Moonstone Arts Center

Live Poetry: POETRY FOR DUMMIES, Second Edition
2026-06-03 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Live Poetry: Poetry for Dummies with John Timpane & more
Wednesday, June 3rd @ 7pm ET
Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia 19107

Poetry for Dummies, Second Edition, has dropped. It’s not for dummies; it’s for the same everyone poetry is for! John, former editor/writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer and a longtime face in the Philly poetry crowd, celebrates the second edition of a book he first wrote in 2000. How did he get to write two editions of Poetry for Dummies separated by 26 years? He’ll tell the wacky tale. And exactly how has the poetry world changed in between? That’s a great story, too. PFD2 takes readers on a tour of * poetry itself – * reading and interpretation – * the 5500-year history of the art – * the craft of writing poetry, both formal and open-form, along with exercises and examples of revision; and * the communication-age poetry world, including online communities, reading groups, beta-readers, open-mics, slams, and publication. We also learn the ways of the Entrepreneurial Poet (if you want to be one).
We’ll also have readings by Philly-area poets featured in PFD2, including:
Charles Carr, Mark Donowsky, Valerie Fox, Ernest Hilbert, Lynn Levin, Joanne Leva, Donald Riggs, and more! And there will be books on sale.
Come celebrate Poetry for Dummies, the book Lawrence Ferlinghetti called “wonderful” because it “demystifies poetry for all.”
Your host: John Timpane

S(he) 4
2026-06-06 13:00 - 16:00 | The Rotunda, 14014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Voices of Women, Trans, & Nonbinary Writers
Coedited by Cassendre Xavier and Tom Daubert
When we launched the first S/He Speaks anthology in 2023, we noted that anyone likely to read it would already be well aware of the ongoing ”Cold War” in the United States targeting the rights of women and trans people. And, as we predicted, that conflict not only rages on, but has greatly worsened in strength and scope. This fourth edition of S/He speaks comes as the path to full and fair acceptance and equality feels far steeper than it did three years ago. In our view, that makes the expressions of selfhood contained in these writings all the more important and inspiring.

Live Broadcast: Philly Loves Poetry Interview and Readings Series Presents Diane Sahms
2026-06-09 18:30 - 21:30 | Moonstone Arts Center
Diane Sahms is the author of nine poetry collections, most recently,– of an octopus: an archite|x| tural awareness of words. She was awarded first place in Judith Stark’s Poetry Contest; Partisan Press’s Working People’s Poetry Contest; and recieved a poetry grant from AEVentures Foundation. Published in North American Review, Northern Virginia Review, Brushfire Literature & Arts Journal, Valley Voices, Sequestrum Literary Journal, The New Verse News, Ranger Magazine, Amsterdam Review & elsewhere. She’s Poetry Editor at North & Oxford. Charles S. Carr, Host

Live Poetry: Dan Kraines, Amy Saul-Zerby, & Rocky Wilson
2026-06-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Live Poetry: Dan Kraines, Amy Saul-Zerby & Rocky Wilson
Wednesday, June 10th @ 7pm
Live at Fergies Pub
Dan Kraines is a queer poet of Viennese, Bolivian, and Ukrainian heritage. Strap is his first full length book. Dan works at the writers residency Hawthornden Brooklyn on weekends, and for the poet Sharon Olds during the week. ” Dan Kraines is one of the most gifted literary minds that I have ever taught… daring, surprising, unconventional, a refreshment because everything he does proceeds from an original relation to his material.”– Frank Bidart, Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Half-light: Collected Poems.
Amy Saul-Zerby is the author of Paper Flowers, Imaginary Birds, Deep Camouflage, and Choose Your Own Beginning. Her poems have appeared in The Rumpus, The Chicago Review of Books, American Poetry Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, and elsewhere. She edits Voicemail Poems. Her newest poetry collection, If I Cannot Fly, is available through Serotonin Press in July, 2026.
Rocky Wilson is a poet, performance artist, and teacher who lives near the Delaware River in Camden. Rocky has been interpreting Whitman in schools and libraries, and for historial groups and at the Philly Fringe Festival. Rocky has , for the last 25 years, hosted Pizza and Poetry at A Slice of New York in Camden. It is one of the longest running poetry series in New Jersey.
Sean Lynch Host- Open Reading Follows
