Princeton Makes and Ragged Sky Press open their new year of monthly Second Sunday Poetry Reading on January 14 at 4 p.m.
The event will feature New Jersey-based poets Faleeha Hassan and Keith O’Shaughnessy.
Hassan is a poet, teacher, editor, writer, and playwright. Born in Najaf, Iraq, in 1967, she now lives in Washington Township in southern New Jersey. The first woman to write poetry for children in Iraq, she received her master’s degree in Arabic literature and has published 26 books that have been translated into many languages. She has been nominated for both the Pulitzer and Pushcart prizes.
O’Shaughnessy’s latest book, “Petrushka” (Ragged Sky), is a collection of poems and fables set in a quasi-Russian dreamscape. His first book of poems, “Incommunicado,” won the inaugural Grolier Discovery Award. His second, “Last Call for Ganymede” (Ilora Press) followed in 2014. He also authored three chapbooks (all Pudding House Press). A lifelong resident of Princeton, he teaches English at Camden County College in southern New Jersey.
Here are samples of their works.
Princeton Makes is a Princeton-based artist cooperative located in the Princeton Shopping Center. Ragged Sky Press is an independent nonprofit publishing company located in Princeton. Their co-hosted reading series began in 2021.
The Sunday, January 14, 4 p.m., presentation is free and will take place at the Princeton Makes store, 301 North Harrison Street, next to Metropolis Hair Salon. A limited open mic follows. For more information, contact Princeton Makes coordinator Jim Levine at princetonmakes@gmail.com.
