‘The Room Without a Roof’ Poetry Event at Riverhead Free Library

Join us for a unique poetry event titled ‘The Room Without a Roof’ where every voice is heard. This event will be held on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, from 2 to 4 p.m. (EST) at the Riverhead Free Library. The event will be hosted by Chip Williford and Maggie Bloomfield and will feature renowned poets Hiram Larew, Pramila Venkateswaran, and Hawa Allan. Following the featured readings, there will be an open mic session.

Pramila Venkateswaran, poet laureate of Suffolk County (2013-15), and Walt Whitman Birthplace Long Island Poet of the Year (2011), is known for her numerous works including ‘Thirtha’, ‘Behind Dark Waters’, ‘Draw Me Inmost’, ‘Trace’, ‘Thirteen Days to Let Go’, ‘Slow Ripening’, ‘The Singer of Alleppey’, and ‘We are Not a Museum’. Her latest books are ‘Exile is Not a Foreign Word’ and ‘Tamil Dalit Feminist Poetics’.

Hiram Larew’s most recent collection of poems, ‘This Much Very’, will be published early this year. He is also the founder of Poetry X Hunger, an initiative that brings poets to the anti-hunger cause.

Hawa Allan is a lawyer and writer of cultural criticism, fiction, and poetry. Her debut book ‘Insurrection: Rebellion, Civil Rights, and the Paradoxical State of Black Citizenship’ interweaves legal history and personal narrative.

The event will be live and simultaneously available on Zoom. Donations can be made through Venmo – PoetryStreet or PayPal – paypal.me/poetrystreet. The reading will be recorded and available on our website.