Moonstone Arts Center

Moonstone Presents: Marion Cohen, Chanda Rice, Elliot Bat Tzedek
2019-10-23 19:00 (America/New_York) | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Marion Cohen’s 28th book is “The Discontinuity at the Waistline: My #MeToo Poems” (Rhythm & Bones Press, 2019), and her 29th is “The Fuss and the Fury” (Alien Buddha Press, NM, 2019.)

Chanda Rice (also known as Muffy) has been a writer all her life, but her half-sister would expose her children before their birth and so she hid them. She met Rachel Wenrick, who allowed her to find herself, organize her kids and give them a voice.

Elliott Bat Tzedek is a poet, translator, liturgist and bookseller. Her chapbook “The Enkindled Coal of my Tongue” was published by Wicked Banshee, and her work has been published in American Poetry Review, Massachusetts Review and others.

Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook, Hosts – Open Reading Follows

New Voices: Philadelphia’s Emerging Poets
2019-10-20 14:00 | Shakespeare and Co., 1632 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
New Voices is a program designed for emerging poets under the age of 25. It aims to create a platform for young poets by welcoming them into the larger Philadelphia poetry collaborative and giving them the opportunity to share their work with a wide audience.

Hazel The Aura is a Poetic Artist born and raised in Philly. Through spoken word and music Hazel The Aura celebrates the voices, rhythms, and language of her neighborhood. Her debut chapbook Next Hood Over will be published by ToHo Journal at the top of 2020. If you would like to be neighbors please follow @HazelTheAura on Instagram.

Gretel Cuevas, 21, was born in Celaya, Mexico, a small city at the heart of the country and has lived in Mexico, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. She possesses a unique perspective of the world and herself, is a Political Science major at Bryn Mawr College, and an innate explorer, which has driven her interests in everything from politics to economics to social activism to fiction writing. In 2016, she co-authored her first novel, “The Century of Broken Hopes,” which was the beginning of her passion and life mission as a fiction writer. Gretel is the type of person that meditates every day, prefers espressos over cappuccinos, believes in destiny, and enjoys having long walks with good company.

Yves-Melsein Metellus, 14, is a student at Franklin Learning Center. He enjoys writing poetry to express himself and explore his emotions. Yves-Melsein also likes to play chess and he is currently training to be really good at it.

Krisann Janowitz, Host – Open Reading Follows

Politics and Poetry: Patrick Rosal and Sami Miranda
2019-10-16 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Patrick Rosal, is the author of four books of poetry and the recipient of the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets, fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright Research Scholar Program.

Sami Miranda is a teacher, poet and visual artist. He is the author of We Is and Departure. His artwork has been exhibited in DC, New York, Madrid and Puerto Rico.

Ryan Eckes, Host — Open Reading Follows

Moonstone Presents: Alicia Askenase, Savannah Cooper-Ramsey, Heather H. Thomas
2019-10-13 14:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Alicia Askenase has written four poetry chapbooks, including The Luxury of Pathos (Texture Press) and Shirley Shirley (Sonaweb). She was an Editor’s Choice for the 2018 Sandy Crimmins Prize, which appears in Philadelphia Stories. Additionally, her publications include, New Works by Philadelphia Poets, The Manhattanville Review, The Big Muddy, and Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets, Second Edition, 2019, ed. Valerie Fox and Lynn Levin. She has poems forthcoming in the Painted Bride Quarterly

Savannah Cooper-Ramsey is author of Not Fit for Print, The Self and Other Jokes, and forthcoming Little Murders. She was a finalist for Philadelphia Stories` 2018 Crimmins National Prize for Poetry.

Heather H. Thomas is the author of Vortex Street, Blue Ruby, Resurrection Papers, and Practicing Amnesia. Her newest book is a bilingual selected poem, Reconocimiento / Recognition. She served a term as Berks County, PA, Poet Laureate, and her recent publications include Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice; Women’s Studies Quarterly; and Mizna: Prose, Poetry and Art Exploring Arab America.

