Join poet Marina Blitshteyn at POWERHOUSE for the launch of her latest book TWO HUNTERS.

Featuring readings by Chia-Lun Chang, Safiya Sinclair, Sokunthary Svay, Mónica de la Torre, Victor Baez, and the author Marina Blitshteyn, audience Q&A, and book signing.

Free entry; seating first-come first-served.

Lost Signals is a roving reading series with no set time or location, just super-talented writers, a musical interlude and a laid-back atmosphere. Our third installment will take place at the wonderful Unnameable Books boasts a fantastic group of writers from all over NYC. The event will feature readings by Diane Chang, Sasha Fletcher, Anjali Khosla, Sokunthary Svay, Tim Wood & John Dermot Woods, as well as an acoustic music set by Tuffy! The event will be hosted by Jared Harel. Free & Open to the Public!

Sokunthary is a featured speaker at this conference.

Premiere of "Point of Entry," text by Sokunthary Svay and set to music by composer, Liliya Ugay, for alto solo, SATB choir, and ensemble. Conducted by Simon Carrington.

Sokunthary will be hosting this reading on Governor's Island.

Sokunthary will be moderating a panel of poets about publishing full-length collections.

De-Canon: A Visibility Project will be in residence at Artists Milepost in the cafe area from May 12-July 28. Our library now features over 400 books by writers of color. In addition to hosting a number of monthly readings and literary events, we'll also maintain open hours for the public to come and read and study in the space.

Whitenoise Poetry Reading featuring Sokunthary Svay, Mai Do Nguyen, and Hari Alluri.

Readings by the current 2018 Emerging Poets Fellows.

An event in which Queens Writers read, appreciate, and discuss the work of other Queens writers.

Sokunthary will be a featured speaker.

Sokunthary will be a featured reader alongside Willie Perdomo, debuting her poetry in the borough where she was raised.

Sokunthary will be in residency at the Strand to work on her writing, for chats, and to write custom poems for customers.

Featuring presentations and discussion by Monica Sok, Peter Pa, Sokunthary Svay, and Vichet Chum. Moderated by Soriya Chum.

About The Event

The Board of Directors of Newtown Literary Alliance proudly presents a benefit honoring three outstanding Queens poets, all representative of the future of poetry in our borough:

Daughter Tongue, by Omotara James, chronicles the process by which this British-born daughter of Nigerian and Trinidadian immigrants finds and asserts her voice. In poems that take on a wide range of experiences—from the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship, of racism, of sexual violence, of being a woman who openly loves women—James affirms the value of always being true to oneself and refusing the many temptations to do otherwise.

In Go Because I Love You, Jared Harél’s poems explore, in a kind of braided structure, his life as a young father. New to raising children, he looks back on his own childhood and how he was raised, considers the new perspective his new life gives him on his parents, on being Jewish, celebrates the deep and deepening love he has for his wife, and more.

The poems in Sokunthary Svay’s Apsara in New York navigate what it’s like to survive a genocide, flee your home country (Cambodia), immigrate to a new one (here, in the United States), learn a new language, construct for yourself a new self that is also a reconstruction of what you had to leave behind—and, through all of that, to thrive, to grow into a future filled with art and beauty, friendship and love.

A reading by each of our honorees will be followed by a meet-and-greet and book signing. Appetizers, wine, and other refreshments will be enjoyed, as well as the poetry! Books by the readers—along with copies of Newtown Literary—will be available for purchase at the event.

Newtown Literary strives to support and promote the talents of our borough’s literary community—you can help by joining us at the benefit.

[Upon registration the exact address will be sent to you.]

A celebration of past literary heroes, bringing their voices into the present. Poets: Roberto Carlos Garcia, Keisha Gaye Anderson, Sokunthary Svay, and Randall Horton will read pieces by poets whose work inspires them & also share their own works.

By looking at poetry that explores different personas, including poems from Neil Aitken, Peter Covino, Agha Shahid Ali, and Gwendolyn Brooks, we will experiment in writing in voices other than our own, whether a family member, a historical figure, an alternate self. Come ready to read, listen, and write.

Instructor: Sokunthary Svay is poetry editor for Newtown Literary, teaches at City College of New York in Harlem, and is the author of Apsara in New York. 

A collaborative effort by Newtown Literary Alliance and Queens Library.

An evening of conversation with the author, moderated by Phina So of Cambodian Living Arts.