COMMONWEAL
Saturday 4/12
2-3:30pm

In an era defined by turmoil, poetry of witness is newly defined by resistance. Although anger is culturally maligned as immature, reactionary, hysterical, and easily dismissed by the structures that be, what connects us to seemingly insurmountable forces of oppression is our fury in the face of indignity.

In this workshop, participants will work in the lineage of poetry of witness, considering the evolution and contemporary iteration of the response poem. Together, we will work with, not through, righteous indignation at the state of the world. This is not fine. Let’s whine about it. 

Workshop takes place Saturday, April 5, 2025, at 10am CST.

​After you register, you will receive an "admission ticket" with the zoom link information on it.

$35 or FREE to Members

Annual Membership $35

Join Raena Shirali, Megan Peak, Katie Condon, and Mag Gabbert at The Wild Detectives in Dallas, TX on Sunday, 10/27 at 5pm CST! Hannah Smith will MC. It’s gonna be sweet.

P&T Knitwear is pleased to welcome Kiran Bath to celebrate the release of her debut poetry collection, Instructions for Banno — a book threading timelines and geographies of the women in Bath's family to understand the inherited consequences of becoming a South Asian bride (banno) — with a discussion, audience Q&A, and book signing!

Kiran will be joined in conversation with critically acclaimed poet Raena Shirali. After the talk, Kiran will sign copies of Instructions for Banno.

• This is a ticketed in-store event with limited amphitheater-style seating

• Cost of a $5 general admission ticket can be applied towards your purchase of the featured event book or any product in our café the night of an event.

• We encourage all guests to wear masks.

• The talk will be followed by a book signing. Books signed at P&T Knitwear events must be purchased from P&T Knitwear. If you would like a signed copy and cannot attend the event, we're happy to take your pre-order. We ship most places!

• Get your tickets here!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kiran Bath is a writer based in New York. She has received fellowships and support from Poets House, the Vermont Studio Center and Brooklyn Poets. Kiran is a Kundiman fellow and a Tin House alumnus. Her writing appears in wildness, The Adroit Journal, The Brooklyn Rail and other journals.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Raena Shirali is the author of two collections of poetry. Her first book, GILT, was released by YesYes Books in 2017 and won the 2018 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Published by Black Lawrence Press in October 2022, her second book, summonings, won the 2021 Hudson Prize and was shortlisted for the 2022 Julie Suk Award. She holds an MFA in Poetry from The Ohio State University and is an Associate Professor of English at Holy Family University in Philadelphia.

What happens when we dismiss rage—our own or each other’s? Anger is culturally maligned as immature, reactionary, hysterical, thus easily dismissed by the structures that be. But what connects us to seemingly insurmountable forces of oppression is just that—our fury in the face of indignity. In this free lecture hosted by Blue Stoop, Raena will offer new insights into anger as a generative tool in the writing process, thinking, always, about the relationship between author and subject, guiding attendees in their own journeys towards writing rage ethically.

Registration details TBD!

Readings are in the side yard (we'll move inside in case of rain)

*Hilltop is a short walk from the Chestnut Hill West regional rail station on the CHW line.

There are a few steps to access the yard.

Free! Optional donations collected for the readers.

Light snacks provided at the break.

Facebook event here.

About the Readers:

Rahul Mehta is the author of the novel No Other World , the short story collection Quarantine, and most recently the poetry collection Feeding the Ghosts. Their work has received a Lambda Literary Award and an Asian American Literary Award and has appeared in numerous publications including the Kenyon Review, the Massachusetts Review, the Georgia Review, The Sun, and the New York Times Magazine. Born and raised in West Virginia in a Gujarati-American household, they currently live in Northwest Philly and teach in the BFA creative writing program at the University of the Arts. 

Ted Rees is a poet, essayist, and editor living and working in Philadelphia. He is the author of DOG DAY ECONOMY (Roof Books, 2022, THANKSGIVING: A POEM (finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, Golias Books, 2020), and In Brazen Fontanelle Aflame (Timeless, Infinite Light, 2018). His essays have been published in The Back Room, The Poetry Project Newsletter, Libertines in the Ante-Room of Love: Poets on Punk, Full Stop Quarterly, and ON Contemporary Practice's monograph on New Narrative. He is Associate Editor for The Elephants, as well as founder and co-editor of Asterion Projects with Levi Bentley.

Raena Shirali is the author of two collections of poetry. Her first book, GILT, was released by YesYes Books in 2017 and won the 2018 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. Published by Black Lawrence Press in October 2022, her second book, summonings, won the 2021 Hudson Prize and was shortlisted for the 2022 Julie Suk Award. She holds an MFA in Poetry from The Ohio State University and is an Associate Professor of English at Holy Family University in Philadelphia.

Stan Mir is the author of two full-length collections, Song & Glass (Subito, 2010) and The Lacustrine Suite (Pavement Saw, 2011). His art and poetry reviews have appeared in Asian-American Literary Review, Hyperallergic, and Jacket2. He lives in Philadelphia and teaches writing and literature at Temple University. 

Card-carrying Philiterati, fellow poets and poetesses, bookish types, and imaginative people who like fun, come through Tattooed Moms for a night of readings to celebrate No Spare People, the new poetry collection by Erin Hoover.

As part of a special Black Lawrence Press poetry showcase, Hoover will read from No Spare People alongside her press mates local and near to Philly: Claudia Cortese (Wasp Queen), Nancy Reddy (Acadiana), and Raena Shirali (summonings).

The night will feature a specially created custom cocktail, ‘Name TBD,’ by Sean McKnight of Rose’s Bar and Grill in Brooklyn, NY, courtesy of Tattooed Mom. Feed your heads, hearts, and tummies at a Philadelphia institution.