-Charles Carr, Host, Open Reading Follows

Moonstone Press: Mass Chapbook Release Event
2019-10-09 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Erin Castaldi This book conquers some commonly held beliefs by people of the simplicity and lackluster of the haiku poem.
Gregory Loselle has won awards at The University of Michigan, won The Academy of American Poets Prize, the William van Wert Fiction Award from Hidden River Arts, and The Ruby Lloyd Apsey Award for Playwriting.
Frederick Lowe has been a Pushcart nominee twice. Often collaborating with graphic artists to produce folios, broadsides, and artist books.
Gloria Nixon-John has published poetry, fiction, essays and pedagogical articles and chapters in small and mainstream presses. She is author of The Killing Jar, the story of one of the youngest Americans to serve on death row.
g emil reutter is a writer of poems and stories. He has been published widely in the small and electronic press. Eleven collections of his fiction and poetry have been published. He is a contributing editor at North of Oxford and published The Fox Chase Review. He can be found at: https://gereutter.wordpress.com/about/
Carter Vance is a writer and poet from Ottawa, Ontario. His work has appeared in The Vehicle, Contemporary Verse 2 and A Midwestern Review, among others.

Remembering Amiri Baraka, Book Release & Reading
2019-10-06 14:00 | Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St
Join us in celebrating the life and work of renowned poet Amiri Baraka on his 85th birthday!
A dramatist, novelist, and poet whose career spanned over fifty years, he is one of the most respected and widely published African American writers. Poets will read their contributions to the Moonstone Chapbook, Remembering Amiri Baraka.
(Available for purchase at event, $10)
“Warriors are poets and poems and all the loveliness here in the worlds.” – Amiri Baraka

Moonstone Presents: Amy Jannotti, Jay Margraf, Charles Springer
2019-10-02 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Amy Jannotti lives with several small animals and a multitude of dried flowers. Her poetry and fiction has appeared in Calliope magazine, Charge! and Z Publishing House’s Pennsylvania’s Emerging Writers: An Anthology of Fiction.
Jay Margraf is a poet, educator, grad student, and queer transman currently living and learning in Oaklyn, NJ. His poetry provides commentary on masculinity, personal growth, and change. Jay believes that words can change the world, and he hopes his work can be a part of that.
Charles (Charley) Springer has degrees in anthropology and is an award-winning painter. A Pushcart Prize nominee, he has published in over seventy journals including The Cincinnati Review, Edison Literary Review, Faultline, Oxford Magazine, Packingtown Review, Passager, Tar River Poetry and the Windsor Review.

Sean Lynch, Host, Open Reading follows

2019 Philly Loves Poetry Interview and Reading Series at PhillyCAM
2019-10-01 18:30 | 699 Ranstead Street, 699 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
(Comcast Cable 66/966HD/967 or Verizon FIOS 29/30 in Philadelphia.)
The program is broadcast live on the first Tuesday of each month. The program is free and open to everyone. Please join us.
The mission of Philadelphia Stories is to cultivate a community of writers, artists, and readers in the Greater Philadelphia Area through publications, professional development, and promotion.
Courtney K. Bambrick is Philadelphia Stories’ poetry editor, teaches composition creative writing, and literature at Rosemont College, Delaware County Community College, and Widener University.
Vernita Hall is the author of Where William Walked: Poems About Philadelphia and Its People of Color, The Hitchhiking Robot Learns About Philadelphians. She serves on the poetry review board of Philadelphia Stories.
Nicole Marie Mancuso is a Contest Coordinator for non-profit literary magazine Philadelphia Stories and maintains a personal blog that focuses primarily on poetry and fiction.

