Perfectly Queer East Bay Reading “National Poetry Month”

We’ve asked poet Roberto F. Santiago to be guest curator for National Poetry Month, and he has selected poets Denise Benavides, Robert Andrew Perez, and Shelley Wong to read Wednesday, April 26, 7:15pm at Nomadic Press: Uptown, 2301 Telegraph, Oakland. Come celebrate Queer poetry in the East Bay! What you will donation, free refreshments, and door prizes for the prompt!

biographies:
Guest curator Roberto F. Santiago received his MFA from Rutgers University, BA from Sarah Lawrence College and is an MSW Candidate at UC Berkeley. He has received fellowships from CantoMundo, Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Sarah Lawrence College, and Lambda Literary Foundation​. Roberto is​ the recipient of the Alfred C. Carey Poetry Prize and his debut book of poetry, Angel Park (Tincture, 2015), was a finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Award for Poetry. More at https://therfsantiago.com/

Denise Benavides is a queer xicana performance artist, poet, and educator based in Oakland, California. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is currently teaching at Skyline College. Her debut collection of poetry, Split, was released in the winter of 2016 by Kórima Press. More at http://www.denisebenavides.com/

Robert Andrew Perez is the author of the collection the field (Omnidawn). He edits chapbooks for speCt! and the magazine Oar in West Oakland, where he also teaches and lives with his partner. Recent work can be found in the journals Vinyl, DIAGRAM, and Eleven Eleven. He has forthcoming work for Lambda Literary’s Spotlight series and in Fourteen Hills. More at robertandrewperez.com.

Shelley Wong lives in Oakland and is the author of Rare Birds from Diode Editions. Her poems have appeared in Crazyhorse, Fairy Tale Review, Sixth Finch, and Vinyl. A Kundiman fellow and a Pushcart Prize recipient, she holds an MFA from Ohio State University.