Lit Crawl 2023: Home in the Bay Book Release Party
21 October, 2023, 6:30pm @ The Chapel, San Francisco
We are thrilled to announce that the Home in the Bay ebook is almost here, and to celebrate we are going to be holding a reading as part of Lit Crawl 2023.
As part of this special night, and in the spirit of the Home in the Bay series, we’ll be welcoming some poets to the stage. Kim Shuck, devorah major, Landon Smith, Jan Steckel, Norman Antonio Zelaya, Tiny (aka Lisa Gray-Garcia), Tongo Eisen-Martin and Shikha Malaviya will take the stage on October 21, 2023.
Home in the Bay – Pt. 3
20 July 2022, 5 pm PST
The third installment of the Home in the Bay reading series features Tongo Eisen-Martin, Muteado Silencio, Dee Allen, Aunti Frances Moore, tiny (lisa) gray-garcia, devorah major, j spanolo, E.K. Keith and more! Home in the Bay is a reading series centering experiences and themes of houselessness, gentrification, migration, and colonization. What does home mean to you? Presented by Aunt Lute Books in collaboration with Poets Reading the News, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, POOR Magazine, Black Freighter Press, and the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, organizations doing radical work around our relationships to place and location as well as to each other. We are pleased to present a virtual evening with talented writers, storytellers and folklorists ranging from indigenous culture bearers to previously unhoused authors to Bay Area transplants.
Home in the Bay – Pt. 2
29 June 2022, 5 pm PST
The second installment of the Home in the Bay reading series features Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, Maw Shein Win, Landon Smith, Shikha Malaviya, Raina J. León, Norman Antonio Zelaya, Poverty Skolas and is MC’d by Kim Shuck. Home in the Bay is a reading series centering experiences and themes of houselessness, gentrification, migration, and colonization. What does home mean to you? Presented by Aunt Lute Books in collaboration with Poets Reading the News, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, POOR Magazine, Black Freighter Press, and the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, organizations doing radical work around our relationships to place and location as well as to each other. We are pleased to present a virtual evening with talented writers, storytellers and folklorists ranging from indigenous culture bearers to previously unhoused authors to Bay Area transplants.
HOME IN THE BAY – Pt. 1
15 September 2021, 5 pm PST
Home in the Bay is a reading series centering experiences and themes of houselessness, gentrification, migration, and colonization. What does home mean to you? Presented by Aunt Lute Books in collaboration with Poets Reading the News, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, POOR Magazine, Black Freighter Press, and the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, organizations doing radical work around our relationships to place and location as well as to each other. We are pleased to present a virtual evening with talented writers, storytellers and folklorists ranging from indigenous culture bearers to previously unhoused authors to Bay Area transplants. This third installment of the reading series features Corrina Gould, Phyllis Bowie, Jan Steckel, Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, Inés Ixierda, Poverty Skolas from POOR Magazine, and Arnoldo García.
Catharsis: An Inauguration Poetry Reading
January 23, 2021, 11 am-12:30 pm PST
Online
Before we can imagine what will be, we must look at what is. Join Poets Reading the News and on-off.site for Catharsis: An Inauguration Poetry Reading. We will process the enormity of the end of Donald Trump’s presidency and the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris with poetry, guided exercises, and deep silence. Readings by henry 7. reneau, jr, Gary Margolis, Hyun-Joo Kim, and Susana Praver-Pérez will center us in this historic moment. Exercises by Stephanie Garcés and Stephanie Smith will provide intention, reflection, and action. Facilitation by J Spagnolo, Elle Aviv Newton, and Camilo Garzón will keep us present.
EMERGENCE 2020: Community, Capital, Collective Care
June 10, 2020, 3-4 pm PST
Online
During this annual conference, Poets Reading the News’ J Spagnolo will host a session featuring guided meditations by poets whose words will center on the body, the stillness, the spirit, and the breath. Featuring poets Richard Garcia, Angelique Zobitz, Priyatam Mudivarti, Sandra Fees and Caroline Cottom.