Charles S. Carr, Host

Ahmad Almallah and Olga Livshin @ Fergie's Pub
2019-09-25 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday September 25, 2019 – 7pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
“Mother Tongue” – Both poets grew up with another first language
Ahmad Almallah’s first book of poems Bitter English will be out this September. He received the 2018 Edith Goldberg Paulson Memorial Prize for Creative Writing. His set of poems “Recourse,” won the 2017 Blanche Colton Williams Fellowship.
Olga Livshin is a poet and literary translator, and author of A Life Replaced: Poems with Translations from Anna Akhmatova and Vladimir Gandelsman. Her previous work has been recognized by CALYX journal’s Lois Cranston Memorial Prize, and she is co-founder of From Across the Waters, a reading series devoted to immigration.
Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook, Hosts – Open Reading Following

Yearning to Breathe Free: Poetry from the Immigrant Community
2019-09-22 14:00 - 16:00
Book Release and Reading – September 22nd
Emma Lazarus writes in The New Colossus, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Lazarus’ full poem is engraved on a plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, and can be read here
Her message was clear and proud—the colossus that stands near Manhattan is a symbol of acceptance. The statue of Liberty guides the way with her torch held high, hoping that all the tired and poor might find hope and refuge in the United States. Many Americans felt they were gifted with a land of opportunity, and many still feel this way today.
However, this is no longer a reality for immigrants. One might even argue that it was an illusion from the start. With the history of immigration to the United States at hand, you might notice that the immigration stance of the Trump administration is nothing new. The lack of willingness from American communities to accept immigrants has always been there—it’s just that now a multi-billion-dollar wall is being built for it.

Joel Dias-Porter and Sibelan Forrester @ Fergie's Pub
2019-09-18 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday September 18, 2019 – 7pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Joel Dias-Porter (aka DJ Renegade) was a Haiku Slam Champion. His poems have been published in journals and anthologies including Time Magazine, The Washington Post, POETRY, Best American Poetism, Callalloo, Gathering Ground, Role Call, Def Poetry Jam, and Poetry Nation. He received the Furious Flower “Emerging Poet Award.” A Cave Canem fellow, he has a CD of jazz and poetry entitled ‘LibationSong’.
Sibelan Forrester is author of Second-Hand Fate and has published translations of poetry and prose from Croatian, Russian and Serbian. Her poems have appeared in Apiary, Small Craft Warnings, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and others. She is host of the Mad Poets Society’s First Wednesday Readings at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, PA and she is a professor of Russian language and literature at Swarthmore College.
Dave Worrell, host – open reading follows

Tribute to Peter E. Murphy @ the South Philadelphia Library
2019-09-15 14:00 | South Philadelphia Free Library, 1700 S. Broad Street (Morris Street), Philadelphia, PA, 19145, United States
Sunday September 15, 2019 – 2pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the South Philadelphia Library, 1700 S. Broad Street
Join us in celebrating the work & impact of Peter E. Murphy, author of ten books and chapbooks including two books of writing prompts and Stubborn Child. The founder of Murphy Writing of Stockton University, Peter has received dozens of awards and fellowships, was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and has led hundreds of workshops for writers & teachers.
Release of A Tribute to Peter D. Murphy and readings by the contributors.

New Voices @ Shakespeare & Co.
2019-09-15 14:00 | Shakespeare and Co., 1632 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
Sunday September 15, 2019 – 2pm
Moonstone Poetry @ Shakespeare & Co. 1632 Walnut St
New Voices: Philadelphia’s Emerging Poets
Joey Iozzi, 17, attends the Performing Arts Academy (NJ). An Acting major, he is influenced by the artists he surrounds himself with. While performing, he found his love of speech and how impactful it can be to not only perform, but to write as well.
Alex Mark, 21, is a senior English major at Saint Joseph’s University, and serves as Online Editor for The Hawk Student Newspaper (for which she has written over 30 articles in the past 3 years). She is published in Crimson & Gray (the university’s student-run literary journal). Her favorite authors include Oscar Wilde, Anne Rice, and Haruki Murakami.
Spencer Nitkey, 22, is a writer and poet based in Philadelphia, PA. His poems and prose have appeared in Short Editions, The Gateway Review, Critical Read, and more. He recently graduated Temple University with a degree in journalism and is passionate about learning, people, literature, and innovation.

