Virtual Poetry: Freedom Anthology
2024-07-14 14:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual
Freedom 2024 Anthology Reading
Sunday July 14, 2024
2pm on Zoom
Zoom Meeting ID 829 9128 3645 – Passcode [REDACTED]
Registration Link – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkfuiqpjgsHtFxxxyjfTkHXjIJkgSPg2tA

Freedom
The United States celebrates Independence on July 4
France celebrates Bastille Day on July 14
The struggle for freedom and independence is universal.
What does Freedom mean to you?
It is used as a rallying call across the political spectrum
Our Poets Responded

Not All Poets Will Be Reading

Mary Anne Abdo
M. Tonita Austin
Sarwa Azeez
Susan Baer
Jeff Bien
A.C. Blake
Charles Briggs
Christopher Butters
Francisco Carrasco
AJ Chilson
Shaheen Dil
Elinor Donahue
Anna Dunlap

Sahar Fathi
Francis Flavin
Ana Fores Tamayo
Deborah Fries
William Galasso
Linda Goss
Pamela Haines
Annie Hartford
Kathleen Herrmann
Kayla Howe
Jones Irwin
Ralph La Rosa
Kelly Lynn
Dara Marsh
John Mason
Matt McGarvey
Aurora McKee
Mharlyn Merriitt
Leslie Perry
Claire Petersen
Nader Rahimi
Janet Restino
Linda Romanowski
Robert Eugene Rubino
Carla Schick
Evan Schneider

Jennifer Schneider
Ameerah Shabazz
Woody Shiflett
Miki Simic
Robert Lavett Smith
Karamo Muchuri Sulieman
Laura Sweeney
Eike Waltz
Gail Wasserman
Kelley White
Daniel Williams
Samantha Wright
Daniel Zehner

Live Poetry: Kate Carey, M. Elizabeth Hershey, & Miriam Kramer
2024-07-17 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Live Poetry: Kate Carey, M. Elizabeth Hershey, & Miriam Kramer
Wednesday July 17, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on Zoom
Register for Zoom at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrdumsqDouGNAKNM1JQj7MAr8zap6egOwL
Kate Carey (she/her) is a fat queer polyamorous slut who sometimes spends whole days in bed crying because feelings are hard. Through deeply personal poetry and creative nonfiction, she touches on issues relating to trauma, fat liberation, mental illness and sexuality. December 2022’s Hot Poet in the Bullshit Lit x Olney magazine Hot Poets calendar and producer of Philadelphia’s Slutty Poems Night, you can find more about her & her work at https://www.katemcarey.com.
M. Elizabeth Hershey is a writer and artist based out of South Philadelphia where she has lived off and on for the last 20 years (but would never purport to be from Philly). She graduated from Brown University with a degree in Visual Arts where she cross-studied at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has published one chapbook, Look to the North and continues to write both poetry and prose in memoir form. Hershey grew up performing Shakespeare, reading V.C. Andrews in the dark, and worshipping the fellow Hoosier Kurt Vonnegut. She is a photographer by trade, loves a good Phillies game and has an active appreciation of jazz and blues music. Her most recent work centers around the ideas of addiction, grief, and the befuddling life of Tinder dates as one approaches middle age.”
Miriam Kramer is a queer, Jewish poet residing in New Jersey with her partner, daughter, and two cats. She majored in Creative Writing at Pacific University and currently works at an educational nonprofit. She was the winner of the 2023 Jack McCarthy Book Prize. Her poetry has appeared in Variant Literature, So to Speak Journal, FreezeRay Poetry, and others. She is the author of three chapbooks. Her debut full length collection, Built by Storms, was published by Write Bloody Publishing and nominated for The Lambda Literary Prize and The New Writers Award, Great Lakes College Association.
Sean Hanahan Host, Open Reading Follows

Live Poetry: Anisha Bhat, Lester Mobley, Joe Roarty & Pat Rodgers
2024-07-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday July 24, 2024 – 7pm

Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Register for Zoom at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pduqgrDwsGdJz84QTuvTvY7eeqbamGw7V
Anisha Bhat, originally from Chicago, Illinois, is a writer and staff member
at Temple University where she directs research and creative programs for
undergraduates. She has an MPhil in World History from the University of
Cambridge and an MA in History from Northwestern University. In her free
time she can be found buying too many books at used book stores, eating at
the same five restaurants in South Philly, or working on her first poetry
chapbook.
Lester Norman Mobley was born on Long Island New York before moving
to Philadelphia at the age of 18 where he has remained ever since. He is a
retired union construction worker who has dabbled on and off with poetry as
far back to elementary school. His favorite poets whose style he attempts to
emulate in his writing are Charles Bukowski and Walt Whitman. Everyone
else, as he would always maintain, remain respectfully peripheral.
Joe Roarty won Moonstone’s first chapbook contest in 2015 for
Moritat, German for "street ballad." Poetry of high-octane energy,
passionate intelligence, supercharged, insistent blues, jazz &
heightened speech rhythms. His chapbook Showtunes was published
in 2023 by Iniquity Press.
Pat Rodgers is a poet based in West Philadelphia. His published work can be
found in Neptune and several Moonstone anthologies. Recall is the title of
his first chapbook
Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook Hosts, Open Reading Follows

