Events

• October 24, 7:00 PM

  The Witching Hour: A Night of Poetry

  If you’re in the Halloween spirit for some bewitching poetry, come celebrate the launch of Jess Rizkallah’s new book of poems, the magic my body becomes. She will be joined by poets Marwa Helal, Aria Aber, and Melissa Lozada-Oliva, all of whom write into different sorts of magics: the body, family, immigration, language, community, love, and loss. In the magic my body becomes, Jess Rizkallah explores the complexities of being too Arab for America and too American for her Lebanese elders weaving in family history, civil war and trauma, religion, and memories of Lebanon. In a forceful yet tender reclaiming of the body, she speaks out against the sexualisation and shame to which women are subjected, from both sides of her identity. RESERVE A SEAT! $5 SUGGESTED DONATION | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Winner of the 2017 Etel Adnan Poetry Prize, Jess Rizkallah seeks a vernacular for the inescapable middle ground of being Arab American in her debut poetry collection, the magic my body becomes (University of Arkansas Press, 2017). Safia Elhillo writes, “I cannot stress enough how important it feels, as children of parents whose worlds had to end so ours could begin, to have poets like Jess giving voice to the doubled identities we carry.” Rizkallah is a Lebanese-American writer and illustrator living between Boston and New York City. A recent graduate from Lesley University with a BA in English, Creative Writing, and Illustration and currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at New York University, as well as founder and editor at Pizza Pi Press and Maps for Teeth. Check out her poem, “where are we headed” in The Margins. Marwa Helal is a poet and journalist. Her work appears in Apogee, Hyperallergic, the Offing, Poets & Writers, the Recluse, Winter Tangerine and elsewhere. She is the author of I AM MADE TO LEAVE I AM MADE TO RETURN (No, Dear/Small Anchor Press, 2017) and Invasive species (Nightboat Books, 2019). Helal is the winner of BOMB Magazine’s Biennial 2016 Poetry Contest and has been awarded fellowships from Poets House, Brooklyn Poets, and Cave Canem. Born in Al Mansurah, Egypt, Helal currently lives and teaches in Brooklyn, New York. She received her MFA in creative nonfiction from The New School and her BA in journalism and international studies from Ohio Wesleyan University. Watch Marwa read “An Ode to DJ Khaled” on AAWW TV. Aria Aber was born to Afghan parents in Munster, Germany. After finishing school, she relocated to London, where she studied English Literature at Goldsmiths College, University of London and currently lives in New York City to pursue her MFA in poetry as a Writers in Public Schools fellow at NYU. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming from The Poetry Review, Best British Poetry 2015, Muzzle Magazine, Prelude, Lighthouse, Reservoir, decomP, and many others. She has been awarded the New Writing Prize in Poetry from Wasafiri, as well as fellowships from Kundiman and Dickinson House. Check out Aria’s poem, “Azalea Azalea,” in The Margins. Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a spoken word poet & educator living in Boston whose fierceness and charm have made her a near-instant slam poetry phenomenon. She is a current National Poetry Slam Champion, a Brenda Moosey Video Slam Champion, and the author of the chapbook Plastic Pájaros. Her poem "Like Totally Whatever" scored the highest at the National Poetry Slam finals, propelling her team to victory and herself into the national spotlight, appearing on Upworthy, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and countless other media outlets. Melissa's ability to speak truth to power as an unapologetically feminist Latina comes as a breath of fresh air to audiences perhaps expecting the "same old slam poetry". Blending power, warmth, and flat-out hilarity, Melissa leaves audiences not only excited about changing the world, but excited about being a part of that change. Watch Melissa perform “Like Totally Whatever” at the National Poetry Slam here. /\ /\ \/\/ \/\/..
  
• October 26, 6:30 PM

  Know Your Rights, Know Your Power: Training & Cultural Night

  Learn about your rights while singing your heart out! Join us for a night of strengthening and celebrating our resistance as Attorney Jackie Mariano leads a Know Your Rights training on immigration and political demonstrations. Material Support, an agit-punk band which Mariano fronts, shares the stage with their lead singer to ground us in the necessity of bold, collective action through their unapologetic brand of pinoy hardcore punk. RESERVE A SEAT $5 SUGGESTED DONATION | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Jackie Mariano is a community-based attorney hailing from Queens, NY. Her legal career is rooted in her dedication to fight for and alongside immigrant communities to seek justice from exploitation and build dignified lives for themselves and their families. As a longtime New York City activist, Mariano serves as the co-chairperson of the National Lawyers Guild International Committee and the chairperson of New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP). Described as “Queens’ New Agitprop Poets”, Material Support is a Filipina-fronted agit punk band from Queens, NY, who are agitated by state repression, government corruption, and patriarchy. Material Support’s anti-imperialist punk anthems blast searing lyrics like, “Bougie ass white girl / Peace Corps to my homeland / offers people band aids / for the blisters on their feet” as heard in their iconic “Bougies Ass White Girl.” Their name is a reclaiming of the federal charge legislated under the Patriot Act that condemns those providing material support for terrorism and has been criticized by civil rights advocates for criminalizing and targeting activists. The band released their four-song debut EP Balikbayan Box in July 2016 on Filipino-American label Aklasan Records and released the first tracks “Solidarity/KYR” of their debut album this past summer. Check out their interview in Maximum Rocknroll here. /\ /\ \/\/ \/\/..
  
• October 31, 6:00 PM

  Workshop: Start and Finish

  Five Sessions, 2.5 hours each (6-8:30pm) Tuesdays October 31st, November 7th, November 14th, November 21st, November 28th Fees & Payment Options: $350 General / $320 AAWW Members (Join the Fanclub!) Full payment due before first class. Maximum of twenty students. Why You Should Take This Class: This workshop lives in the terrifying space between the aspirational (dreams, wishes) and the practical (goals, time). Collectively, we will map our visions, examine our roadblocks and design honest work practices that sustain us for many long hauls. Along the way, participants will start and finish many-a-project, and ready ourselves to tackle our biggest ambitions. We’ll get it done, whatever it is. Class Description: “Starting’ and ‘finishing” are muscles; together we will train them. This five-session workshop will include improv, design, and writing exercises, and is open to participants of any creative practice. REGISTER HERE “From my youth on, my personal motto has been the old Latin tag, Festina lente, hurry slowly.” — Italo Calvino Janani Balasubramanian is a writer of speculative fiction whose work has been presented at more than 160 stages across North America and Europe, including The Public Theater, MOMA, Red Bull Arts, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most recently, Janani premiered Heisenberg (an audio augmented reality game on uncertainty and chaos) at the New York High Line. Janani is currently working on Sleeper, a dystopian trilogy about sleep and physics. See more at sleepertrilogy.com. Questions? Contact Tiffany Le at tle@aaww.org /\ /\ \/\/ \/\/..