Join Blue Stoop, a home for literary Philly, for Words of Revolution; Words of Solace on December 5 from 7-9pm featuring readings from ten of the most exciting voices writing in and around Philadelphia today: Brittney Cooper, Myriam Gurba, Anne Ishii, Airea Matthews, Trapeta Mayson, Kiley Reid, Nikil Saval, Eric Smith, Amber Sparks, and Elissa Washuta. More than another Zoom event, this will be an innovative video program produced by award winning local cinematographer Aly Spengler. Featured writers will perform words written by their heroes relevant to the ideas of revolution and of solace, and Blue Stoop will pay tribute to this year in Philly writing. Sit back and settle in. This event will be fully closed captioned.
This is a one-time ticketed special event to benefit Blue Stoop. As a nonprofit organization and home for literary Philly, our mission is to support writers, foster creativity, and build inclusive literary community. During this pandemic, even as we have seen catastrophic cuts to arts funding in our city, we have hosted 33 free online events for writers, offered 10 online craft classes with financial aid available and 50% BIPOC teachers, and provided digital resources, inspiration, and connection.
Tickets for this event start at $20 but we ask that you give generously to support our ongoing work and keep our programs accessible to all at the level that you are able. A $100 donation is recommended if you have expendable income and a significant investment in Blue Stoop's work. Whatever you choose to pay is tax-deductible and you'll receive a receipt for your donation following the conclusion of the event.
Finally, we are partnering with the Head & the Hand Books to stock all of our readers' books on site at Cherry Street Pier in the weeks before the event as well as online for purchase. Please visit www.theheadandthehand.com for more information.
We so hope you can join us. In addition to so much darkness, this pandemic has created cracks in our regular lives--this is where the light gets in.
More about our readers:
Brittney Cooper is the author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower and Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women. She is a Professor of Women’s Studies at Rutgers University.
Myriam Gurba is the author of Mean, Dahlia Season: Stories and a Novella, and Painting Their Portraits in Winter: Stories. Her criticism of the 2020 novel American Dirt sparked controversy about cultural appropriation, the white gaze, racism, and lack of diversity in the publishing industry.
Anne Ishii is a writer, editor and translator of gay manga. She is also the Executive Director of Asian Arts Initiative Philadelphia.
Airea Matthews is the author of Simulacra (Yale Series of Younger Poets) and a professor of English at Bryn Mawr College.
Trapeta Mayson is the author of the poetry collections She Was Once Herself and Mocha Melodies. She is also the city of Philadelphia 2020-2021 Poet Laureate.
Kiley Reid is the author of the novel Such a Fun Age, which was nominated for the Booker Prize. She lives in Philadelphia.
Nikil Saval is the author of Cubed: A Secret History of the Workplace, a founding editor of the literary magazine n+1 and co-founder of Reclaim Philadelphia. He is also a Pennsylvania State Senator for the 2nd ward.
Eric Smith is the author of five books for Young Adults, most recently Don’t Read the Comments, and a literary agent with P.S. Literary. He lives in Philadelphia.
Amber Sparks is the author of three collections of short stories, most recently And I Do Not Forgive You.
Elissa Washuta is the author of the essay collections White Magic, My Body is a Book of Rules, and Starvation Mode. She is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and grew up in northwest New Jersey.