Black Fire This Time @ Barnes & Noble
2024-07-28 15:30 - 16:30 | Barnes and Noble 1708 Chesnut St., 1708 Chesnut Street., Phildelphia, PA, 19122, United States
In this follow-up volume in the Black Fire—This Time series, over seventy-five poets
and writers come together on the ongoing theme of "Black is Beautiful, Black is
Powerful, Black is Home." Works ranging from poetry, fiction, essays, and drama cover
a wide range of Black literature. This "continuum" of writing, as coined by Volume 1
editor Kim McMillon, brings together legends of the Black Arts era with contemporary
writers in the tradition. This edition includes a hallmark work from the Black Arts era,
We Own the Night by playwright and one of the last living legends Jimmy Garrett.
Volume 2 of Black Fire—This Time will educate and inspire the next generation.
Keisha-Gaye Anderson is a Jamaican-born poet, author, and visual artist based in Brooklyn whose
books include A Spell for Living, Everything Is Necessary, and Gathering the Waters. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have been widely published in national literary journals, magazines, and anthologies.
Raheem Curry is a writer out of Kensington, Philadelphia. He is inspired by James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Etheridge Knight, and Huey Newton. He hopes his writings does what writings did for him: changed the trajectory of his life. He is in the works of publishing his second book.
Cole Eubanks of Mays Landing NJ is retired as an educator from the Philadelphia and Atlantic City School Districts. He is Pushcart nominated and his work can be found in Sugar House Review, Poems from the Pandemic Years, The Journal of Baha’i Studies, Shamrock, MiGoZine.
Theodore A. Harris is a Philadelphia-based visual artist and poet, whose work has been exhibited internationally. He is the co-founder of the Anti-Graffiti Network/Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and is the Founding Artistic Director of The Institute for Advanced Study in Black Aesthetics
Everett Hoagland is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, was the first poet laureate of New Bedford, MA, his work has appeared in numerous anthologies and several books, including …Here…: New and Selected Poems and Encounters: Poems about Race, Ethnicity, and Identity.
Chantal James lives in Washington, DC, and has been published across genres—as a poet, fiction writer, essayist, and book reviewer—in such venues as Catapult, Paste Magazine, Harvard’s Transition Magazine, The Bitter Southerner, and more. Her honors include a Fulbright fellowship in creative writing to Morocco.
Ewuare X. Osayande is the author of several books including Our Breath is the Whisper of Our Ancestors' Defiance: The Poetry Anthology (1993-2023) and Blood Luxury (introduction by Amiri Baraka). A former professor of African American Studies at Rutgers University, he is the founding editor of The Poetariat.
Elijah B Pringle, III is a Philadelphia born writer who has to his credit experience in Radio, TV, Stage and Film, has worked as a dancer, choreographer, actor, director, and vocalist. He is a much sought-after workshop facilitator for writing and performance. Mr. Pringle has been published globally in almost fifty anthologies.

Live Poetry: Lars Scott & De'vine Stylez
2024-07-31 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday July 31, 2024 – 7pm

Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtcOGhrTktGNNSwztFI2s61EfLKH6m_G23
Lars Scott is a musician from Philadelphia. Lars began their musical
journey in high school, performing folk songs at local open mics and
coffee shops. After graduating from Temple University, they released
their first single, The Sand Song, in 2017. Spending time amongst
singers and songwriters in Philly’s rich music scene pushed Lars to
develop their sound, as they moved away from straightforward, folkier
tunes and incorporated vocal loops and beats into their songs. Lars’s
new project incorporates both past and present musical inclinations.
With smooth melodies and swirling harmonies, Lars enchants listeners
with their rich and chilling voice. Reminiscent of summer nights, their
music will beckon you back to blissful memories with its dreamy style and compelling rhythm.
Lars moves past genre, blending the beauty of musical traditions to create a style all their own.
Shadeia De'vine Wilson (Pen name: De'vine Stylez) has been writing
poetry since she was 14yr old based on her life experiences &
environment She has performed at some of the best venues in Philly
such as the harvest, Voices in Power Her recent pieces written in the
last 5/7 years are drawn from her need to help people be open about
sexual freedom, exploration and being more in tune with their erotic
selves, while owning her own sexual awareness & power, coupled
with using the mic the heal from past traumaA Co-owner of a all
female poetry collective called THEE INSIGHT, that curates
educational immersive experiences in Philadelphia and surrounding
areas. These experiences are based on Mental health awareness and
bridges the gap in the urban community and all genders. She is currently working on a poetry
album to be release the end of Sept 2024
Sean Hanahan Host, Open Reading Follows

