It is July & Philly summer has me in its gross sweaty clammy grasp. I hope you feel the liberation that comes with the heat like I do. This newsletter will be a little bit longer than the usual, just because I need to tell you about the New York City Poetry Festival.
NYCPOFEST was surreal asf. I attended once before, back circa 2015, & haven’t been back since. The sense I had of community & something larger than me never left, & I was certainly inspired. This was around the time I started organizing events. Never once did stupid little brighteyed 19 year old me think I would read on the main stage (following the inimitable & impossible to follow headliners, Sam Sax & Eileen Myles), less so that I’d ever read at the festival to begin with. Existing & performing in a space inhabited by those who are infinitely smarter, more experienced than I am, a true honor. To share the stage with so many stunning creatives doing so many increasingly complex & interesting things. Never thought SCRIBES would make it that far, & I never expected it to. Thank you to all who have made not only NYCPoFest possible, but to those who attend the SCRIBES events. This doesn’t exist unless there is a crowd for us to yell poems at.
HERE is a link to the photos from last month’s SCRIBES event, photographed by our very own c.r. hooker. Massive thanks for Cait for being great at what they do. Their presence was missed at the SCRIBES GALA.
Instead, NDR (me) shot the photos. HERE are photos from the SCRIBES GALA.
This month we are featuring LAUREN YATES. LAUREN YATES (she/her)is a Philadelphia-based poet and burlesque performer. Lauren earned her B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Emphasis from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the Philadelphia Burlesque Academy. Lauren’s poetry has been featured in APIARY, Bettering American Poetry, bedfellows, and more. She is known for critiquing pop culture with a wry sense of humor and Frankenstein-ing together concepts that should not work, but, somehow, do.
HERE is a poem from Lauren:
I’m extremely thankful to all of you for being a part of SCRIBES. Stay tuned: there’s more to come. See you next sunday XOXO