by BUSHRA REHMAN
Dear Friends and Family,
May, the month I was born, the month I suffer severe allergies and the month I get out and do some poetry. This May, some of our favorite poets: the smooth-talking Joseph O. Legaspi, the fantastic and bombastic Samantha Thornhill, and the woman who will pierce your heart open with a line Kamilah Aisha Moon, as well as the one and only Samantha Chanse and yours truly Bushra Rehman will grace the stage of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.
Friday, May 6
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
7-9 pm
A series of readings and performances exploring the moment of stepping off the cliff and into the abyss, comes to the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.
It promises to be an intoxicating evening navigating fear, resolve, panic, exhilaration, death, and rebirth!
(or just some amazing writing and comedy)
On May 14, I head back to my old stomping grounds to visit Salem, MA and get in deep with some of the historical works there. I’ve been doing some research and must say any desi needs to know their complicated historical connection to this museum. Spoiler Alert: It won’t be a love song. . . Check out the entire festival though. Amazing.
Kundiman: Love Songs for the Peabody Essex
3:15 – 4:30pm, Saturday, May 14
Kundiman, a transformative group of Asian American poets dedicated to the creation, cultivation, and promotion of Asian American poetry, will read poems inspired by the rich displays of Asian art and artifacts currently housed at the Peabody Essex Museum. Through their ekphrastic works, poets Ching-In Chen, Joseph Legaspi, Jee Leong Koh, Purvi Shah, and Bushra Rehman will connect the past to the present through poetry based on the museum’s historical and contemporary works.
Can’t make it to these? No worries! I’ll be back in NYC and MA for. .. .
May 25- Cave Canem Reading
May 28-Boston University Reading
More info in the upcoming weeks