Philly Loves Poetry: Interview and Readings Series Live Broadcast
2024-08-06 18:30 - 19:30 | PA
Can be viewed on the Phillycam website or Cable 66/966HD/967 or Verizon FIOS, 29/30 In Philadelphia.
James Feichthaler is a poet with roots in the Philadelphia-area residing in Trenton, NJ, where he watches the skies for UFOs, sings Irish folk songs on his porch, and drinks beers. He was the host of an open mic reading series called The Dead Bards of Philadelphia for over ten years. His new book From the Back Porch of a War pulls no punches in its assessment of a politically-divided America seemingly at war with itself, searching for moral integrity in a hashtag-hardened, spiritually-bankrupt world.
Charles S. Carr, Host

Live Poetry: Sojourner Ahebee, Mac Chandler & Mikey Franz
2024-08-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom – Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlfuuorz0jHd3WfQPtz1CyOTxW_SzKHruq
Sojourner Ahebee, author of Belly of the Night, was born in Cote d’Ivoire to an American mother and Ivoirien father, Sojourner Ahebee writes stories about African diaspora identities and the eternal question of home and belonging. Her poems have been published in The Atlantic, The Academy of American Poets (Poem A Day), Muzzle Magazine, For Harriet, Apiary Magazine and elsewhere. In 2013 she served as a National Student Poet, the nation’s highest honor for young poets presenting original work.
Mac Chandler is a graduate of The University of the Arts and a proud West Philly resident. She has been published in some places and has done like a lot of cool literary things you’ve probably never heard of. Mostly, she loves to write poetry and fiction, and involve herself in the beautiful Philly writing scene.
Mikey Franz is a writer & composer from the Philadelphia area who uses his work to explore the relationship between music & language. His debut chapbook, Terrestrial Sanctuaries was published by Moonstone last year & you can typically find him performing at various open mics throughout the Philadelphia area.

Live Poetry: Z Murphy, Knox Peache, China Rain
2024-08-14 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday August 14, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrce-grDopGdCFgMprDkuh3a7PuUlbvGTb
Z Murphy, also known as the drag entertainer The ZanyThing, is a queer multiracial multimedia storyteller who did this silly goofy thing where she, like, lived with nazis for 5 months and then wrote a poetry collection about it. “Homegirl” first drafts are available for sale. She currently writes for an online magazine and is looking for work. Follow their artistic journey @thezanything
Knox Peache In addition to award nominated text/multimedia, ‘Aftermath’, Peters has been published by Thirty West, Red Noise Collective, Wingless Dreamer and Naked Cat Lit. Peters works extensively as a visual artist and writer. She made her debut in the Philadelphia writing scene a little over a year ago having previously made work in the swamps of New Orleans. She enjoys poetry that squirms, questions and jokes.
China Rain is a University Of The Arts graduate focused on written and multimedia work. They have worked in mediums such as collage, theater, illustration, and online interactive media.
Mac Chandler Host – Open Reading Follows

Moonstone Poetry: Fatal Force: Poetic Justice
2024-08-14 19:00 - 20:30 | 2600 N 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133, 2600 N 5th St, Philadelphia, PA, 19133, United States
LIVE at Taller Puertorriqueño
2600 N 5th St, Philadelphia, PA 19133
Police killed 1,352 victims the U.S. 2023 (mappingpoliceviolence.org).
On August 14, 2023 Police officer, Mark Dial shot and killed Eddie Irizarry. Philadelphia police told the media that the incident began when officers pulled over a car that was “driving erratically” and that “officers approached” the car, that Irizarry “stepped out” of the car “with a knife” and that the “officers gave multiple commands for him to drop the knife, and that Irizarry “lunged at the officers”, prompting the shooting. On August 15th, Philadelphia police changed their story, stating that Irizarry was actually in the car when he was shot six times. Retracting the cover up, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw stated that officers’ body-worn camera footage “made it very clear that what we initially reported was not actually what happened.” Martín Espada recently wrote a poem to elegize the innocent young man whose alleged murder this past August is an outrage.
This initiative is co-sponsored by Casa de Duende as well as Taller Puertorriqueño and Moonstone. On the anniversary of Eddie Irizarry’s death, the anthology will commemorate the book’s publication.

