Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Kay Ulanday Barrett present Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic and Showcase! Are you a writer? Come share your work at this virtual edition of our open mic, Mouth to Mouth, a bimonthly showcase dedicated to uplifting Queer, Non-Binary, and Transgender BIPOC poets.

Hosted by Kay Ulanday Barrett and Ashna Ali, this edition of Mouth to Mouth features Venus Selenite, Porsha Olayiwola, Jake Skeets. Join us on 12/07 at 7 PM ET!

RSVP HERE!

**Want to perform? E-mail tle@aaww.org.

KAY ULANDAY BARRETT / @brownroundboi is a poet, performer, and cultural strategist. K. has featured at The Lincoln Center, The U.N., Symphony Space, The Poetry Foundation, Princeton University, The Dodge Poetry Foundation, The Hemispheric Institute, & Brooklyn Museum. They’ve received fellowships from MacDowell, Lambda Literary Review, Drunken Boat, VONA, and Macondo. Their contributions are found in The New York Times, Asian American Literary Review, NYLON, Vogue, PBS News Hour, The Advocate, The Rumpus, F(r)iction, and more. Their second poetry book, More Than Organs (Sibling Rivalry Press) was published this spring 2020.

ASHNA ALI is a queer Bangladeshi poet raised in Italy and based in Brooklyn. Their poetry has been published in several independent journals including Nat. Brut., HeART Online, The Felt, No Dear, Ginger Mag, femmescapes, and Bone Bouquet. They serve as assistant professor of literature at Bard High School Early College. They are currently working on their first book manuscript. IG and Twitter: @doctordushtu

Venus Di’Khadijah Selenite (xe/xym) is the author of trigger and The Fire Been Here, as well as co-editor of Nameless Woman: An Anthology of Fiction by Trans Women of Color. Xe are a poet, performer, interdisciplinary artist, and sex worker. Venus has featured at the Kennedy Center, Brown University, Wellesley College, and other various venues. A 2017 and 2019 Pink Door Fellow and a past finalist at the Capturing Fire International Queer Poetry Slam, xyr work and art can be explored and supported at: linktr.ee/mxvenusselenite.

Jake Skeets is the author of Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, winner of the National Poetry Series. He is the recipient of a 92Y Discovery Prize, a Mellon Projecting All Voices Fellowship, an American Book Award, and a Whiting Award. He is from the Navajo Nation and teaches at Diné College.

Black, futurist, poet, dyke, hip-hop feminist, womanist: Porsha Olayiwola is a native of Chicago who now resides in Boston. Olayiwola is a writer, performer, educator and curator who uses afro-futurism and surrealism to examine historical and current issues in the Black, woman, and queer diasporas. She is an Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the artistic director at MassLEAP, a literary youth organization. Olayiwola is an MFA Candidate at Emerson College. Porsha Olayiwola is the author of i shimmer sometimes, too and is the current poet laureate for the city of Boston.