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.]