Happy National Poetry Month!

Two threads my writing follows are the realms of social justice and the natural world. And by no means are these threads exclusive. To find out more about what these issues mean to me please check out naturalist and author Lisa Kahn Schnell’s interview “The Language of Nature” at her substack https://lisakschnell.substack.com/p/the-language-of-nature

I am looking forward to co-hosting two social justice poetry workshops with prolific poet Pauletta Hansel https://paulettahansel.wordpress.com/ April 23 and June 7. “Writing Epistolary Poetry in Response to the Political Maelstrom” promises to provide you a comforting space to channel your poetic response to our world's tumult. Many thanks to Poets Against Racism & Hate USA for providing the venue for these timely in-community writing opportunities. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate poetry this month! To register please visit https://poetsagainstracism-usa.org/events/ 

For those in the greater Reading, PA area do not miss checking out all the celebration this month that BerksBards has lined up. I'm reading at Kutztown, PA's independent bookshop Firefly Bookstore on April 14 @6:30pm In April, BersBards celebrates National Poetry Month through what we call Bard Fest: poetry workshops, readings, open mics and more: https://berksbards.com/bard-fest-2025/

National Poetry Month coincides with Arab American Heritage Month. Here’s a snapshot of books I’m reading to celebrate Arab American’s rich literary culture: Nora Lester Murad’s 2023 Arab American Book Award winning young adult novel Ida in the Middle, Malak Mattar’s children’s picture book Sitti’s Birds and Osama Alomar’s lyrical poem-like stories The Teeth of the Comb. What are you reading to celebrate?