Free Library of Philadelphia
 
Monday Poets Reading Series: The Free Library is pleased to present The Monday Poets on the first Monday of the month, October through April. Now in its 16th year, it showcases a variety of talented local and regional poets. Readings take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Skyline Room of the Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street. Copies of the Featured Poets' books may be purchased at the readings. For additional information, please call the Free Library of Philadelphia's Literature Department at 215-686-5402.

Katie Ford

Dilruba Ahmed

October 3, 2011 - Katie Ford and Dilruba Ahmed
Katie Ford is the author of Deposition and Colosseum, which was named one of the "Best Books of 2008" by Publishers Weekly and one of the "Top Ten Books of Poetry of 2008" by The Virginia Quarterly. Ford teaches at Franklin & Marshall College and lives in Philadelphia.

Dilruba Ahmed is the winner of the 2010 Katherine Bakeless Nason Prize for Poetry. Her work has appeared in The Cream City Review, The New England Review, and New Orleans Review. She holds an MFA from Warren Wilson College and currently resides in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Michael Morse

Bruce Smith

November 7, 2011 - Michael Morse and Bruce Smith
Michael Morse has published poems in A Public Space, Agni, FIELD, Ploughshares, The Literary Review and Tin House, and in the anthologies, Broken Land: Poems of Brooklyn and Starting Today: 100 Poems for Obama's First 100 Days. He lives in Brooklyn and teaches at The Ethical Culture Fieldston School, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and Gotham Writers' Workshop.

Bruce Smith is the author of six books of poems, most recently, Devotions and Songs for Two Voices. His fourth book, The Other Lover, was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry (2003 & 2004), Poetry, The Nation, The New Republic, The Paris Review, The Partisan Review, and The American Poetry Review.

Iain Pollock

Henry Israeli

December 5, 2011 - Iain Pollock and Henry Israeli
Iain Pollock lives in Philadelphia and teaches English at Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy. Spit Back a Boy, his first poetry collection, won the 2010 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. His poems have also appeared in American Poetry Review, Boston Review, and Callaloo.

Henry Israeli's books include New Messiahs, Praying to the Black Cat, and the translations, Fresco: the Selected Poetry of Lulea Lleshanaku and Child of Nature. His work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, Grand Street, The Literary Review, Quarterly West, Tin House, Fence, and Verse. Israeli is also the founder and editor of Saturnalia Books. He lives in the Philadelphia area and teaches English at Drexel University.

Matthew Rohrer

Joanna Goodman

January 9, 2012 - Matthew Rohrer and Joanna Goodman
Matthew Rohrer is the author of Destroyer and Preserver, A Plate of Chicken, Rise Up, Satellite, and A Green Light, which was shortlisted for the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize. He also co-authored, with Joshua Beckman, the audiobook, Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty and Nice Hat.Thanks. He has appeared on NPR's "All Things Considered" and "The Next Big Thing." His first book, A Hummock in the Malookas, was selected for the National Poetry Series in 1994. Rohrer teaches at New York University.

Joanna Goodman is the author of Trace of One, winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize in 2002. Her work has appeared in The American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, The Georgia Review, and Tin House. She teaches English at Penn State Altoona.

Brian Teare

G.C. Waldrep

February 6, 2012 - Brian Teare and G.C. Waldrep
Brian Teare is the author of three full-length books— The Room Where I Was Born, Sight Map, and Pleasure, winner of a 2010 Lambda Literary Award— as well as the chapbooks, Pilgrim, Transcendental Grammar Crown, and ↑. An Assistant Professor at Temple University, he lives in Philadelphia, where he makes books by hand for his micropress, Albion Books.

G. C. Waldrep is the author of Your Father on the Train of Ghosts, Goldbeater's Skin, Disclamor, and Archicembalo, which won the Dorset Prize. His work has appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, Harper's, The Nation, The Kenyon Review, Boston Review, The New England Review, Colorado Review, New American Writing, Tin House, and Best American Poetry 2010. He teaches creative writing at Bucknell University and serves as Editor-at-Large for The Kenyon Review.

Anne Marie Macari

K.A. Hays

March 5, 2012 - Anne Marie Macari and K.A. Hays
Anne Marie Macari's most recent book, She Heads Into the Wilderness, was published by Autumn House Press in 2008. She also authored Gloryland and Ivory Cradle, which won the 2000 APR/Honickman First Book Prize. Her poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, Field, and TriQuarterly. Macari directs the Drew University MFA Program in Poetry, and Poetry in Translation.

Poems from K. A. Hays' first book, Dear Apocalypse, have appeared in Best American Poetry 2009, The Southern Review, and Best New Poets. Poetry from her forthcoming book, Early Creatures, Native Gods (2012), has appeared in Best American Poetry 2011, Ploughshares, and The American Poetry Review. She is the 2011 Poet in Residence at the Frost Place, and teaches creative writing at Bucknell University.

Harriet Levin

Leonard Gontarek

April 2, 2012 - Harriet Levin and Leonard Gontarek
Harriet Levin is the author of The Christmas Show, winner of the Barnard New Women Poets Prize. Her second book, Girl in Cap and Gown, was a 2009 National Poetry Series finalist. Levin's poems have appeared in Antioch Review, Cimarron Review, Denver Quarterly, Harvard Review, Iowa Review, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, and Prairie Schooner. She teaches Creative Writing at Drexel University.

Leonard Gontarek's books include Déjà Vu, Zen for Beginners, and Van Morrison Can't Find His Feet. His poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry 2005, The American Poetry Review, Poetry Northwest, FIELD, Fence, Volt, and Exquisite Corpse. His work is forthcoming in The Autumn House Anthology of American Poems and Prayers. Gontarek has coordinated The Philadelphia Poetry Festival and Peace/Works: Poets and Writers for Peace. He also conducts poetry workshops at The Arts League in Philadelphia.

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