February 5, 2020

An Evening of Poetry + Protest with Mizna

by Nailah Taman | in Literary

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Tonight’s poetry reading is on! After considering the latest from the CDC, the State Health Dpt, and others, and getting input from health-professionals on the Mizna board, we are planning to go ahead with the reading. Each of the poets was asked whether they want to continue, and they are all in. 

We are asking people who are not feeling well to stay home. And of course, we want to honor everyone’s need to feel safe and make the decision that is right for them.

We are also planning to document the event by audio and will work to release it soon for those who would like to see it but can’t be there.

EVENT DESCRIPTION As a new member of the national organization, the Poetry Coalition, Mizna is participating for the first time in PoCo March programming, both in Minneapolis with this event, and in New York in partnership with AAWW. In each city, authors will contend with Audre Lorde’s charge I am deliberate and afraid of nothing and Sudanese Alaa Satir’s visual art series We are the revolution.

In Minneapolis, Mizna presents George Abraham, Tarik Dobbs, Roy G. Guzmán, Marlin M. Jenkins, Maitreyi Ray, and Yara Omer will read in Minneapolis on March 12 at Fallout Arts (2609 Stevens Ave S, Mpls 55408). Doors open at 7pm, readings begin promptly at 7:30pm. Event description

This event is part of national Poetry Coalition programming and is supported by the Academy of American Poets with funds from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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About the Readers

George Abraham is a Palestinian American poet from Jacksonville, Florida. They are the author of Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), and the chapbooks: the specimen’s apology (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2019) and al youm (TAR, 2017). He is a Kundiman and Watering Hole fellow, and recipient of the College Union Poetry Slam International’s Best Poet title. Their work has been published with The Paris Review, The American Poetry Review, Literary Hub, Poem-A-Day, and Bettering American Poetry. He is currently based in Massachusetts, where he is a PhD candidate in Bioengineering at Harvard University.

Tarik Dobbs is a queer, Arab-American poet born in Dearborn, MI. They have received fellowships from the Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts and the Hopwood Program. They attend the Writing MFA at U of Minnesota.

Roy G. Guzmán was born in Honduras and raised in Miami, Florida. They received a 2019 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and are a 2017 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow. Guzmán is currently pursuing a PhD in Cultural Studies from the U. Their first book, Catrachos, will be published by Graywolf Press on May 5 of this year. Photo credit: D. Allen.

Marlin M. Jenkins was born and raised in Detroit and is the author of the poetry chapbook Capable Monsters (Bull City Press, 2020). A graduate of University of Michigan’s MFA in poetry, he is currently a teaching artist with The Loft Literary Center. His work has found homes with Indiana Review, The Rumpus, The Waxwing, The Iowa Review, and New Poetry from the Midwest, among others.

Maitreyi Ray is a poet, interdisciplinary artist, and fishmonger living in Minneapolis. They were a poetry fellow in The Loft Literary Center‘s Mentor Series in 2018-2019 and have publications in Best Buds Collective, Peach Mag, and Cosmonauts Avenue. Maitreyi is a Sagittarius.

Yara Omer holds a BA degree in Journalism and Communication, Yarmuk University in Jordan, and a Masters degree in Deaf Education, University of Minnesota. She has been an educator since 2008. She’s lived in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and is currently based in Woodbury, with strong ties to St. Paul, Minnesota. She is fluent in Arabic, English, and American Sign Language. Yara writes in both Arabic and English and enjoys Astronomy, traveling, and horseback riding.