Elise Brand, Steve Deutsch, and Jacalyn Shelley @ Fergie's Pub
2019-09-11 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday September 11, 2019 – 7pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Elise Brand is an English teacher, writer, poet, and adviser of Journeys to America and The Maple Legacy. Her poetry has appeared in journals and she served on the board of MCPL for six years.
Steve Deutsch writes poetry, short fiction and a blog. His work has appeared in Eclectica Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, New Verse News, Silver and other journals.
Jacalyn Shelley, a member of the South Jersey Poets Collective, participates in poetry readings in Atlantic City and hosts the Leap Street Poets Workshop. She’s been published in various journals and she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Dave Worrell, host – open reading follows

Remembering A. V. Christie @ PhillyCAM
2019-09-10 18:30 | 699 Ranstead Street, 699 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ PhillyCAM, 699 Ranstead Street
2019 Philly Loves Poetry Interview and Readings Series at PhillyCAM
Comcast Cable 66/966HD/967 or Verizon FIOS 29/30 in Philadelphia.
The program is broadcast live on the first Tuesday of each month, it is free and open to everyone. Please join us.
Remembering A. V. Christie (author of Nine Skies, The Housing and The Wonders died on April 7, 2016. Christie has received grants from the NEA, PCA & MCA. She was a visiting writer at Villanova, LaSalle, Bryn Mawr, Gouche, the University of Maryland, and Penn State Abington.)
With: Nathalie Anderson, author of Following Fred Astaire, Crawlers and Quiver. Her poems have appeared in journals including Atlanta Review, DoubleTake, Natural Bridge, The New Yorker, and The Recorder. A Pew Fellow, she serves as Poet in Residence at the Rosenbach Museum and teaches at Swarthmore College. Alix Christie, sister of the late poet A.V. Christie, is an author, critic and journalist. She is the author of Gutenberg’s Apprentice, a reporter, and foreign correspondent who lives in San Francisco where she writes and reviews books and arts for The Economist. Taije Silverman, author of Houses Are Fields, has work in journals including The Georgia Review, Gettysburg Review, Five Points, The Nation, and Ploughshares. Her honors include a Pushcart, fellowships at Yaddo and MacDowell, and a Fulbright. She teaches poetry and translation at the University of Pennsylvania.
Charles S. Carr, Host

Kenny Walker Jr. and Cassendre Xavier @ Fergie's Pub
2019-09-04 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday September 4, 2019 – 7pm
Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Kenny Walker Jr started writing poetry at the age of 10, his main influences are the Last Poets, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone and Prince. At the age of 24, he first started reading in public and at jazz clubs, where he learned his timing and incorporated spoken word to music. Kenny has hosted readings at the Deptford Public Library.
Cassendre Xavier is a proud bearded woman, Leeway Transformation Award-winning survivor artist, erotic artist, musician and poet who has been creating art and community in Philadelphia since 1991. She has been a featured reader at the Women’s Writing & Spoken Word Series, the Black Women’s Arts Festival, Poets & Prophets, and the Erotic Literary Salon.
Sean Lynch, host – open reading follows

Brother Jahi, Kyu & Barrett Rosser @ Fergie's Pub
2019-08-28 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
The Philadelphia Writing Project Presents:
Silvino J. Alexander Jr., “Brother Jahi” is an educator, poet, author, and mentor/consultant currently residing in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children. His poetry reflects the uncompromising reality of this world. Sydney Hunt Coffin has taught English, Poetry, and Art in Philadelphia, worked with the Advisory Council of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and as a poet has been published in Mad House Press, Apiary magazine, and Yale Universary Press.
Leah J. Mahoney “Kyu” is a local hip hop artist, freelance model, and spoken word poet living in Upper Darby, PA. Kyu is best known for her vivid wordplay and fiery cadence. Her mission is to be a healer and advocate for creative expression. Horace Rooney has developed programs to provide mentorship and sports related outlets and managed the summer institution. Currently, he is working towards completion of the Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Program.
Barrett Rosser is passionate about diversity, equity, inclusiveness and maintaining a culturally relevant stance as an educator: justice for self, relational justice, and social justice drives Barrett as a human being.
Hosts: Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook

Chapbook Release Party: 5 Featured Authors @ Fergie's Pub
2019-08-21 14:00 - 17:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub – Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Chapbook Release Party & Reading
Leonard Kress has published poetry and fiction in Missouri Review, Massachusetts Review, Iowa Review, American Poetry Review, Harvard Review among others. His recent collections are The Orpheus Complex, Walk like Bo Diddley, Living in the Candy Store, and Other Poems.
Lisa Konigsberg is a teacher and poet working and residing in the Philadelphia area. She aims to expose larger cultural truths, especially women’s realities, and her personal experience in light of human experience, using historical context as the frame.
Brooke Palma has been published in The Mad Poets’ Review, Whirlwind Magazine, and Moonstone Art and featured elsewhere. As the child of an immigrant, many of her poems focus on the connections between culture and identity and finding beauty in the everyday.
Sarah Trembath is currently on faculty in the Writing Studies Program at American University in D.C. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Everyday Feminism, Azure Literary Journal, The Santa Fe Writer’s Project Quarterly, and DCist.
Rocky Wilson is a poet, performance artist, and substitute teacher ho lives along the Delaware River in Camden. In Dance with Me, he blends his love for dance with his love of poetry..

'Philadelphia Says: Women Are Voting' Anthology Release & Reading @ Fergie's Pub
2019-08-18 14:00 - 17:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub – Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Philadelphia Says: Women Are Voting
For the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment (the right of women to vote)
Moonstone asks: What is the condition of women’s lives today?
Women’s right to vote was passed in 1919, What did it accomplish?
What still needs to be done?
Women vote with their feet as well as at the ballot box.
And with their pens.
Philadelphia poets respond.

New Voices: Matilda Bray, Elisha Gibson, & Bella Randazzo @ Shakespeare & Co.
2019-08-18 14:00 - 17:00 | Shakespeare and Co., 1632 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ Shakespeare & Co. – 1632 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
New Voices: Philadelphia’s Emerging Poets
Matilda Bray (14) “Matilda’s ability to focus on one or two unifying images and mine them metaphorically is extraordinary. Matilda is a brave and gifted poet.” – Joanne Leva, executive director of the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program.
Elisha Gibson is a Poet, illustrator, and musician and a Lancaster resident with a passion to revel in the abstract and poetic aspects of life. Out of that, he has published a collection of poems and illustrations titled Prospectives.
Bella Randazzo is a freshman at Drexel University studying Environmental Engineering, currently living in rural South Jersey. From a young age and now at 18, her passion for reaching the hearts and minds of others extends across mediums such as STEM, culinary arts, illustration, music, mental health awareness, and, most evidently, poetry and prose. With empathy and self-truth as fuel, she allows slam poetry and spoken word to be poetic vessels through which she can connect with the world in a personal yet profound way.
Host: Krisann Janowitz

Poetry & Humor: Hannah McDonald, Scott Sigl, & Jonathon Todd @ Fergie's Pub
2019-08-14 19:00 - 21:30 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub – Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Poetry & Humor with Hannah McDonald, who has performed at The Bechdel Test fest, the National Poetry Slam, etc
Scott Sigl is a musician, poet, and teacher who has performed poems, as well as haikus in Boston, Charlotte, Oakland, New York,
Jonathon Todd is a poet and musician, whose work deals with observations and trying to find humanity outside of and within labor.
Aaren Perry, Host – Open Reading Follows

Floyd Brown & Joe Roarty @ Fergie's Pub
2019-08-07 19:00 - 21:30 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Floyd Brown is a poet and hip-hop artist who was born in Wilmington, Delaware and lives in North Philadelphia.
Joe Roarty’s poetry is high octane energy, passionate intelligence, supercharged, insistent blues, jazz and heightened speech rhythms.
Sean Lynch, Host – Open Reading Follows