Live Poetry: Katherine Antarikso, Erme Maula, Peter Webb & John Wojtowicz
2024-08-21 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday August 21, 2024 – 7pm

Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Register for Zoom at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtd-6opzgrHdWVr29C4W2g85ceaxtW_qMo
Katherine Sarwopeni Antarikso (she/her) is an architect, writer and performer. She was born in Jakarta, on the island of Java, Indonesia, and moved to the United States at the age of 10. Her unique upbringing is a driver of her many talents and expressions. As an architect, she is interested in issues of equity regarding the design of urban spaces. As a creative, she performs in a traditional Indonesian dance group, gamelan ensemble and writes poetry and essays centered on themes of home, migration, and displacement.
Erme Maula is a Community Advocate, Educator, Doula, Facilitator and Nurse. Her most recent writing can be found in In the Future, There are No Hospitals – an abolitionist-focused collection of work by Queer and Asian care workers. Erme is part of the Grind Council that manages The Grind – a daily writing project that brings together poetry and prose writers in communities of accountability
Peter Webb is a Philadelphia based poet who is largely interested in irreverence, direct language, violence, addiction, depravity, evil, scatology, trauma, crime, internet writing, post-irony, mumblecore, etc. @thepeterpoems
John Wojtowicz grew up working on his family’s azalea and rhododendron nursery and still lives in the backwoods of what Ginsberg dubbed “nowhere Zen New Jersey.” Currently, he teaches social work at Stockton University. He has been featured on Rowan University’s Writer’s Roundtable on 89.7 WGLS-FM and several of his poems were showcased in Princeton University’s 2021 Unique Minds: Creative Voices art exhibition. Recent or forthcoming publications include: Rattle, Split Rock Review, Soundings East, Ekphrastic Review, and the South Florida Poetry Journal. He is the author of the coffee table-style chapbook, Roadside Attractions: a Poetic Guide to American Oddities. Find out more at: www.johnwojtowicz.com
Sean Hanahan Host, Open Reading Follows

Moonstone Presents: Independence Day of Ukraine Poetry Reading
2024-08-24 15:30 - 17:30 | Barnes and Noble 1708 Chesnut St., 1708 Chesnut Street., Phildelphia, PA, 19122, United States
Wednesday August 24, 2024 – 3:30pm

Live at at Barnes & Noble, 1708 Chestnut Street
Julia Kolchinsky Dashbach is the author of 40 WEEKS, Don’t Touch the Bones, winner of the 2019 Idaho Poetry Prize, and The Many Names for Mother, winner the Wick Poetry Prize and finalist for the Jewish Book Award. She is currently working on a poetry collection as well as a book of linked lyric essays, both of which grapple with raising a neurodiverse child with a disabled partner under the shadow of the war in Ukraine, Julia’s birthplace. Her poems have appeared in POETRY, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, The Nation, and AGNI, among others.
Kateryna Derysheva is a Ukrainian poet from Kharkiv, co-founder and organizer of the kntxt literary project. Her poems and translations have been published in the journals: Plume, Zerkalo, Tlen Literacki, Literatur in Bayern, Literaturportal Bayern, Visions, Volga, SoFloPoJo, The Colon, Literature, Articulation, New Coast, Arion, Homo legens, Kreshchatik, and others. She is the author of the books Starting Point, There Will Be No Installation; co-author of the book Earth time. She was long-listed for the Arkadiy Dragomoshchenko Prize (2019) and is laureate of the Europa Mai Prize. Her poems and essays have been translated into 11 languages.)
Olena Jennings is the author of the poetry collection The Age of Secrets, the chapbook Memory Project, and the novel Temporary Shelter. She is a translator of collections by Ukrainian poets, Kateryna Kalytko, together with Oksana Lutsyshyna, Iryna Shuvalova, together with the author, and Vasyl Makhno. Her translation, together with the author, of Yuliya Musakovska’s The God of Freedom was released in May 2024 from Arrowsmith Press. She founded and curates the Poets of Queens reading series and press.
Olga Livshin’s poetry and translations appear in the New York Times, Ploughshares, the Kenyon Review, and other journals. She is the author of A Life Replaced: Poems with Translations from Anna Akhmatova and Vladimir Gandelsman. Livshin co-translated A Man Only Needs a Room, a volume of Vladimir Gandelsman’s poetry and Today is a Different War by the Ukrainian poet Lyudmyla Khersonska,. She is a private creative writing teacher, working with children.

