The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is proud to host this special event, which brings together graduate students from Sarah Lawrence College who have been exploring an ever-deepening connection between creative practice and community building. At the heart of their commitment to self-expression and engagement with the wider world, each writer will share new poetry and illuminate outreach projects in-progress. Join us for an inspiring evening of art and action, reflection and celebration.
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Aditi Narayan hails from India by way of Dubai, UAE. Her international upbringing has greatly influenced the meanderings in her writing, as she continues to experiment with voice and push boundaries in her work. She gravitates toward storytelling that not only ponders the extraordinary in the ordinary, but also explores the complexities and contradictions of what makes us human. While she is a second-year Fiction student in the MFA Writing program at Sarah Lawrence, her writing wanders in the realms of poetry, speculative fiction and creative nonfiction. When Aditi is not agonizing over her words (or procrastinating, depending on how you look at it), she is either watching Only Murders in the Building (sparking her own true crime obsession), curating her – twenty-fifth? – Spotify playlist of angsty throwbacks, or finding excuses to show pictures of her dogs.
Briana Martin is a Bronx Native and first-generation college student. She is currently an MFA student in the Writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. In her free time, Briana enjoys traveling, working with plants, taking naps, and resting her mind, body, and soul.
Chanice Cruz is originally from Brooklyn, NY but credits Richmond ,VA for introducing her to the slam poetry world and expanding a love for storytelling. She is currently an Open Mic coordinator at Kew & Willow Books in Queens NY and is the co-host for a Latin-x bookish podcast called The Poet and the Reader. Her poems have been published in several literary magazines. She is currently getting her MFA in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence.
Fatimahzahra Nusairee is a writer and photographer from Maryland. She is currently an MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College studying poetry.
Jessica Fiorillo is a writer and photographer. For nearly ten years she covered food and travel, her work appearing in Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Food52, Self, Elizabeth Street, Edible Manhattan, The Daily Meal and PopSugar. She has a B.A. in psychology from Brown University, an MBA from UC Berkeley, and is a Randall Jarrell Fellow in the creative writing MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College. She lives in New York City.
Julia Kebuladze is a New Jersey native and drives like one. She has always enjoyed playing the violin, dancing in various unprofessional forms, eating meals made by her Ukrainian and Georgian grandmothers, connecting with people / animals / places, and writing about all of the above and beyond. At the University of Pittsburgh, she studied writing & music in the city between three rivers she loves deeply, and now lives in Manhattan as she pursues her MFA in Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is still most proud of winning “Best Delegate” at her eighth grade Model UN.
Lilyan LeaVesseur is a writer and artist from Chicago, IL and Encinitas, CA. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
Marisa Viola is pursuing her MFA in fiction at Sarah Lawrence College. Her background includes work in theater and film as a director, actor, and producer. She lives in the woods with her wife, dog, and cat, and regularly hosts backyard visits from bears, owls, foxes, and other beings.
Samyukta Raghavan is a 21-year old writer based in New York.
Shivani Mutneja is a second-year student in the Creative Writing MFA program at Sarah Lawrence College. Her poems and prose have appeared in Nether Quarterly, Jellyfish Review, Two Serious Ladies, and decomp Journal among others. She is also the Associate Fiction Editor at The Bombay Literary Magazine.
R. A. Villanueva is the author of two poetry collections: A Holy Dread, winner of the Alice James Award (forthcoming in 2026) and Reliquaria (University of Nebraska Press, 2014), winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize. Born in New Jersey, he lives in Brooklyn.
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COMMUNITY CARE & ACCESSIBILITY
At AAWW, the safety and comfort of our community is our top priority. We invite you to practice intentionality and care in your behavior and language when engaging with our programs and with each other. Violence of any kind, including but not limited to racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism, class or casteism, bigotry or bias toward religion or faith, or any action or assault against marginalized identities, is not tolerated. Those who bring harm to our community in person or online are not welcome, and will be asked to exit the space. We are located on the 6th floor of 112 W 27th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues), there is an elevator that will take you directly to our office. To protect our friends with chemical sensitivities, AAWW is a fragrance-free space. Masks are required for audience members for all AAWW events; if you forget yours, one will be provided for you. We have three commercial grade air purifiers, and a quiet room in the back should you need some space from the crowd. We highly encourage all in person guests to take a COVID test at home prior to the event. Please reach out to msaleh@aaww.org for additional accessibility requests, including ADA accessible bathrooms, chairs with added back support, and beyond. This space is for YOU!
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