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?
WEIRDD was founded as a series set on recreating the awe one feels when experiencing inimitable, curious, and wild art for the first time. The aim is to highlight the twisted, odd, and off-kilter in poetry—poems that not only get squiggly, but commit to it.

Who founded the series, and who runs it now?
Katie and Peter Longofono, siblings and poets working in Brooklyn, have partnered with popular indie bookstore Books Are Magic.

What genres or mediums does the series include?
The “weirdest” poetry available.

What is the format of the series?
Every month, two to three poets gather to present new works, often with audiovisual counterpoint; each evening is also enlivened by a lecturer on community activism, the esoteric, and cross-discipline artistic praxis, among other topics. The idea is to preface each reading with an exacting, sonically attuned close read of some material you’re about to hear, with the twin goals of (1) giving the audience a working vocabulary to articulate the experience, and (2) showing the writer actual, absolute, compassionate consideration, because (as you may have guessed) they’re true, outside-the-center weirdos.

Where does the series take place?
Books Are Magic

How long has the series been active?
We’ve just begun! The very first event was 1/26/18.

When and how often is the series performed (and is it seasonal)?
Monthly

Where can people find information about series on the web?
www.weirddreadingseries.org and Facebook.

Do you take submissions, solicit material, or a combination?
The series is solicitation-only for the time being.

Did you set out with specific goals when the series was launched and have they changed over time?
Founders and co-curators Katie and Peter Longofono state: “We hope to repopulate the literary event format with electric performers, backed by seriously magnificent writing. We prioritize the unabashed celebration of our poets, embedding reverence into the fabric of the diligent reader introductions we craft. And perhaps most importantly, we seek to directly counter the limits of the American imagination; we’ll amplify ignored voices, de-center the white experience, and make ‘welcome’ and ‘solidarity’ our bywords for the most thrilling artists in our favorite medium.”

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The next WEIRDD reading will take place on Monday, February 26, 2018 with Jayson P. Smith, Rio Cortez, and Yanyi at Books Are Magic.

Answers from launch press release.