamore Review, The Vestal Review, The Texas Review, and So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library.

Michael Schmeltzer is a biracial author originally from Japan. He currently lives in Seattle where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Floating Bridge Press. His latest poetry book, Empire of Surrender, was the winner of the 2021 Wandering Aengus Book Award. Along with Meghan McClure, he is the co-author of the nonfiction book A Single Throat Opens, a lyric exploration of addiction and family. His debut full-length Blood Song was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in Poetry, the Julie Suk Award, and the Coil Book Award. 

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Life After the MFA
May
24
6:00 PM18:00

Life After the MFA

Please join us for “Life After the MFA,” a conversation about literary and artistic pathways through and beyond the Master of Fine Arts. Bringing together alumni from the UW Seattle MFA in Creative Writing and the UWB MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics, this event is an opportunity to learn more about Ph.D. programs; careers in education, the arts, and publishing; and the process of sustaining creative community. Featured panelists include Ally Ang, Emma Aylor, Emma Carson, Brent Michael Cox, Rasheena Fountain, and Liezel Moraleja Hackett.

Click here for more information.

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b e t w e e n  s p a c e s
Mar
10
7:00 PM19:00

b e t w e e n s p a c e s

b e t w e e n s p a c e s: an AWP offsite reading hosted by University of Washington Bothell MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics, Kelsey Street Press, Essay Press, and Bellingham Review.

Featured readers: Ally Ang, Kiran Bath, Andrea Abi-Karam, Steven Dunn, Valerie Hsiung, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Dennis James Sweeney, and Keith S. Wilson.

March 10th, 2023 7-9pm at Common Area Maintenance (2125 2nd Avenue, Seattle)

Register here

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Dreamyard Rad(ical) Poetry Offsite Reading
Mar
9
6:00 PM18:00

Dreamyard Rad(ical) Poetry Offsite Reading

Dreamyard Rad(ical) Poetry Offsite Reading 2023
Seattle Edition

Hosted by Ellen Hagan & Andy Powell

Featuring Ally Ang, Carlina Duan, Will Harris, Czaerra Ucol, Lisa Ascalon, Natalia Torres, Winston T., Marina Hope Wilson, Tamara Al-Qaisi-Coleman

Pratt Fine Arts Center
Thursday 3/9 at 6pm in the wood shop

Masks required!

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Nov
5
2:00 PM14:00

Jack Straw Writers' Showcase at Seattle Public Library

  • Seattle Public Library Central Branch (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

REGISTER HERE

PROGRAM: The event should run about 90 minutes start-to-finish including author readings, and possible audience Q&A. Book signing follows.

PLATFORM: This event will take place in person at Central Library and will be streamed live on Zoom Webinar at 2pm PT.

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

Presenters may include: Curator Michael Schmeltzer, Helen Anderson, Ally Ang, Carrie Beyer, Julie Feng, Jessica Gigot, Danielle Hayden, Erin Langner, Jory Mickelson, Emily Parzybok, Vincent Rendoni, Ruth Schemmel, and Katharine Strange.

The event is presented in partnership with Jack Straw Cultural Center. This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times. This event will be recorded, captioned and then posted on SPL's YouTube channel after the event.

COVID PROTOCOLS:
* Proof of vaccination is required for speakers and vendors who will be on site for more than 15 minutes.
* Masks are currently requested but not required for patrons, speakers, or vendors.
* No social distancing is required of patrons, speakers, or vendors.
* All guidelines are subject to change.

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Virtual "It's About Time" Writers' Reading Series
Oct
13
6:00 PM18:00

Virtual "It's About Time" Writers' Reading Series

Registration required.
Click here to register.

The Ballard Branch welcomes the 395th meeting of the It's About Time Writers' Reading Series, featuring author readings and open mics. Registration required.

Description: This month’s online presentation welcomes Jack Straw 2022 Writers Ally Ang, Katharine Strange, and Danielle Hayden.

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet living on occupied Duwamish and Coast Salish lands known as Seattle. Ally’s work has appeared in "Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color", The Journal, Foglifter, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere, and their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Bettering American Poetry. They are the co-editor of an anthology of Southeast Asian art and writing titled "All the Oils: On Friendship, Sex, and Other Warmths" (Ginger Bug Press 2021) and they are an editor for Game Over Books. Ally received their MFA from the University of Washington.