Live Poetry: The Osage Poets
2024-08-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday August 28, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcudO-vqjouGNxLFi7snrqCmBG6MbFrG96_
The Osage Poets are a long-standing, informal collective, meeting in workshops led by poet Leonard Gontarek: Making Poems That Last and Gentle Warriors. With humor, insight, and a Zen teaching style, Leonard seeds a dynamic and varied poetic response. In pursuit of an authentic voice, spirituality of the ordinary, and an honest grappling with the world’s edges, the results are always relevant and surprising.
Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook Hosts

Philly Loves Poetry: Interview and Readings Series Live Broadcast
2024-09-03 18:30 - 19:30 | PA
Tuesday September 3, 2024 – 6:30pm – Live Broadcast
Can be viewed on the Phillycam website or Cable 66/966HD/967 or Verizon FIOS, 29/30 In Philadelphia.
“Kimmika L.H. Williams-Witherspoon has been a force in the spoken word/poetry scene for decades. This new release (You Gotta Have Game) from Boyer College of Music and Dance is Williams-Witherspoon at her best. The poet tells us: “I am the crack of morning, Light in the shadow of dark”
In this beautiful collection of poetic text with instrumental accompaniment Williams-Witherspoon brings us through the struggle of life, always the light in the shadow of dark. No matter how hard the journey, no matter the roadblocks placed, Williams-Witherspoon offers hope in endurance. The poem” By g emil reutter
Charles S. Carr, Host

Live Poetry: Elliott batTzedek, Steve Burke, Mabel Lee & Matt McGarvey
2024-09-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Live Poetry: Elliott batTzedek, Steve Burke, Mabel Lee & Matt McGarvey
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Register for Zoom at this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMudumurj0rHNXoqS0HzX_7ZJogkgqPa5Sy
Elliott batTzedek is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet/translator. Elliott’s work appears in various journals and is author of the enkindled coal of my tongue.
Steve Burke has read at many venues in the Philly area; has three chapbooks published by Moonstone Press.
Mabel Lee is a poet and educator from Philadelphia, where she participates in various literary groups and teaches middle school students.
Matt McGarvey, author of Alien Vestibule, is essentially a caffeinated replica of a stardom gone astray, that lives in an apartment by himself where he contemplates the severed state of himself and society. He is now currently interning at Moonstone Arts Center.

Live Reading: Justin Ryan, James Milanesi, Alexandra Naughton
2024-09-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Live Poetry: Justin Ryan, James Milanesi, Alexandra Naughton
Wednesday September 11, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on Zoom
Registration Link https://us05web.zoom.us/j/82262171863?pwd=[REDACTED]
Justin Ryan Fyfe is a poet in Philly. He just got fired from his job. You can read all his poems online at fromfromfrom.tumblr.com.
James Milanesi was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. He is an interdisciplinary poet and bartender. He has previously written a chapbook titled Momentary Sweetheart (Bottlecap Press). He is the curator and founder of a collective of poets who call themselves, Poet’s Row.
Alexandra Naughton is a poet, novelist, publisher, and literary events producer based in Philadelphia. Her writing has been widely published on the web and in print, and she performs regularly. Naughton’s work straddles the line between fiction and non-fiction, prose and poetry, and explores themes such as self-objectification, existentialism, the frailty of text-based communication, and capitalism. She is the founder of Be About It Press, established in 2010, and co-host of the Bring A Blanket reading series.
Amy Saul-Zerby Host – Open Reading Follows

Tribute to Sonia Sanchez
2024-09-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Virtual
Tribute to Sonia Sanchez
Sunday September 15th, 2024 – 2pm VIRTUAL
Registration Link https://us05web.zoom.us/j/83627572456?pwd=[REDACTED]
Happy 90th Birthday, Sonia
Sonia Sanchez—poet, activist, scholar—was the Laura Carnell Professor of English and Women’s Studies at Temple University. She is the recipient of both the Robert Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award. One of the most important writers of the Black Arts Movement, Sanchez is the author of sixteen books.
Join us for a virtual reading to celebrate Sonia’s birthday and lifetime of contributions to poetry and the literary community, both in Philadelphia and world-wide. Contributors from our Tribute to Sonia Sanchez anthology will be reading their pieces and others inspired by her work.
“Let me wear the day
Well so when it reaches you
You will enjoy it.”
– Sonia Sanchez