New Orleans Poetry Festival
April 16 – 19, 2020
New Orleans, Louisiana
Elle Aviv Newton, Editor in Chief of Poets Reading the News, will be hosting a panel talk with Yvonne Daley, Kim Harvey and Michel Krug titled “(Sur)realpolitik: On Political Poetry in the Post-Truth Era” at the 5th annual New Orleans Poetry Festival. Read about the panel:
From Bertold Brecht to Allen Ginsburg, from Maya Angelou to Zoe Leonard, poetry has long been working the front lines of political critique. In this context poetry has functioned as deft analyses of power, songs of mourning, intimate dispatches on marginalized experiences, and rallying cries toward radical dreams. What role, then, does poetry play in today’s fiercely divided media landscape? How can this technology, one at once ancient and pioneering, help us to investigate contemporary crises and gain steadier ground in the fight toward an equitable world? And is it possible that through poetry’s insistence on the inner consequence of outward indifference, that it holds the key to surviving both? In this panel happening, join Poets Reading the News founder and editor Elle Aviv Newton in conversation with three gifted poets — acclaimed journalist Yvonne Daley, poet and Palette editor Kim Harvey, and poetry editor Michel Krug — as we delve into 2020’s surreal political landscape in order to investigate poetry’s unique function of hope and truth-telling in uncertain times.
Please note: This panel talk has been delayed due to Covid-19. Read more here.
A Holiday Impeachment Party x Poets Reading the News
6pm – 9pm, 15 December 2019
Royal Towers, San Francisco
House Democrats have pledged to finish their impeachment deliberations by Christmas – sounds like cause for a Holiday Impeachment Party to us! This San Francisco extravaganza features an illuminated digital poetry installation, a bespoke cocktail menu crafted towards a new political reality, delicious seasonal hor d’oeuvres, and all the political schmoozing you’ve been longing for, plus an *~Extra! Extra!*~ Special Surprise Guest (wasn’t even on the witness list) – and all this from the gorgeous, glittering panoramic perch of Royal Towers in North Beach with its sweeping views of Baghdad-by-the-Bay. 100% of proceeds benefit Poets Reading the News, the nonprofit focused on helping the world process the news through poetry.
Seeking Asylum x Poets Reading the News
Tuesday 5 November
San Francisco Public Library
Poets Reading the News invites you to a powerful poetry happening in the heart of San Francisco! Following a summer of passionate #CloseTheCamps protests, let’s gather for an evening of deep listening, extraordinary poetry and community solidarity. If this is a border crisis, who created it? How do we support migrant identities and experiences? And where do we find hope? Join us to hear Bay Area-based poets Josiah Luis Alderete, Alan Pelaez Lopez and Kim Harvey – and bring something for the open mic to follow!
Poetry Strikes Back: A Panel Happening
Project Censored Conference
1 November 2019
Cal State East Bay
Join writer, curator, editor and PRTN cofounder Elle Aviv Newton as she speaks with Bay Area-based poet Zoe Young and fellow PRTN editor J Spagnolo about the role of poetry in today’s news cycle. This panel happening will benefit media-makers, activists, educators, students, theorists and citizens seeking innovative activist pathways, anecdotes to nihilism, and creative approaches to the journalistic method.
Poets Reading the News: A Vermont Reading
2 August 2019
Phoenix Books, Rutland, Vermont
In times of darkness, poetry is essential reading. Please join us for a poetry reading and discussion of the power of poetry to respond immediately to events shaping our future with Elle Aviv Newton, Caitlin Gildrien, and Yvonne Daley.
AWP Reading with Writer’s Resist & Rise Up Review
28 March 2019
Portland, Oregon
Join us for a reading by contributing writers to Poets Reading The News, The Rise Up Review and Writers Resist at this off-site reading at AWP Portland! We’re proud to feature readings by Megan Merchant, Rémy Dambron, Matty Layne Glasgow, Devon Balwit, Collin Spinney, & Charissa Menefee.
Inprint Presents: Poetry Lab x Poets Reading the News
27 April 2018
Houston, Texas
Inprint, Houston’s premier literary arts organization, presents Poets Reading the News for an evening workshop. Join founders and editors Elle Aviv Newton and Jenna Spagnolo as they share strategies that welcome writers into the act of documenting and witnessing rapidly-shifting political and cultural landscapes through the art of poetry. Participants at this poetry lab will have the opportunity to share their writing and should be prepared to get creative and inspired. Grab your tickets here!
