Poetry reading followed by Q & A with renowned poets Omotara James and Christopher Atamian.

Omotara James is a poet and essayist. The daughter of Nigerian and Trinidadian immigrants, she lives and studies in New York City. Her poetry chapbook, “Daughter Tongue,” was selected by African Poetry Book Fund, in collaboration with Akashic Books, for the 2018 New Generation African Poets Box Set. Her debut full length collection, “Mama Wata,” is forthcoming in the Fall of 2018 from Siren Songs, of CCM press. She has been award fellowships from Cave Canem and Lambda Literary. Her awards include the Bridging the Gap Award for Emerging Poets and the Nancy P. Schnader Academy of American Poets Award. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Recluse, Nat.Brut, American Chordata, Winter Tangerine, Cosmonauts Avenue, The Seventh Wave, Arkansas International and elsewhere. Currently, she is an MFA candidate in poetry at NYU.
 
 

Christopher Atamian is a writer and creative producer of Italian–Armenian background and the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors. While his current work is increasingly devoid of overt ethnic topics, much of his early writings centered around issues of sexuality, ethnic origin and assimilation. At Collegiate School Atamian was a National Merit Scholar. He received his B.A. in Literature, Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University before completing his education at USC Film School and Columbia Business School where he received the school’s highest honor, the Samuel Bronfman Scholarship. Apart from creative endeavors and professional activities as a senior executive in leading media companies and consultancies, Atamian has concentrated on community activism. He is the former President and a current board member of AGLA New York and in 2004 founded Nor Alik, a non-profit cultural organization responsible for producing the First Armenian International Film Festival. He also co-produced the OBIE Award-winning play Trouble in Paradise in 2006, directed by Elyse Singer, as well as several music videos and short films. Atamian was selected for the 2009 Venice Biennale on the basis of his video Sarafian’s Desire and received a 2015 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He continues to contribute critical pieces to leading publications such as The New York Times Book Review and The Huffington Post, while working on other creative endeavors in film and theater. Atamian’s poetry has appeared in The Hye-Phen Magazine, The Armenian Poetry Project, Groong Online, and Mes Arménies. Into the Woods was adapted as a rock song by musician Anne Hirschfeld.