Posts – Page 19 – PO Box Collective

PO BOX MONTHLY POETRY READING SERIES SIGN-UP

Posted on April 21, 2022 by PO Box Collective

The PO Box Collective is so excited to announce a monthly Poetry Reading series. All community members are invited to sign up to read by completing the form in the link below – or to come and listen! Upcoming events are Weds May 18 + Weds June 22 @ 7:30pm.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14ePj1gqE3HtDUj7nmpChTgr30hnfTl1yMhnG9jfSEuQ/edit?ts=625ec382

Movie Night! Bullet Laced Dreams ~ fundraiser for Chicago Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (CCHRP)

Join the Chicago Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (CCHRP) for a screening of Bullet Laced Dreams, a short film on Indigenous Lumad children fighting for education and environmental justice while facing militarization and repression from the Philippines government.

The event will feature a discussion with the director from the Philippines and a prize raffle!

All proceeds will support CCHRP’s delegation to the Philippines to observe election fraud and human rights abuses during the May Philippines congressional and presidential elections. Please consider attending or donating to support land defenders and people’s democracy in the Philippines!

April 29th 5:45pm @ PO Box Collective, 2900 N Glenwood Ave
Or attend virtually by registering at linktr.ee/CCHRP
Donate to CCHRP at gofund.me/af828c3d”

PO BOX POETRY READING SERIES

The first monthly PO BOX POETRY READING SERIES will feature brilliant poets Viola Lee and George Abraham.

Viola Lee will be reading from her manuscript in progress—as poet Phil Levine has said of her poetry, “Most of her poems could be called domestic: they concern the family, the self in relation to family, to her twin professions as a writer and a teacher, to the community at large; on another level they are concerned with the individual in relation to time, fate, nature, society. On the surface they appear smaller than they are, and in truth they are profound and searching.”

George Abraham will be reading a mix of new work, as well as work from their poetry book, Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020) which George says, “focuses on the first time [I] was ever able to return to my ancestral home of Palestine, [whereas] my new work has been lingering with the bio- and necro-politics of grieving Palestine in diaspora, and the im/possibilities of return induced by these existential states of being.” It will be an ecstatic evening of poetry and conversation. We hope you (yes, you!) will join us for it—

This series aims to give time and space to poets living in Chicago especially to those living in, or having connections to, the Rogers Park area. It is hosted and organized by Smith “S.” Yarberry—and will take place the third Wednesday of each month.

George Abraham (they/he) is a Palestinian American poet, writer, performance artist, and engineer who was born and raised on unceded Timucuan lands (Jacksonville, FL). Their debut poetry collection Birthright (Button Poetry) won the Arab American Book Award and the Big Other Book Award, and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He is a board member for the Radius of Arab American Writers, and recipient of fellowships from The Arab American National Museum, The Boston Foundation, and Kundiman. His poetry and nonfiction have appeared in The Nation, The Paris Review, The American Poetry Review, Mizna, and elsewhere. They are currently a Litowitz MFA+MA student in poetry at Northwestern University.

Viola Lee graduated from NYU with an MFA in Poetry. Her book Lightening after the Echo was published by Another New Calligraphy. She has published poems in literary journals throughout the US, and recently published in Crazyhorse, Bellevue Literary Review, Literary Mama, Hong Kong Review, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, After Hours and Another Chicago Magazine. She has poems forthcoming in Barrow Street, Lotus Magazine, The Mississippi Review, New Plains Review, and North Dakota Quarterly. She lives in Chicago with her husband, son and daughter. She teaches 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders at Near North Montessori School.

boundarymind: Community Recording Session

boundarymind is an electroacoustic sound piece and aggregating installation by Linda Jankowska + Katherine Young. Much of the music comes from recordings of sounds drawn from personally significant objects recorded in community sessions at several Rogers Park venues.

The opening recording session takes place at PO Box Collective on Saturday 5/21, 2-5pm. You are invited to explore the sounds of your own personally significant object. All you need to bring is the object. Any object! A childhood toy, a tattered T-shirt, a sentimental souvenir. Anything! Without damaging the object, you can scrape, tap, bow, boing, ping, and otherwise resonate it. Play around. Explore the quiet details it offers.

Microphones and other tools are provided so you can listen in to your object and the memories it holds. Then, with your permission, the artists will make recordings for future iterations of boundarymind.

The Crowded Table: Artist-in-Residence Jessica Mueller

At the dinner table, every interaction and conversation leaves a mark, every guest leaves an impression. This is where bonds are formed, identities are shaped, family arguments are had, decisions are made, important news is shared, and everyday happenings are celebrated. More than our bodies are nourished at the table. We nurture familial well being and individual mental health.

Please join us in open sessions and/or preregister for a two-session workshop to create your own family tablecloth and contribute to the PO Box community tablecloth. These tablecloths will aim to capture the spirit of what the dinner table means to you. Feel free to bring a tablecloth of your choice to work with. We will be screen printing, embroidering and drawing.

EVENTS
Opening Event | May 1, 2-5pm: May Day Celebration!! Make art with our artist-in-residence, Jessica Mueller; enjoy desserts offered by Rogers Park Food Not Bombs; swap seeds and plants with Rogers Park Seed Library

Community Meal | May 8, 3-5pm: We will share food and brainstorm ideas and imagery for screen printing. If you’re not able to attend the Community Meal but want to sign up for the workshop, email <[email protected]>.

Two-Session Workshop Dates | Sunday, May 15, 3-6pm + Sunday, May 22, 3-6pm
We will be screen printing, embroidering and drawing. Attendance is required at both workshops to allow enough time to complete your tablecloth. To maintain a comfortable and safe environment, the workshop is limited to 15 participants. Pre-registration is required.