Live Reading: David Ebenbach, Elayna Mae Darcy, Autumn Konopka, Sean Lynch, and Victoria Mier
2024-09-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry – Prose Night
David Ebenbach, Elayna Mae Darcy, Autumn Konopka, Sean Lynch, and Victoria Mier
Wednesday September 18, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom – Registration Required: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/82017815042?pwd=[REDACTED]
David Ebenbach is the author of ten books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, including his new novel Possible Happiness, which author Gary Eldon Peter calls “a coming of age love letter to Philadelphia in the late 1980s and to one young man’s journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance.” A Philly native, Ebenbach lives with his family in Washington, DC. You can find out more at davidebenbach.com
Elayna Mae Darcy (they/she) is a queer poet, YA author, and filmmaker from Philadelphia. They aren’t sure what they love more—writing, or their cat, Bean. (Ok yeah it’s definitely the cat.) She is the author of the short story, CONTINUUM and has had poems published in just femme & dandy, and Impostor Lit, among others. They are the author of a poetry duology that includes UNRAVELING LIGHT and DARKNESS UNDONE as well as the YA fantasy novel in verse, STILL THE STARS.
Autumn Konopka is a writer, runner, and trauma-informed teaching artist. A former poet laureate of Montgomery County, PA (2016), Autumn’s work has been published widely in literary journals, and her poetry chapbook, a chain of paper dolls, was published in 2014 by the Head & the Hand Press. Her debut novel, Pheidippides Didn’t Die (2023), has earned awards from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the Eric Hoffer Books Awards, and Writer’s Digest. Kirkus calls the book “a compelling adult romance that captures the complexities of trauma dynamics.” Autumn is a Book Reviews & Interviews Editor for Cleaver magazine and a volunteer and ambassador for Still I Run.
Sean Lynch is a writer and editor who’s published five books of poetry, the city of your mind (Whirlwind Press, 2013), Broad Street Line (Moonstone Press, 2016), 100 Haiku (Moonstone Press, 2017), On Violence (Radical Paper Press, 2019), and Halo Nest (Alien Buddha Press, 2024). He’s also the author of The Beast in the Pines, a psychological horror novel about the Jersey Devil.
Victoria Mier is a queer, disabled writer and suspected changeling. Her short fiction has been published in Del Sol SFF Review, Fifth Wheel Press, SORTES, and more. Earlier this year, she released her debut novel, Beyond the Aching Door, an urban fantasy set in Philadelphia. Learn more at victoriamier.com.
Sean Hanrahan Host – Open Reading Follows

Banned Books Week 2024
2024-09-22 14:00 - 15:00 | virtual
Banned Books Week 2024
Sunday September 22, 2024
Virtual on Zoom – 2pm
Registration Required: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/86935252863?pwd=[REDACTED]
“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.” – Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. In a time of intense political polarization, library staff in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans for more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Coming from the book industry Larry, Robin’s Book Store, and Moonstone have always fought censorship. Join us as Poets respond to the issue of suppression and their right to write.
Over 30 poets shared their works to combat book banning for our anthology.
Featured Poets
not all contributors will be reading

Austin Alexis
Susan Baer
Anne Catharine Blake
Charles Briggs
Sharnta Bullard
AJ Chilson
Suzanne Cooke
Linda M. Crate
Amber Deamer

Joanne Durham
Ana Fores Tamayo
Beejay Grob
Steven Halpern
Jane Ellen Ibur
Jones Irwin
Mindy Kronenberg
Eelka Lampe

Kinard Lang
Scott Leff
Daphne M
Curtis Nelson
Faith Paulsen
Elijah Pringle
David Radavich
Janet Restino
Linda Romanowski

Kasey Ryman
George Schaefer
Jennifer Schneider
Kendall Snee
Ken Waldman
Eike Waltz
Kelley White
Samantha Wright

The Art of Inclusion: The Story of Larry Robin and Moonstone
2024-09-25 17:30 - 20:00 | The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Moonstone Poetry & the Free Library of Philadelphia present
Wednesday September 25, 2024, 5:30pm – LIVE
Free Library of Philadelphia Central Branch Skyline Room
1901 Vine Street
THE ART OF INCLUSION
THE STORY OF LARRY ROBIN
& MOONSTONE
A Celebration of the Arts and Free Speech!

Many of us have connections with Larry and Moonstone Arts Center. You may have gone to school at Moonstone’s Early Childhood Education Program, founded by Larry and Sandy Robin. You may be published by Moonstone Press. You may have participated in New Voices, the Annual Poetry Ink readings, Celebration of Black Writing, Festival Cubano, The Paul Robeson Festival, the Hidden Story Programs, the International Voices readings on Zoom, or another of Moonstone’s successful programs. You may have stood at an open mic at Fergie’s Pub and spoken your first poem in public¡ You might still have that copy of Tropic of Cancer you bought from Robin’s Book Store while they successfully defied the censorship ban on the book!

28th Poetry Ink: LIVE
2024-09-29 14:00 - 17:00 | The Rotunda, 14014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
Moonstone Poetry & The Rotunda present
28th Annual Poetry Ink Reading LIVE
Sunday September 29, 2024, 2pm
The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street
We want you all: published poets, unpublished poets, academic poets, street poets, poets who write Sonnet, Villanelle, Haiku, Ekphrastic Poems, Concrete Poems, Epitaph, Elegy, Epigram, Limerick, Ballad, Ode, Free Verse, and all other forms. Join us for our 28th year of presenting 100 poets reading in alphabetical order.
We are LIVE at the Rotunda at 2pm on Sunday, September 29.
If you live further away – we will be virtual on Monday, September 30 at 7pm via Zom
Register for the virtual event on Sept. 30th: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/88202311343?pwd=[REDACTED]

