How can poets of color use visual art, photos, and sound to explore absences in language? Come through for a reading featuring three multidisciplinary poets whose work embodies multiple genres of art, translation, and sound. Come see award-winning poet Diana Khoi Nguyen, whose debut collection Ghost Of was a finalist for the National Book Award. She’ll be joined by painter-poet Aldrin Valdez, author of the newly released ESL or You Weren’t Here, a collection about a queer Pinoy who immigrates to New York in the 1990s in order to be reunited with their parents. Apogee Editor and poet Joey de Jesus will share poems of spell-casting against imperialism that can be heard through feedback, loop pedals, and visual projection. Don’t miss this incredible night visually and sonically challenging poetry!

RESERVE A SEAT!
$5 SUGGESTED DONATION | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Diana Khoi Nguyen’s debut collection, Ghost Of (Omnidawn, 2018), was selected by Terrance Hayes for the Omnidawn Open Contest. Terrance Hayes writes, “There is nothing that is not music” for this poet. Poetry is found in the gaps, silences and ruptures of history. Sometimes it is as if these poems address the reflection of a ghost in a mirror.” In addition to winning the 92Y “Discovery” / Boston Review Poetry Contest and being a finalist for both the National Book Award and 2019 Kate Tufts Discovery Award, she is a PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of Denver. Check out two poems from Ghost Of in The Margins.

Aldrin Valdez is a Pinoy writer and visual artist. They grew up in Manila and Long Island and currently live in Brooklyn. Aldrin has been awarded fellowships from Queer/Art/Mentorship and Poets House. Their poetry & visual art appear in The Felt, Femmescapes, Nat Brut, Poor Claudia, and The Recluse. Aldrin has also presented work at Dixon Place, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Poetry Project. Collaborating with writer & organizer Ted Kerr, Aldrin co-organized Foundational Sharing (2011-2015), a salon series of readings, performances, & visual art. Most recently, they’ve co-curated two seasons of the Segue Reading Series with fellow poet Joël Díaz. Check out their poems and paintings inspired by family photos in The Margins.

Joey De Jesus is a poet and perennial adjunct. Joey edits poetry for Apogee Journal, received the 2017 NYFA/NYSCA Fellowship in Poetry and lives in Queens, New York. Poems have appeared in several venues in print and online and have been performed and/or installed in Artists Space, The New Museum, and elsewhere. Joey teaches at Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Image credit: Detail of Aldrin Valdez’s “Inside Space (Nanay)” 2012 mixed-media on paper 11 x 15 in.

This event will be livestreamed on the Asian American Writers’ Facebook page.

NOTE ON ACCESSIBILITY
*The space is wheelchair accessible. No stairs. Direct elevator from ground floor to 6th floor.
*We strongly encourage all participants of the space/event to be scent-free.
If you all have any other specific questions about accessibility, please email Tiffany Le at tle@aaww.org with any questions on reserving priority seating.

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