We sat down with Khalisa Rae, one of the organizers of Women Speak Poetry Reading about this Saturday’s Event – Feb 13 7:30 – 9PM EST.

How did you get the idea for the series?

I saw the same readers, reading at every lit mag reading, and it frustrated me because I know so many other talented writers that never get an opportunity. I also had noticed that I hadn’t booked many readings that year, and wondered why myself and some of my other strong readers never get an opportunity. Even with the magazines we had been published in. I got so fed up  I tweeted that I wanted to do a reading with BIPOC womxn that don’t often get a chance to read. Gaia saw my tweet and reached out about partnering up.  It was pretty serendipitous because she had been thinking the same thing. We decided to team up to curate the event. 

What is your goal with the series?  The goal of the series was to bring together talented BIPOC womxn poets and prose writers that don’t often get shine, but would also never read together and may have never met. To foster community, unity, and anti-competition. We wanted to amplify folks that many platforms haven’t made space for. So many publications, limit access and opportunity and we wanted to create a space that gives access and creates ample opportunities. The idea is to counter gate-keeping and give opportunities to powerful, BIPOC voices that deserve recognition. 

What do you think makes a reading series stand out? I have been hosting readings and poetry slams for almost 10 years, and can honestly say that a great reading has not just a power-packed lineup, but a great host. One that is supportive, a true cheerleader, with charisma, grace, and audience engaging humor. Another aspect that makes it really special is the audience engagement and love. I come from the poetry slam world where readings are truly electric when there is call and response from the audience. Almost like church. A *snap*, a hand clap, “amen”, “say it sister”, makes the reading feel like a revival. It almost feeds the poet or reader energy and again makes it feel more like community and less like a popularity contest. 

What can we look forward to on Saturday?

Saturday is special because it’s our first themed event. The event was inspired by Taylor Byas’ poem Men Be Menning about toxic masculinity and it just spiraled into a Galentine’s type “sisterhood” event that gave space and platform for womxn to voice their experiences with sexism, misogyny, toxic masculinity, trauma, and just heinous crimes men commit against women.  

What can we look forward to in the future?

So we are booked up for the next three months with some powerhouses. The most exciting news is we have Patricia Smith and Ada Limon as our features next month for Women’s Month hosted by Gai Rajan and myself. It’s going to be amazing!! 

READING INFO: Join Honey Literary for the third installment of WOMEN SPEAK, a new monthly reading series geared towards creating a stage for BIPOC women-identified poets and prose writers of all stages of their career. Its mission is to counter poetic gate-keeping and bring together powerful writers with new and forthcoming work.

February’s featured readers are Diannely Antigua and Taylor Byas. Joining them will be Imani Davis, Raych Jackson, Itiola Jones, Khalisa Rae, and Jessica Q. Stark.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/2754380004813716