Katharine Strange specializes in questioning received wisdom with a wink and a smirk. She writes personal essays, short stories, novels, and now, memoir! Her work has appeared in The Seattle Times, The Stranger, OC87 Diaries, Literary Yard, ScaryMommy, and anthology "The Pandemic Midlife Crisis: Gen X Women on the Brink." She was a 2021 Mainstage Storyteller for The Moth. Formerly she wrote a column for Fundamentally Free, a blog for Exvangelicals and heretics. She lives in south Seattle with her family and is represented by Savannah Brooks of Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency. As a rule, she never turns down champagne.

Danielle Hayden is a writer from Detroit. Her work has appeared in Seattle magazine, The Dillydoun Review, The Cleveland Review of Books, Ampersand, SELF, and elsewhere. Outside of writing, she finds additional ways to fill her life with words: as a polyglot with an insatiable appetite for learning languages, as an amateur calligrapher, and recently as creator of the website 3pistolary.com, which encourages people to send letters. Some of her volunteer work includes assisting language preservation-based nonprofits such as Our Golden Hour and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. Danielle also volunteers as a court-appointed child advocate and dabbles in photography.

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Jack Straw Writers Group Reading at Village Books
Oct
1
4:00 PM16:00

Jack Straw Writers Group Reading at Village Books

The Jack Straw Writers are coming back for a group reading of their latest anthology. Don't miss it!

About this event

We are still operating at a limited capacity for our events so we recommend pre-registering to reserve your spot.

This reading, hosted by Jack Straw Writers Program Curator Michael Schmeltzer, includes seven of the twelve writers featured in the 2022 Jack Straw Writers Anthology. The Anthology includes the work of this year’s Jack Straw Writers, selected by program curator Michael Schmeltzer.

About the writers

2022 Jack Straw Writers Program Curator Michael Schmeltzer is a biracial author originally from Japan. He currently lives in Seattle where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Floating Bridge Press. His poetry book Empire of Surrender (2022) is the winner of the 2021 Wandering Aengus Book Award. Along with Meghan McClure, he is the co-author of the nonfiction book A Single Throat Opens, a lyric exploration of addiction and family. His debut full-length Blood Song was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in Poetry, the Julie Suk Award, and the Coil Book Award. His honors include a 2019 Jack Straw Fellowship, the Gulf Stream Award for Poetry, and Blue Earth Review’s Flash Fiction Prize. He has been a finalist for the Four Way Books Intro and Levis Prizes, the Zone 3 Press First Book Prize, the John Ciardi Prize for Poetry from BkMk Press, the OSU Press/The Journal Award in Poetry, and most recently the Jake Adam York Prize.

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet living on occupied Duwamish and Coast Salish lands known as Seattle. Ally’s work has appeared in Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color, The Journal, Foglifter, Palette Poetry, and elsewhere, and their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Bettering American Poetry. They are the co-editor of an anthology of Southeast Asian art and writing titled All the Oils: On Friendship, Sex, and Other Warmths (Ginger Bug Press 2021) and they are an editor for Game Over Books. Ally received their MFA from the University of Washington.

Jessica Gigot is a poet and farmer. Her second book of poems, Feeding Hour (Wandering Aengus Press, 2020), won a Nautilus Award and was a finalist for the 2021 Washington State Book Award. Jessica’s writing and reviews appear in several publications, such as Orion, Taproot, Terrain.org, Gastronomica, and Poetry Northwest. She is currently a poetry editor for The Hopper. Her memoir, A Little Bit of Land, will be published by Oregon State University Press in 2022.

Erin Langner is an essayist whose work focuses on art, architecture and identity. She is a regular contributor to Hyperallergic and METROPOLIS magazines. Her writing has also appeared or is forthcoming in december, The Offing, The Normal School, Hobart, The Stranger, and ARCADE. She lives in Seattle and works on exhibitions and publications at the Frye Art Museum. Her debut collection, Souvenirs from Paradise, will be published by Zone 3 Press in 2022.

Jory Mickelson (they/them) is a queer, non-binary writer who was raised by two visual artists. They received their BA in English from Western Washington University and their MFA in poetry from the University of Idaho. Their work can be found in Court Green, Painted Bride Quarterly, Jubilat, Sixth Finch, Ninth Letter, Diode, and The Rumpus. They are currently working on poems that explore the intersection of visual art, queerness, erasure, gender, and history. Their first book, Wilderness//Kingdom (2019) was the inaugural winner of Floating Bridge Press’ Evergreen Award Tour and the 2020 High Plains Book Award winner in poetry. They received fellowships from the Port Townsend Writers Conference, Lambda Literary Foundation, Winter Tangerine, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico.

