You are invited to join us for our June event on Zoom on Saturday, June 27, 2026, at 2 pm ET with Indran Amirthanayagam, Hassanal Abdullah, and Richard Jeffrey Newman.
Plus a limited open mic. Your $5 contribution keeps our annual anthology in print. Hosted by Patricia Carragon, our Brooklyn girl and Editor-in-Chief.
Please follow the directions below, completing both steps at least two days before the reading to avoid delays entering the meeting room. Note the order of the open mic follows the order of signup. Sign up early to read early in the program. Last-minute signup means you will read at the end of the program. The cutoff for Zoom access for an open mic slot is noon the day of reading. After noon, late registrants are not guaranteed Zoom access to join the open but will receive a link to watch the reading live-streamed on YouTube.
Please follow these instructions:
Step 1: Make your $5 contribution: https://bit.ly/3bkqFmO
We also accept Zelle or Credit/Debit
(Note that your contribution is not refundable.)
Step 2: Register in advance for this meeting:
https://bit.ly/3hnpy8D
Step 3: After making your contribution and completing your registration, you will receive a confidential confirmation email containing your unique link to join the event.
Facebook Event:
https://facebook.com/events/s/brownstone...
Bios:
Indran Amirthanayagam
Poet, essayist, and translator Indran Amirthanayagam was born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and raised in Sri Lanka, London, and Honolulu. He is the author of numerous poetry collections, including The Elephants of Reckoning (1993), Ceylon, R.I.P. (2001), The Splintered Face (2008), Uncivil War (2013), and Coconuts On Mars (2019). He writes and translates in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. His honors include a Paterson Poetry Prize and a Juegos Florales award. His work has appeared in major journals and anthologies. A U.S. diplomat, he has lived in Haiti, Belgium, Argentina, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Hassanal Abdullah
Hassanal Abdullah is a Bangladeshi American poet, translator, and critic, who introduced a new sonnet form, “Swatantra Sonnet,” 200 of which he wrote in Bengali. He is the author of 27 books in various genres, has written a 304-page epic, Nakhatra O Manusar Prochhad (Ananya, 2007), where, based on several scientific theories, he illustrates relations between human beings and the universe. The second edition of his Selected Poems was published in 2014. He is a NYC high school math teacher and, since 1998, the editor of an international bilingual poetry magazine, Shabdaguchha.
Richard Jeffrey Newman
Richard Jeffrey Newman has published three books of poetry, T’shuvah(Fernwood Press 2023), Words for What Those Men Have Done (Guernica Editions 2017) and The Silence of Men (CavanKerry Press 2006), as well as three books of translation from classical Persian poetry, Selections from Saadi’s Gulistan, Selections from Saadi’s Bustan (Global Scholarly Publications 2004 & 2006) and The Teller of Tales: Stories from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (Junction Press 2011). His essays and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications, including Salon, Unlikely Stories, American Book Review, LitHub, Solstice, and Majuscule. He is Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing at SUNY’s Nassau Community College. He curates the First Tuesdays reading series in Jackson Heights, NY. His website is www.richardjnewman.com.