The Word Works and The Writer’s Center present poets Sham-e-Ali Nayeem and Eleanor Wilner. Café Muse opens at 7 pm with refreshments and classical guitar by Michael Davis; readings begin at 7:30. Open mic to follow.
SHAM-E-ALI NAYEEM is a poet, visual artist, and author of the poetry collection City of Pearls (UpSet Press, 2019). Born in Hyderabad, India and raised in both the UK and the US, she is a former public interest lawyer supporting economic justice for survivors of family and intimate partner violence. A recipient of the Loft Literary Center Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship, Sham-e-Ali’s poetry has appeared in Apiary, Dusie, and Mizna, and can be found in anthologies, including Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out (Olive Branch Press, 2005), Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak (Beacon Press, 2005), and Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence (Seal Press, 2008).
ELEANOR WILNER has published eight collections of poetry; most recently, Before Our Eyes: New and Selected Poems 1975-2017 (Princeton University Press, 2019). In 2019, she received the Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement from the Poetry Society of America. Other awards include fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Juniper Prize, and three Pushcart Prizes. Poems have appeared in countless anthologies, including The Norton Anthology of Poetry (fourth edition) and The Best American Poetry 2014 and 2016. She is on the graduate faculty of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, and is a lifelong activist for civil rights and peace.
