FEATURING HANIF ABDURRAQIB
Sunday, March 5, 6PM – 8PM
Painted Bride (5212 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19139)
Join The Paul Robeson House & Museum and The Painted Bride for a poetry reading featuring new work by Hanif Abdurraqib, followed by Q&A.
The event will be hosted by Christopher K. P. Brown and include special guest readers ShirminaGeneva and Taylor Monique.
ARTIST BIOS:
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet from the east side of Columbus, Ohio.
ShirminaGeneva is a spoken word artist, event curator, host, creative director and youth mental health and joy advocate. With almost a decade of experience in writing and performing poetry, ShirminaGeneva has graced many stages across the east coast and beyond including, Twitter Headquarters in Sacramento, California, Busboy and Poets in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She has spoken at events such as the National Women’s Conference in 2018 and The Black Women’s March in Philadelphia, yearly. Shirmina also doubles as a teaching artist, having taught pleasure-based and artistic workshops, including a Poetry and Hip-Hop class at Temple University. She is co-founder of Philly-based artist collective, Your Favorite Jawns, and creator of the pleasure positive platform, Ebony Erotix. By day, Shirmina is a substitute teacher, child care professional, and certified Behavioral Health Technician.
Taylor Monique, aka rough draft, is a Philly-based poet, mixed media artist, and designer of Poetry for the Streets, a brand whose focus is to create clothes that reflect the person wearing them, upcycled and embellished with poetry and mantras. She is Operations and Communications coordinator at Blue Stoop (@bluestoopphl), and is currently working on her debut chapbook. Through her writing and design creations, she has received the Judith Stark award and Illuminate the Arts Grant. She is also a Philly Typewriter sponsored poet and has performed on stages in Philly, Jersey, Delaware, and New York.
Christopher K.P. Brown has worked in the Performance Arts community of Philadelphia since 2009, serving as a book publisher, event organizer, music and spoken word poetry event host, and as a performance poet. He is the founder of Pecola Breedlove & The Freedom Party, a West Philly based open mic poetry event that created a platform for poets both local and national for five years. He is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia where he majored in African American Studies. His work focuses on building community, practicing self care, and breaking down the psyche of the Black male raised in America. When he isn’t working on poetry he enjoys researching his family tree and studying the contributions that African Americans have made over the last 400 years. He also runs a family tree research company called Before They Were Ancestors.