upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024
Public Parking is seeking writers [learn more]
Asian Arts Initiative (1219 Vine Street) will host City of Pearls Book Release with writer Sham-e-Ali Nayeem on April 23 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. Special guest poets & artists to be announced. [learn more]
Levi Bentley (ACG '17) reviews Alexis Pauline Gumbs's Black feminist speculative work "M Archive" for ArtBlog. [learn more]
PABJ granted awards to six honorees, including the Art Sanctuary founder and “Black Ice” author. [learn more]
A short poem on queerness and parenting featured in the LGBTQ literary magazine in October. [learn more]
A number of Leeway grantees will facilitate this season's offerings. [learn more]
A living tribute event to be held in celebration of the critically acclaimed poet will be held on September 16. [learn more]
Jax Peters Lowell (LTA ’09) was a Finalist in the Bosque Press 2017 Fiction Award. Her story, Parachute Girl, was published in the December, 2017 Issue 7. In other news, her story, The Pornographer Downstairs, was a Finalist for the Cutthroat 2017 Fiction Prize. [learn more]
Asian Arts Initiative hosts a book tour for Kay Ulanday Barrett's When the Chant Comes on Friday, February 2 at 7:00 PM. Unpicking vital political questions around race, disability and gender, Kay will be joined by local poets Osimiri Sprowal and Ras Mashramani (ACG '16). [learn more]
Ruth Deming (EAA '98) has a short story Mouse published online in Your One Phone Call. Ruth continues to promote her support group New Directions for people with depression, bipolar disorder and their loved ones. [learn more]
Join Indah Nuritasari (LTA '16, ACG '13, '11, '09) for Refugee Stories, a reading and conversation on December 16, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. [learn more]
Kayleb Rae Candrilli's (ACG '17) memoir in verse, What Runs Over, is available for pre-order from YesYes Books at a 20% discount until December 15. [learn more]
Juliana Reyes (ACG '17) wrote an essay on @justmike_ - How this Instagram poet turned being a good guy into a thriving business - for Washington Post's The Lily. [learn more]
Her Philly MOVES, a QTWOC-centerted arts and culture collective, is collecting submissions for an innovative QTWOC visibility project. Her Philly MOVES requests writings, poetry, illustrations, and photography that highlight the diverse perspectives of queer and trans women of color. [learn more]
Warrior Writers celebrates its 10th Birthday from November 17-19 with a happy hour, poetry reading, and party at various Center City locations. [learn more]
Cynthia Dewi Oka (ACG '16) hosts a book launch for her newest work, Salvage, on December 1 at the Asian Arts Initiative. Salvage is a collection of poems that explores the question "how do we transform the wreckage of our identities?" [learn more]
Pirate Jenny, the vindictive heroine dreamed up in Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera, sails into the 21st century as a modern-day poet and blueswoman. On November 5 at International House, Yolanda Wisher (ACG '08), Philadelphia’s Poet Laureate, imagines this retelling, inspired by Nina Simone’s powerful 1964 cover of the iconic song. Musing on black love and rage, civil rights, and the meaning of womanhood, Wisher presents a can't-miss, tour-de-force performance. [learn more]
On October 18 at 6:30 PM, join host Trapeta Mayson (ACG '14, LTA '07), Yolanda Wisher (ACG '08), and others at the Germantown Friends Free Library for an evening of poetry with an open mic to follow. Suggested donation is $5-10 online or cash at the door, benefitting Women In Transition. [learn more]
Acclaimed poet and author Bao Phi will be on hand for a reading and Q&A. There will also be a special screening of the new Ken Burns' documentary series, "The Vietnam War." [learn more]
Yolanda Wisher (ACG '08) and Lillian Dunn (ACG '12) participate in Monument Lab. [learn more]
Hurry Up and Wait is a juried exhibition at Asian Arts Initiative, curated by Adriel Luis. They invite submissions by artists working in visual art, literary arts, and performing arts on the subject of migration and immigration. Deadline is July 10. [learn more]
transcribez is a creative writing group for trans and gender non-conforming identified youth (ages 14-24). They meet the second Saturday of every month on Penn’s campus from 12:00-2:00 PM. Each session hosts a different guest facilitator, and all involved in the group are trans/gnc-identified. Though they started back in September 2016, youth are invited to join at any time. [learn more]
An excerpt from Coda Wei and Jai Arun Ravine's (ACG '16) collaborative writing project, Ambient Asian Space, was published in The Capilano Review. [learn more]
Theatre in the X and North Philly Peace Park present a play reading of SEASONS by Biko Eisen-Martin, with discussion and dance party, on Friday, May 19, 8:00 PM at North Philly Peace Park. [learn more]
Are you queer or trans and from the Middle East? ZA'FARAAN!, an online zine by and for queers of MENA, is looking for submissions! Original writing with English translations and visual art will be accepted via email by May 15, 2017. [learn more]
Pheralyn Dove (ACG '14) is the Featured Artist for Art Sanctuary's Open Gallery Night on April 20, 2017. She will be performing spoken word and reading excerpts from her forthcoming book of essays, No Time For Tears. There will also be a slideshow of Pheralyn's photography and visual art. Free admission! Light refreshments! Free giveaways! Open Mic following Pheralyn's presentation. It all happens at Art Sanctuary, 628 S. 16th Street, Philadelphia, 6:00 - 8:00 PM. [learn more]
Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher (ACG '08) has curated the 2017 Outbound Poetry Festival, presented by Philadelphia Contemporary, featuring performances by Denice Frohman (LTA '12), Monnette Sudler (LTA '11, ACG '15, '14), Trapeta Mayson (LTA '07, ACG '14), Ursula Rucker (LTA '08, ACG '08), and more! Events take place April 9-21. [learn more]
Lambda Literary, the nation’s oldest and largest literary arts organization advancing LGBTQ literature, announced the finalists of the 29th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, which include Metropolarity's Style of Attack Report and Jai Arun Ravine's The Romance of Siam. [learn more]
Join Asian Arts Initiative on April 7, 2017 at 7:00 PM for a showcase of poetry performances, featuring local poets and workshop participants of Sanctuary: A Migrant Poetry Workshop, organized by writer and activist Cynthia Dewi Oka (ACG '16), exploring questions of belonging, safety, and identity for (im)migrants in the wake of the 2016 presidential election through poetry arising from migrant traditions. [learn more]