Emily Parzybok is a writer, political consultant and teacher from Seattle. She serves as the Executive Director of Balance Our Tax Code advocating for progressive solutions to balance the tax code at the state legislature and on the ballot. She is a writer and an MFA candidate at New York University’s low residency program. Her work has been published in Poetry Northwest, The Syndrome Mag and Points in Case. She has work forthcoming in the Uncertain Girls, Uncertain Times anthology, a collection of inspiration and encouragement for young women. Above all else, she is a dedicated reader who can often be found in bed with her three cats, a cup of breakfast tea and a book. You can write with her at A Very Important Meeting!

Vincent Antonio Rendoni (he / him / his) is a Seattle-based poet and writer. He is the winner of Blue Earth Review’s 2021 Annual Flash Fiction Contest. He is a contributor to What They Leave Behind: A Latinx Anthology. His work has appeared / will be appearing in the Texas Review, Juked, Fiction Southeast, Sky Island Journal, Door is a Jar, and more. He received his BA from Western Washington University and MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University. He has previously taught poetry and fiction in the Allegheny County Jail as part of the Words Without Walls program in Pittsburgh, PA. His work focuses on the intersection of family, truth, death, and the mixed-race/Latinx experience.

Ruth Schemmel’s short fiction has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Fiction, and New Orleans Review, among other places. She has been a finalist in Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open and a fifth-place overall winner in the NYC Midnight Short Fiction Challenge. A former Peace Corps volunteer, she works as a teacher of high school English language learners in the greater Seattle area, where she lives with her family.

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Open Mouth Presents: A Reading with Chen Chen
Sep
11
5:00 PM17:00

Open Mouth Presents: A Reading with Chen Chen

A Reading with Chen Chen

by The Open Mouth Literary Center

Sun, September 11, 2022

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM CDT

Online event

A virtual reading with featured poet Chen Chen.

About this event

Join us for a reading by featured poet Chen Chen. The reading will be preceded by a round of introductory readings by members of our poetry community.

SUPPORT OUR WORK: Suggested donation of $5 or more.

Every donation to Open Mouth Literary Center supports our programming, ASL interpreters, featured poets, and increasing accessibility. The only way we can keep doing this is with our community’s support!

You can help sustain this work by signing up to give regularly through our Patreon or make a one-time donation at our PayPal, Venmo (@omliterary), or CashApp ($openmouthliterary).

Thank you for helping ensure that we can offer programs accessible to everyone.

ACCESS NOTES: The reading will take place virtually via Zoom with Zoom and Otter.ai auto captions. An ASL interpreter will be present. Access copies of poems will be made available via Google Docs. Our Access Statement will be read before we begin.

Recommended for attendees 16 years and above.

FEATURED READER:

Chen Chen is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA Editions, 2022) and the forthcoming book of essays, In Cahoots with the Rabbit God (Noemi Press, 2023). His debut book of poems, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Thom Gunn Award, among other honors. He teaches at Brandeis University.

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Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks
Sep
1
4:30 PM16:30

Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks

BROOKLYN POETS STAFF PICKS

Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks is a virtual-only quarterly reading series curated by the poets who assist with our web, events and office work. Each reading features a lineup of six poets nominated by different staff members as among the most essential new voices today. The series focuses on writers yet to publish a full-length collection of poetry, with an emphasis on Brooklyn-based poets and those from underrepresented communities. All readings are free and open to the public.

Thursday, Sept 1, 7:30 PM (ET)

Gbenga Adesina, Ally Ang, Jari Bradley, Geramee Hensley, Patrycja Humienik and Jade Yeung

*Click here to register on Zoom*

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Jack Straw Reading Series
May
6
7:00 PM19:00

Jack Straw Reading Series

Three readings featuring the 2022 Jack Straw Writing Fellows, hosted by 2022 Writers Program Curator Michael Schmeltzer

Friday, May 6, 7pm: Ally Ang, Katharine Strange, Jory Mickelson, and Danielle Hayden

Friday, May 13, 7pm: Julie Feng, Helen Anderson, Jessica Gigot, and Emily Parzybok

Friday, May 20, 7pm: Vincent Rendoni, Erin Langner, Carrie Beyer, and Ruth Schemmel

Limited in-person capacity: Email jsp@jackstraw.org to register for one or more readings in the studio at Jack Straw Cultural Center, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE.

Free livestreams: Visit Jack Straw on Facebook or YouTube to see these readings live.

