Poetry reading at the New York Poetry festival on the Algonquin Stage with the Thursday Morning Poets #NYCPoFest #TMPPoets

It was an exhilarating experience, to say the least, to perform at the 10th Annual New York poetry festival yesterday on July 24, 2021, with my Thursday Morning Poets Siblings. We Rocked the stage!! Thursday Morning Poets group has been founded by the Queens Poet Laureate, Maria Lisella along with the Queens Public Library.

Not only I get to meet my #TMPPoets siblings  and but also got the opportunity to read two of my poems from my upcoming chapbook “My Body Is Not an Apology” by Finishing Line Press and from my full-length collection ” My Body Lives Like a Threat” by the FlowerSong press. Here is the link to my reading. Thanks to Amy Stern.

I also get to meet my literary friends/heroes and watch them in action on another stage at Governors Island, the beautiful scenic venue for the New York Poetry Festival.

I was gobsmacked when Kaveh Akbar showed us our reading and stayed. He signed my copy of the “Calling a Wolf a Wolf”  with a little note for this dear poet where he drew a wolf and mentioned that he liked my poem. I was also super blessed to meet Terrance Hayes on his off reading days. Later I attended the poetry reading by the headline poets of the festival namely Kaveh Akbar and Ariana Reines. Kaveh Akbar read form his next full length collection, Pilgrim Bell.

I was super excited and grinning like a kid to meet my friends and fellow poet David Dephy at the Chumley Stage where he personally signed his full-length collection. I was also blessed to hear the poetry reading by eminent American poet, Ravi Shankar and had a little conversation with me. I’m thrilled to share space woth him on the upcoing antholgy by Nirala Publication “Surviving Suicide”

The day wrapped up with listening to the beautiful sonnet recited by Roxanne Hoffman of Poets Wear Prada and women of South Asian Collective. I also visited the gorgeous booth of the Poetry Brothel by the Poetry Society of America, hosted by Bernadette McComish.

Sharing the pictures and the videos from my debut at the New York Poetry festival!!!

Happy Poetry!!

Megha Sood