Christopher Soto (aka Loma) is a queer latin@ punk poet & prison abolitionist. Their first chapbook “Sad Girl Poems” is forthcoming from Sibling Rivalry Press. They’ve interned at the Poetry Society of America & received an MFA in poetry from NYU. They cofounded The Undocupoets Campaign with Javier Zamora & Marcelo Hernandez Castillo in 2015. They edit Nepantla: A Journal Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color with the Lambda Literary Foundation. Originally from the Los Angeles area; they now live in Brooklyn.

Roberto F. Santiago: First and foremost, I have to congratulate you on your wonderful chapbook SAD GIRL POEMS. It is heartbreakingly lovely, and I am sure Lana Del Rey is gonna love it! I took your collection with me on my lunch break with the intention of having a bite and a few poems for lunch. I wound up reading it cover to cover… and I am sure SAD GIRL POEMS had me for lunch, rather than the inverse!

Loma: Thanks!

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
The name of the series is “Sideshow Goshko Storytelling Series.” It’s a storytelling series where NY’s top comedians, writers, and performers share true, bizarre tales about their lives. We don’t do monthly story themes, just the overall “sideshow” theme of those weird tales we all have.

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

John Rice and Jenna Telesca have traded off responding for Oh, Bernice.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
The reading series is named after our writers collective. The collective, originally nameless when started in 2010, eventually got its name from our email listhost.

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
Our name is The Eagle and the Wren. It takes its name in part from Wren’s Day, which takes place in Ireland on Saint Stephen’s Day (December 26th). The history is complex, but apocryphally a wren is supposed to have betrayed Saint Stephen’s hiding place by singing, leading to his martyrdom. Thus, on Wren’s, or “Wran’s”, day, folk go out to “hunt the wren.” This involves “Mumming,” or dressing up to hide your identity, and visiting neighbors. There is also the Irish folktale of the wren that hitched a ride on the Eagle’s tail feather during the birds’ contest to see who could fly the highest. Once the eagle had done its best, the wren hopped off and flew higher, thus the wren is known as “the king of all birds.”

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
Well, it’s in all caps. FREE WATER. The name itself is loud. Like a RITE-AID sign whose bulbs are shot. RI E- ID. That’s good. FREE WATER is tongue and cheek and FREE WATER is a lazy political statement. I also love the way it sounds.

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
The series is called Soul Sister Revue, a reading series for established and emerging poets who write in the narrative tradition of storytelling. The series is meant to honor the African tradition of stories passing on through generations.

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
The series is called Pete’s Reading Series because it takes place at Pete’s Candy Store at 709 Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

More »

The New York City Reading Series Census is an ongoing project to catalogue the contemporary literary scene. Any reading series curator in the New York area can take the survey here.

What is the name of the series, and what is the significance or meaning of the series name?
The name of the series is, The Greetings Readings Series at Unnameable Bokes; the series is named after the literary journal, Greetings: a Journal of the Sound Arts.

More »