The Jack Straw Reading Series continues for the 26th year, with a series of readings featuring new poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from the 2022 Jack Straw Writers. Poet and program curator Michael Schmeltzer will host three readings with the writers, in person in the studio and streamed live via Jack Straw Cultural Center on Facebook and YouTube. Each reading video will be available afterward on Facebook and YouTube.

Admission to each reading is a $10 suggested donation, and comes with a gift of the 2022 Jack Straw Writers Anthology, also available from our friends at Open Books. The live streams are free.

Visit our web site for more information on the Jack Straw Writers Program and the 2022 Jack Straw Writers.

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Out Loud: A Very Queer Open Mic ft. Ally Ang
Jan
28
5:00 PM17:00

Out Loud: A Very Queer Open Mic ft. Ally Ang

Out Loud- A Very Queer Open Mic - On Line!!!

Come share your talents with the community! Get dressed up and come show off. Dance, sing, read poetry, tell us a story, or share your stand up. Let us adore you, applaud you and have a good time. It's been a hard and scary year so let's enjoy the beauty our community has to offer.

This is a safe space for BIPOC & LGBTQ folks but allies and accomplices are welcome!

This event will be virtual!

https://fb.me/e/37kb9QjzJ

Sign up for the Open Mic via LinkTree

https://linktr.ee/cathartic.care

Open Mic starts at 8pm EST

The Feature follows the Open Mic

***January's Feature is Ally Ang ***

Admission is donation based and pay what you can and you can donate via gofundme in the ticket section!

All donations go towards Native and BIPOC Creatives!

Zoom Link to be released day of!

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Open Mouth Presents: A Reading with Noor Hindi
Nov
14
5:00 PM17:00

Open Mouth Presents: A Reading with Noor Hindi

Join us on Sunday, November 14, 2021 at 7:00pm Central for readings by featured poet Noor Hindi. The reading will be preceded by a round of introductory readings by Cobris and Deanna Starshine from Ozark Poets and Writers' Collective; Robin Bruce and S Langland from the University of Arkansas MFA in Creative Writing; as well as Ally Ang, Ivana Aponte, Alexis Collazo, Sophia Ordaz, Perry Rickard, and Karla Hernandez Torrijos.

ACCESS NOTES: The reading will take place virtually via Zoom with Zoom auto captions, and an ASL interpreter will be present. Access copies of all poems will be provided via Google Docs.

Register for the virtual reading by clicking on the "Registration" button on the Eventbrite page, donating any amount you can, and entering the required fields. You will receive an email with the Zoom information.

Suggested donation of $5.

Every donation to Open Mouth Literary Center supports our programming, ASL interpreters, and feature poets. Become a monthly patron on Patreon or make a one-time donation at our PayPal or to our GoFundMe campaign.

Sponsors for this program include our Open Mouth supporters on Patreon and the ARt Connect program. The ARt Connect program is generously supported by the Walmart Foundation and implemented by Mid-America Arts Alliance in partnership with the Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE) of the Northwest Arkansas Council. Additional support for Mid-America Arts Alliance is from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Recommended for attendees 16 years and above.

FEATURED READER:

Noor Hindi (she/her) is a Palestinian-American poet and reporter. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in POETRYHobart and Jubilat. Her essays have appeared or are forthcoming in American Poetry ReviewLiterary Hub, and Adroit Journal. Her debut collection of poems, Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow. is forthcoming from Haymarket Books (2022). Visit her website at noorhindi.com. Follow her on Twitter @MyNrhindi.

EVENT HEADER IMAGE DESCRIPTION:

Left Side: The poet visible from the shoulder up. Wearing a black shirt and a pride mask. Curly dark brown hair. The photo is surrounded by a white border.

Right side: The words "Open Mouth Presents Noor Hindi November 14, 2021" in bold black superimposed over a light blue background.

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Pre-order your copy of All the Oils here: https://www.gingerbug.press/shop/all-the-oils-pre-order

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Featuring...
Ricky Steece (music) (Tampa, Florida)
https://rickysteece.bandcamp.com/album/ricky-steece

His Hem (Tampa, Florida)
https://hishem.bandcamp.com/releases

With local sensations...
Ally Ang!
Bedbug!

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Ideas Not Theories
Blackbear Extraordinaire
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Golden
Black Sheep Ensemble
Rixy Fz
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Craft and Cause fair featuring:
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Wheelchair Accessible, Gender Neutral Restroom Available, All Ages. Please refrain from wearing scented products or smoking within 200 feet of the building in order to accommodate our fragrance-free fam!

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