28th Poetry Ink: VIRTUAL
2024-09-30 19:00 - 21:00 | virtual
Moonstone Poetry presents
28th Annual Poetry Ink Reading VIRTUAL
Monday, September 30th, 2024, 7pm
Online via Zoom, register here: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/88202311343?pwd=[REDACTED]
We want you all: published poets, unpublished poets, academic poets, street poets, poets who write Sonnet, Villanelle, Haiku, Ekphrastic Poems, Concrete Poems, Epitaph, Elegy, Epigram, Limerick, Ballad, Ode, Free Verse, and all other forms. Join us for our 28th year of presenting 100 poets reading in alphabetical order.
Buy your copy of the anthology here: https://moonstone-arts-center.square.site/product/28th-annual-poetry-ink/491

Live Poetry: Mia Kang, Allayna Nofs, and Herman Beavers
2024-10-09 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Live Poetry
Wednesday October 9, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street and on Zoom
Register for Zoom access: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpceivqTIpHNL2TDUW4c3-ZEqlzjU3eIE9
Mia Kang is the author of City Poems, Apparent Signs and the winner of the 2023 Airlie Prize for All Empires Must. She lives in Philadelphia with two cats, is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Folklore Project. She holds a PhD in the history of art from Yale University, and she has taught at Hunter College, the Cooper Union, University of the Arts, and Yale College.

Allayna Nofs is the author of It’s not them, it’s me, a collection of poetry published in 2019. She is also the sorceress behind the poetry series, Blossoming, which runs (almost) monthly out of West Philadelphia. If she’s not at the park admiring the trees, she might be doing math homework by the river. A collection of her written words can be found on her Substack, at www.allaynanofs.substack.com.

Herman Beavers is Professor of English and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His most recent poems have appeared in Cleaver Magazine, The American Arts Quarterly and been anthologized in The 2014 Anthology of Featured Poets and Obsession: Sestinas for the Twenty-First Century. He serves as an advisory editor for The African American Review, The Black Scholar, and Modern Fiction Studies.

Live Poetry: Courtney Bambrick, Hayden Saunier, and Jevon Simeon
2024-10-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry
Wednesday October 16, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on Zoom
Register here for Zoom access: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkcOqgrj0qEtf2cVm92zWRaL5QhY1ri2if

Courtney Bambrick teaches writing at Thomas Jefferson University’s East Falls campus in Philadelphia. She was poetry editor at Philadelphia Stories until 2024. Her own poems appear or are forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Mom Egg Review, Landlocked, Pinhole, Thimble, SWWIM Everyday, New York Quarterly, Invisible City, and more. Her chapbook World Without is available from Bottlecap Press.

Hayden Saunier is the author of six poetry collections including her new book, Wheel, (Terrapin: 2024). Her work has been published in 32 Poems, Beloit Poetry Journal, diode, Southern Poetry Review, The Sun, and VQR and featured on Poetry Daily, The Writer’s Almanac, and Verse Daily. Awards include a Pushcart Prize, Pablo Neruda Award, and Rattle Poetry Prize www.haydensaunier.com.

Jevon Simeon says “As I touch the pencil I start to remember I am a writer. I am a Juggernaut. My melanin is the exposition of art itself. I rise with the sun. I am the moon. Im just a Poet that tries to balance the dark and light within me, to find peace within myself I relinquish this into my poetry as it creates imagery to inspire people to see beauty in themselves. I’m a child of the sea with Caribbean blood running through my veins.
Sean Hanahan Host, Open Reading Follows

Live Poetry: Doris Ferleger & Lisa Grunberger
2024-10-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry
Wednesday October 23, 2 024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on Zoom
Register for Zoom access here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvf-6grzMoGNPJ5xjAbNU3zuz66tQya37z

Doris Ferleger, poet laureate emeritus of Montgomery County PA, and winner of the New Millennium Poetry Prize, New Letters Poetry, Songs of Eretz Prize, and AROHO CNF Prize, among others, is the author of five full-length poetry books, including Big Silences in a Year of Rain, As the Moon Has Breath, Leavened, As for the Kiss, and To Claim Loneliness and a chapbook entitled When You Become Snow. Her work has been published in numerous journals including Cortland Review, Delmarva Review, and Poet Lore. Her sixth book, entitled when the night is near as a bird was a finalist for the four-way prize. Ferleger holds an MFA in Poetry and a Ph.D. in Psychology and maintains a private therapy practice. Aliki Barnestone writes: Ferleger’s memorable poems keep singing with their insistent beauty.

