Poetry Reading & Open Mic Night feat. Desirée Alvarez

Join us for a poetry reading by Bridgewater poet Desirée Alvarez (see her bio below!), followed by an Open Mic Night! Register to perform and share a favorite work or original piece, or just come to listen and enjoy the performances, snacks, and drinks!

You don’t have to be a professional – we seek to create a supportive space for everyone to share! Any kind of performance is welcome – play an instrument, share a favorite monologue, poem or written work by someone else that inspires you, your own original work, dance, acoustic music, you name it!

This program is for ages 12+. Registration is required for audience members and performers as indicated below, since space is limited:

To attend as an audience member, please RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15uZ8UTuRI69-n5pNZBZ6BoshcZdB3IDI4gDx8u6h1w0/edit
To register as a performer please RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qeIWkUuf7wj3OMRW79Hqy9DbSrTjLAHRgH8GjtoqjMI/edit

Performers, please note: Each performance will be limited to 5 minutes, and we ask that performances be kept PG-13. The host will share a set list for registered performances prior to the event.

Questions? Email Katie at ksteele@burnhamlibrary.org

Desirée Alvarez is a poet and painter. Her second book, Raft of Flame, 2020, received the Lake Merritt Poetry Prize from Omnidawn. Devil’s Paintbrush, her first book, received the May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize. Her poetry was awarded the Prairie Schooner Glenna Luschei Poetry Award, Brooklyn Poets Whitman Bicentennial Poetry Contest Award (from Mark Doty), and the Robert D. Richardson Non- Fiction Award from Denver Quarterly. She has received grants, awards, and fellowships from New York Foundation for the Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Foundation for Contemporary Art, European Capital of Culture, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Yaddo Art Colony, P.S. 122, and Poets House. Her work is anthologized in Other Musics: New Latina Poets (University of Oklahoma Press), Stronger Than Fear: Poems of Empowerment, Compassion, and Social Justice (Cave Moon Press; winner of the International Book Award for Poetry Anthology), and What Nature (MIT Press). She teaches at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, and The Juilliard School. Alvarez shows internationally and has exhibited at Brooklyn Botanic Conservatory Gallery, Art on Paper Fair, El Museo del Barrio, IPCNY, Taller Boricua, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Bennington College, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Housatonic Museum, Long Island University, Wesleyan University, and many galleries. She has published poetry in journals including The Slowdownn Podcast, The Iowa Review, Ecotone Magazine, Lit Hub, The Massachusetts Review, Poetry Magazine, Fence Magazine, Prairie Schooner, La Presa Journal, Boston Review, Denver Quarterly, Black Renaissance Noire, and Luna Luna Magazine.