2019 Philly Loves Poetry and New Voices @ PhillyCAM (Watch Live on Cable!)
2019-08-06 18:30 - 19:30 | 699 Ranstead Street, 699 Ranstead Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19106, United States
2019 Philly Loves Poetry Interview and Readings Series at PhillyCAM
A Discussion with New Voices host Krisann Janowitz and readings by New Voices participants. New Voices: Philadelphia’s Emerging Poets program
The program is broadcast live on the first Tuesday of each month, it is free and open to everyone. Please join us and Watch live on Comcast Cable 66/966HD/967 or Verizon FIOS 29/30 in Philadelphia!
Krisann Janowitz, host of New Voices, is a poet. Wife. Dog owner. Philadelphian. Adventurer. Learner. Believer. Part-time political commentator. & music appreciator.
Matilda Bray (14) “Matilda’s ability to focus on one or two unifying images and mine them metaphorically is extraordinary. Matilda is a brave and gifted poet.”
– Joanne Leva, executive director of the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program.
Elisha Gibson is a Poet, illustrator, and musician and a Lancaster resident with a passion to revel in the abstract and poetic aspects of life. He is author of Prospectives.
Spencer Nitkey (22) is an Educator, Communicator, Writer, Researcher, and Storyteller.
Jennifer Nessel (22) graduated Saint Joe’s where she received the Best Short Story award from Crimson and Gray. She explores trauma and storytelling in the age of the ‘Me Too’ movement.
Charles S. Carr, Host

Marion Bell and Kyle Brown-Watson @ Fergie's Pub
2019-07-31 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday, July 31th, 2019 – 7pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s, 1214 Sansom Street (second floor)
Poetry & Politics with Ryan Eckes
Marion Bell is a poet, social work student and mental health worker living in Philadelphia. She has been shaped by Philly poetry communities over the last decade. She is the author of AUSTERITY (Radiator Press 2019).
Kyle Brown-Watson is a bookseller based in Philadelphia. He has read poetry and fiction on stage for Empty Set Press and the Breweytown Social. Before that, he worked in advertising, software development, and heaven forgive him, television.
Ryan Eckes, host, open reading follows

Celebrating Jawdat Fakhreddine's "The Sky That Denied Me"
2019-07-24 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s, 1214 Sansom Street (second floor)
Celebrating Jawdat Fakhreddine’s The Sky That Denied Me
Translated & Presented by Huda Fakhreddine & Roger Allen
Jawdat Fakhreddine belongs to the second generation of Arab modernists. In Lebanon, he is sometimes included under the label “Poets of the South” (shu‘arā al-janūb) which circulated in the late 1970s and early 1980sThe Sky That Denied Me, includes poetry about familial love, displacement, memory, and grief.
Huda J. Fakhreddine is Assistant Professor of Arabic literature at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of Metapoesis in the Arabic Tradition and Zaman Saghir taht shams thaniya (A Small Time under a Different Sun). Her translations of modern Arabic poems have appeared in Nimrod, ArabLit Quarterly and Middle Eastern Literatures. Roger Allen was the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also served Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations. Among his studies on Arabic literature are: The Arabic Novel: an historical and critical introduction, and The Arabic Literary Heritage . Huda J. Fakhreddine will also read her own poetry in both Arabic and English
Alina Macneal & Jennifer Hook, Hosts – Open Reading Following

Meredith Z. Avakian, Hanoch Guy, & Hermond Palmer
2019-07-17 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Wednesday July 17, 2019 – 7pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub, Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
Meredith Z. Avakian is a writer, poet, and the author of Propaganda Begins with PR: Poetry for the Soul and PRhyme Time: Power of Poetry. Her poetry has also been published in The Armenian Mirror-Spectator, The Literary Groong, and elsewhere, where she focuses on self-reflection, transformation, history, justice, and humanity. Hanoch Guy spent his childhood in Israel, is a bilingual poet in Hebrew and English, emeritus professor of Jewish and Hebrew literature at Temple University. Hanoch is the author of seven English and a Hebrew poetry collection, His newest books are Nokaddish: Wrestlng with God. Springtime in Moldova: Poems of fantasy and dreams and Back to Terezin: Holocaust poems. Hermond Palmer is author of Echoes from the Quiet that I Keep, Words to Fill the Light in You, and What the Ancestors Told Me and I Decided to Listen. He has performed his work at spoken-word venues in Harlem, Philadelphia, Washington and at the National Black Arts Festival. A founding member of the Westchester based writing group ‘Nuff Said, he is a regular contributor to The Washington Informer.