Lisa Grunberger is a first-generation American writer, author of I am dirty and Born Knowing, lyrical reflections on life as a woman, a mother, and a daughter of Holocaust survivors. For the Future of Girls was nominated for an Eric Hoffer Independent Press Award, Almost Pregnant, is her play about infertility and assisted reproductive technologies.
Whether it is the aging woman’s body, the infertile body, the body ravaged by war and trauma, all her work addresses human embodiment in a philosophical, spiritual, tender and satirical voice. Lisa’s poems have been translated into Slovenian, Russian, Spanish and Yiddish. Lisa teaches Yoga and Writing workshops and lives with her family in Philadelphia. Her website is www.Lisa-Grunberger.com.
Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook Hosts, Open Reading Follows

Virtual Reading: Remembering Dylan Thomas
2024-10-27 14:00 - 15:00 | virtual
Virtual Reading: Remembering Dylan Thomas
Sunday October 27, 2024 – 2pm EST – VIRTUAL
Register for Zoom here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpdu6hqDMsGdZRzlthm1ZEK-xUGy30g20b
Remembering Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “And death shall have no dominion”, as well as the “play for voices” Under Milk Wood. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child’s Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a “roistering, drunken and doomed poet”.
Poets will be reading their work from our latest anthology honoring Dylan Thomas’s legacy.

Live Poetry: William Hazard & Ari Villeda-Martinez
2024-10-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry
Wednesday October 30, 2024 – 7pm
Live at Fergie’s Pub,1214 Sansom Street and on zoom
Use this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlceyhrj4uGdcKVBmb7dFEdUot8n6Ea8AL
William Hazard makes poems with computers. Recent work can be found in Voicemail Poems, Bring a Blanket Zine, Ghost Proposal, Beloved Radio, Audio Flare Gun, and on GitHub. He teaches at Temple University. He hangs out at llllllll.co

A Latinx poet, educator, and general transgender menace, Ari Villeda-Martinez (she/they) is a performer and artist who thrives in the seemingly liminal space between the seat and the stage. She is a maker most interested in how an audience creates their own tether to a spoken narrative and can breach the wall to the page. Her work is intimate, precise, and at its best, devours.

Aaron Gadbury & Lindsay Hargarve Hosts – Open Reading Follows

Virtual Reading: Our State of the Union
2024-11-03 14:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
DID YOU VOTE? The State of The Nation – Get Out The Vote
Sunday November 3, 2024 – 2pm EST – VIRTUAL
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqfuuhrz0vE9NAdRMQxqD0VzHTSKiDCQts
THIS ELECTION IS IMPORTANT
Things you can do to increase participation: • Remind those in your life to vote and invite them to voter education events like debates. • Ask them to visit www.VOTE411.org to find their polling place and learn what will be on their ballot. • Ask about their voting plan for Election Day. Research shows that by asking voters whether they have an Election Day plan (how will they get to the polls? At what time?), you will increase their chances of participating. • Keep it brief and friendly! • Be helpful. Have election dates, polling locations, and other information at your fingertips so that you can help address any questions.
Join us as poets reflect on the election, voting, and raising the voices of the people.

Post-Election Opening Reading
2024-11-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Post-Election Open Reading
Wednesday November 6, 2024 – 7pm – LIVE
Live at Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
and on Zoom
Register for Zoom access: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIucOivqzwpE9Y9pjEDMm49e2mnxwyCipMH
Election 2024 Open Reading
Whatever happened yesterday
poets will have something to say
Join us to cheer or moan.

Remembering Jim Cory
2024-11-09 11:30 - 14:00 | PA
Remembering Jim Cory
Moonstone’s Remembering Jim Cory event has been cancelled to support another memorial from Jim’s friends and family. The memorial and informal reading will be hosted at the Philadelphia Ethical Society on November 9th at 11:30am.
More information about the event is available on Facebook here.

Philly Loves Poetry: Eileen D'Angelo
2024-11-12 18:30 - 19:30 | PhillyCAM, 699 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
Philly Loves Poetry: Eileen M. D’Angelo
Tuesday November 12, 2024 – 6:30pm – VIRTUAL
Moonstone Poetry @ PhillyCAM – Watch on the Phillycam website
Or Cable 66/966HD/967 or Verizon FIOS, 29/30 – In Philadelphia.
Philly Loves Poetry Interview and Readings Series
Eileen M. D’Angelo, twice nominated for a Pennsylvania Governor’s Award in the Arts, she received two Pushcart Prize / Best of the Small Press nominations from Verse Magazine and Schuylkill Valley Journal. Her poetry, essays and book reviews have been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the News of Delaware County, Rattle: Poetry for the 21st Century, Manhattan Poetry Review, Paterson Literary Review, Drexel Online Journal, Wild River Review, Philadelphia Stories, Philadelphia Poets, The Independent Review, Negative Capability, One Trick Pony, Odessa Poetry Journal, The Aurealean, Bookends, and others. Charles S. Carr, Host