NO COVER // FREE FUN

Join Raena Shirali, Stephanie Cawley, and guest readers TBD to celebrate the launch of Alina Pleskova’s TOSKA at Fungus Books in Pittsburgh!

Readings will start at 6:00 PM, feel free to come early and hang out and look at books and records.

Join us to celebrate the launch of Alina Pleskova’s TOSKA at Le Comptoir du Vin in Baltimore! Alina will read alongside Anna K. Crooks, Aeon Ginsburg, Edgar Kunz, Raena Shirali, Stephanie Cawley, hosted by Kelly Xio!

Join us for a celebration of Megan Fernandes’ I Do Everything I’m Told in Philly, at Fergie’s Pub! Megan will read with Raena Shirali and Nicole Steinberg, hosted by the Moonstone Arts Center Poetry Series.

KUNDIMAN Presents A Night of Asian American Poetry: They Will Rise Like A Wave Anthology Launch!

Featured Readers: Christine Kitano, Shelley Wong, Su Cho, Maria Isabelle Carlos, Manahil Bandukwala, Maw Shein Win, Megan Pinto, Raena Shirali, CE Shue, Jihyun Yun, and Carlina Duan. 

Coffee and Light Snacks will be served (plus it’s a cafe if you need more sustenance!)

Stop by Black Lawrence Press’ Bookfair table, Booth #1127 in the Summit Building of the Seattle Convention Center, to have your copy of summonings signed by Raena Shirali!

Writing from the perspective of another requires great investment and momentous risk, all with no promise of reward. So why do poets continue to explore persona as a creative approach in our work?

In this in-person workshop at The Ruby in San Francisco, CA, Shirali, author of new poetry collection summonings, will present her scholarship on the persona spectrum, discussing “near” persona and “far” persona as ways of conceiving of our poems’ speakers. Through discussing the process of writing her own “near” and “far” persona poems in summonings, students will engage in philosophical exploration of the ethical stakes and creative potential inherent in stepping outside our own subjectivities. Students will then write the other, or write the self, or—better yet—collapse that distinction entirely.

Writers of all levels and genres are welcome! Register at the Eventbrite.

More info here.

Join Raena at Rosemont College. She will read from summonings alongside author Stephanie Feldman.

Join us on Tuesday for readings and Q&A’s with our fabulous authors: MJ Jones and Raena Shirali. Registration on Zoom is required for attendance. Register here!

Join us today, Monday, January 30 at 6:30 PM for a recording of Live at the Writers House, our collaboration with 88.5 WXPN. This episode was curated by undergraduate assistant Nik Donoughe and will feature readings by seven Philly writers including Veronica Bennett, David Jones, Alina Pleskova, Trina Sanyal, Parker Sera, Raena Shirali, and Alex Smith. They'll be joined by musical guest Riverby. 

This episode will air on WXPN (88.5) on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 10:00 PM.

View the event on Facebook here. Register to attend in-person here.

Join Raena and Mónica Gomery to celebrate their new collections, Summonings (Black Lawrence Press) and Might Kindred (University of Nebraska)

Join us for the November installation of Philly’s queer & trans reading series, You Can't Kill A Poet, at Tattooed Mom! Readers include Mónica Gomery, Quinn Rodriguez, Raena Shirali, Alina Pleskova, Cam Simmons, Boston Gordon, Kareal Amenumey, and Monica Huang!

Doors at 7:30pm. Reading at 8pm.

Join local poet Raena Shirali and friends to celebrate the launch of summonings with a night of poetry and art at Tattooed Mom!

summonings investigates the ongoing practice of witch (“daayan”) hunting in India. These poems explore how antiquated and existing norms surrounding female mysticism in India and America inform each culture’s treatment of women, concepts that will be in conversation with the rest of the work from this incredible lineup of compelling Philadelphia poets. 

In addition to readings from this collection and the work of Emma Brown Sanders, Cindy Arrieu-King, Kathy Fagan, Kim Gek Lin Short, and Alina Pleskova, the night will feature paintings by Brooklyn based artist Meera Dugal. All together, it will be a night of delicious drinks, tasty bites, and riveting art at a Philadelphia institution.

Readings and a conversation between Alina and Raena from 6:00pm-7:30pm. Cocktails and book signings from 7:30pm-9pm.

21+ with valid ID.

Facebook Event here

Join us for an in-person book signing with Black Lawrence Press with authors Raena Shirali and Christopher Locke!

The authors will be out in front of the store if weather allows, and if it's too cold/raining, the authors move inside. Masks will be required to enter the store. No need to RSVP, just feel free to stop by! More info here.

NYC folks, please join us for the New York launch of Raena Shirali's summonings! Performers and artists featured include:

Poet Kiran Bath (Brooklyn)

Interdisciplinary Artist/Writer Jayson P. Smith (Bronx)

Poet/Essayist Gala Mukomolova (Brooklyn)

Painter Meera Dugal (who did the book's cover art) (Brooklyn)

Violinist Natie Barret-Mas (Brooklyn)

Get your tickets here! Facebook event here. Doors open at 6:30pm.

Limited Open Mic starts promptly at 7PM. Time limit for each slot is a strict 5 minutes. Poetry and Spoken Word only!

Produced by the long-running Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word, which has featured Grammy, Golden Globe, Tony, Obie, and Pulitzer Prize winners, as well as Emmy nominees, American Idol finalists, America's Got Talent finalists, and HBO Def Poetry stars.

Directions

Take the F train to 2nd Avenue, go up the 1st Avenue stairwell and walk east. 

Raena will read from her new collection, summonings, at Eaton Lounge in Bresee Hall at Hartwick College. COVID-19 vax required! More info here: https://www.hartwick.edu/academics/academic-departments/english-department/visiting-writers-series/