Philadelphia Says: Struggle for Freedom
2019-07-14 14:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Chapbook release party & reading event
Sunday July 14, 2019 – 2pm
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub – Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
July 4 is Independence Day in the US
July 14 is Bastille Day in France
Every country has an Independence Day
Every person wants to be FREE
Hear what Philadelphia poets have to say about this.
Book release with the contributors reading

Not all contributors will be reading.
Liz Abrams-Morley Linda Goss Carol Moog
Ahmad Almallah Steven Halpern Peter Murphy
Georgina Bard Suzán Jivàn Leonard Neufeldt
Margaret Chew Barringer Leonard Kress Gloria Nixon-John
Mary Brownell Cynthia Lee Hermond Palmer
Mary Calloway Hazel Lee Jaz
Jose Cedillos Lynette Julie Rainbow
Philip Dykhouse John Mason George Schaefer
Deborah Fries Kate McGourty Mbarek Sryfi
John Timpane
Chapbook will be available for purchase online if you are unable to attend the event!

New Voices: Jennifer Nessel, Bee Fanty, & Ian Palmer
2019-07-14 14:00 | Shakespeare and Co., 1632 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA, 19103, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ Shakespeare & Co
1632 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
New Voices: Philadelphia’s Emerging Poets (under the age of 25).
Jennifer Nessel is a graduate from Saint Joe’s, received the Best Short Story award from her university’s literary magazine, and has received funding for a novella entitled, ‘The Cage,’ through which she explored trauma and story-telling in the age of the ‘Me Too’ movement. Bianca “Bee” Fanty is graduate from UARTS, writes about trauma, hallucinations, and the mundane. These are also reflected in her illustrations, prose, music, and filmmaking. She served as an editor for UArts’ literary magazine, Underground Pool. Ian Palmer has lived in nine countries and tries to contend gently with everything he sees, he is 21 years old and a senior at Swarthmore College studying political science, religion, and poetry.

Moonstone Presents: Haiku
2019-07-10 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Moonstone Poetry @ the Pub – Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street
HAIKU
Bring your Haiku to share with us!
What is Haiku?
Renowned for its small size and precise syllabic makeup, Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five moras (a unit of sound that determines syllable weight in some languages). Haiku typically contain a kigo (seasonal reference), and a kireji (cutting word). In Japanese, Haiku are traditionally printed in a single vertical line and tend to adopt aspects of nature as their subject matter, while Haiku in English often appear in three lines to parallel the three phrases of Japanese Haiku and may deal with any subject matter.
Haiku traditionally consist of five, seven, and five syllables, like this translation by Alan Watts of the Haiku master Basho:
The old pond
A frog jumps in:
Plop!
Steve Clark puts a hometown twist on this format, inventing the Philadelphia Haiku: two, one, and five syllables based on our area code:
Bread, Cheez-
Whiz,
Steak. Revolution!
What can you do with this? Show us your Haiku creativity!
Haiku enthusiasts Steve Clark, Hannah McDonald, and Scott Sigl: Expected Readers
Larry Robin, Host, Open Reading Follows

Moonstone Poetry @ Fergie's Pub
2019-07-03 19:00 | Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Joseph Rathgeber is an author, poet, high school English teacher, and adjunct professor from New Jersey. He is the author of Mixedbloods, The Abridged Autobiography of Yousef R. and Other Stories, and MJ. He has received fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts. Mixedbloods is a story of identity, of a cultural history under attack, and of destructive—often violent—behavior. It documents a class struggle between the rich and poor, but also between the organic and the inorganic, and thus between the forces of life and the forces of death.
Sean Lynch, Host, Open Reading Follows