Poets Reading the News @ New Orleans Poetry Festival
20-22 April 2018
New Orleans, Louisiana
Poets Reading the News co-editor Elle Aviv Newton hosts The Poetics of Journalism in Verse, a panel discussion featuring poets J. Todd Hawkins, Abigail Carl-Klassen, and fellow editor Jenna Spagnolo. This dialogue will explore the new genre of poetics emerging in the post-truth era and its blend of personal response and journalistic technique. Both editors will also be featured in Sunday’s talk Collabs, Collectives, and Communities with LIVE! Mag editor Jeffrey Cyphers Wright.
The Poetree of Life Open Mic
20 April 2018
New Orleans, LA
The creators behind Poets Reading the News and LIVE! Mag invite you to join a unique and casual open mic poetry reading before the New Orleans Poetry Festival. Underneath the boughs of a iconic tree in New Orleans, the Tree of Life, poets will gather to share stories and poems.
Create Against Complicity x Poets Reading the News
21 December 2017
B4BEL4B Gallery, Oakland, CA
Why has it taken so long for news of sexual harassment and political collusion to reach the shores of our headlines? How do we keep this conversation alive, beyond trending? What does opposition to complicity look like? And how do we identify complicity and create a culture without it? Join us as we explore these questions through community discourse, poetics, and engaged artistic practice.
Project Censored Annual Book Release Celebration
14 November, 2017
Petaluma, CA
Poets Reading the News performs at the Project Censored and Media Freedom Foundation’s annual book release celebration at the Lagunitas Brewing Company. A portion of the evening’s proceeds go to the SRJC Fire Relief Fund Sonoma State Fire Victims Fund.
This Is Not A Reality Party x Poets Reading the News
21 October 2017
San Francisco, CA
Poets Reading the News celebrates its first year of publishing journalism in verse! You are invited to the literary party of the century, hosted at the gorgeous Royal Towers in San Francisco’s North Beach, featuring stunning views of the city. Art installations, dance, and poetic performance will bring the night to life. The fun will go beyond this one night — all sales from tickets the bar and donations go toward publishing the first Poets Reading the News book!
Poets Reading the News @ Beast Crawl
2 September, 2017
Oakland, CA
Poets Reading the News participates in this year’s Beast Crawl, the largest literary festival in Oakland. The audience hears poetic reflections on the news from writers Thea Matthews & Moira Roth, along with interactive work from Poets Reading the News editors J Spagnolo and Elle Aviv Newton. Find out more at the Facebook event page.
The Poetics of Propaganda @ Believe the Hype Exhibition
16 June 2017
B4BEL4B Gallery, Oakland, CA
B4BEL4B Gallery’s Believe the Hype exhibition, curated by Poets Reading the News co-editor Elle Aviv Newton, culminates its program series in this expansive night of exploration, conversation, intellectual exchange and art performance. Featuring Poets Reading the News and hosted by J Spagnolo, the night features a critical data mining workshop and original dance performance by Sin Adjetivo. Poets and thinkers will unravel the night’s themes of propaganda, the Internet and new activisms. Words courtesy of local legends Sarah Kobrinsky, AJ Dent, and Tova Ricardo.
That Feeling When When Trump Gets Inaugurated – Open Mic
19 January 2017
B4BEL4B Gallery, Oakland, CA
Join us for a night of sparkling literary madness against the machine! MCs J Spagnolo and Elle Aviv Newton, editors of Poets Reading the News, will host a cathartic evening of poetry and conversation to mark a day that once existed far beyond our wildest imaginations: the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Commiserate! Activate! Become the politically empowered entity you wish to see in the world!
Emergent Media Lab Series: Poets Reading The News
17 September 2016
B4BEL4B Gallery, Oakland, CA
Curators Elle Aviv Newton + J Spagnolo present a multi-dimensional event exploring the electric borders of poetics, activism, and technology. It is the launch of Poets Reading The News, an innovative digital media project that bridges journalism and poetry. The evening features the artist collective Saito Group, an anonymous group of writers, designers and hackers in support of the right to the city, data rights and economic solidarity. Saito Group’s crowdsourced Twitter poems will be streamed in projected installations. The group will participate in an anonymized Q&A with the curators.