Join us for a reading by featured poets Banah el Ghadbanah and Ashia Ajani. The reading will be preceded by a round of introductory readings by members of our community.
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ACCESS NOTES: The reading will take place virtually via Zoom with Zoom and Otter.ai auto captions. An ASL interpreter will be present. Access copies of poems will be made available via Google Docs. Our Access Statement will be read before we begin.
Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) service will be provided with advance request. To ensure that we have enough time to book and allow captioners to prepare, Please reach out to the Open Mouth team through Eventbrite or via email at [email protected].
Recommended for attendees 16 years and above.
FEATURED READERS:
Dr. Banah el Ghadbanah is a Syrian poet raised in Fayetteville AR. Zhe is a professor of Comparative Women’s Studies at Spelman College, where zir research focuses on Syrian women’s creativity under authoritarianism and Zionist violence. La Syrena: Visions of a Syrian Mermaid from Space (Dzanc Books) is their first poetry book; their next book, homegirls, hashish, and the moon is forthcoming with Everybody Press in Fall 2023. Zhe is published in Mizna, the Women’s Review of Books, Afghan Punk Magazine, and others.
Ashia Ajani is an award winning Black storyteller soulchild of Denver, CO, Queen City of the Plains and the unceded territory of the Cheyenne, Ute, Arapahoe and Comanche peoples. They are an environmental educator with Mycelium Youth Network and co-poetry editor of The Hopper Literary Magazine. Ajani has received fellowships and support from Tin House, The Watering Hole and Just Buffalo Literary Center words have been featured in Atmos, Apogee Lit, Sierra Magazine, Hennepin Review and Michigan Quarterly Review, among others. Follow their journey at ashiaajani.com or on the socials @ashiainbloom.
EVENT HEADER IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
Side by side photos of the featured readers are outlined with a black line and displayed over a light blue background. Beneath the photos are the words “Open Mouth Presents: Banah el Ghadbanah, Ashia Ajani.” Availability of sign language interpretation is indicated by the presence of an icon showing two hands signing in the bottom left corner.
Photo Descriptions:
Banah: The poet Banah is visible from the chest up. Zhe is wearing a green and orange top while holding a phone and taking a selfie in the mirror.
Ashia: The poet is visible from the mid-chest up. They are looking up while standing in front of a microphone stand; they are wearing a red and orange sparkly shirt and long lavender and orange eye shaped earrings. Photo by Destiny Brock.
SPONSORS: Support for Open Mouth Literary Center is provided, in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from our supporters on Patreon.