Poets in Pajamas 2023 Call for Readers

Poets in Pajamas (PiP), a Sundress Publications reading series, is putting together the slate of readers for 2023 and would like to invite you to apply to read. 

Poets in Pajamas is a live-feed online reading series, hosted by Sundress Publications, which prides itself on producing high-quality poetry readings for an online audience. Readers read from their own work for fifteen minutes and then answer questions from listeners for an additional ten or fifteen.

We are interested in hearing from ALL writers (we accept both poetry and prose readers) but we also particularly want to welcome writers who identify as being a part of disenfranchised communities such as but not limited to, people of color, immigrant populations, native and indigenous people, LGBTQ+, d/Deaf and Disabled, non-binary people, members of non-dominant religious groups, all women, Dreamers, formerly incarcerated, and more. We want to host you and promote your work. 

To apply, send three poems or up to five pages of prose and a short video clip of you reading, NOT a recorded reading in front of a crowd. Please send a new video of you reading at home or in your garden, in front of your computer, or in your living room. This is NOT a call for produced sessions. Read for no more than 1 to 3 minutes (less is more), and please also attach a bio and author photo in one email to poetsinpajamas@gmail.com. Submissions close December 18, 2022.

Note: We’re not concerned with audio/video quality here, nor your appearance. We are looking for that magical combination wherein the poet writes wonderful words we want to hear and knows how to give a good reading in a virtual setting. Really, one to three minutes, read as you would at any reading, one poem, or one paragraph, don’t overthink. Please apply!

Now more than ever, people miss getting out to readings. Plus many folks don’t have access to readings because they don’t live near a literary city/don’t have time/can’t get to them. These are the people who wouldn’t regularly be at your reading but want to see you read, and want to know and love your work. PiP would like to help you and them find one another.

PiP 148: Melissa Frederick

Poets in Pajamas brings you Melissa Frederick at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on November 20th with a 15-minute live reading immediately followed by a short Q&A. The event will be held over the PiP Zoom and streamed on the PiP Facebook page.

Melissa Frederick has been working at writing for the past 35 years, through motherhood, chronic illness(es), and societal insanity. She earned Masters degrees from Iowa State University and Temple University. Her poetry and prose have appeared in numerous publications, including Crab Orchard Review, DIAGRAM, Mid-American Review, Moon City Review, Muse/A Journal, Oxford Poetry, and Heron Tree. Her poetry chapbook, She, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2008. Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net anthology. Follow her on Twitter @msficklereader.

“The Questions” Blanket Sea

“Early Flight” Literary Mama

“Hurricane Ophelia” Pittsburgh Poetry Houses

Join us at the Poets in Pajamas Zoom or on the Poets in Pajamas Facebook page at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Sunday November 20th, 2022. When the live video starts, click join to watch the reading and interact with the poet.

This reading series is hosted courtesy of Sundress Publications. The land on which Sundress Publications operates is part of the traditional territory of the Tsalagi peoples (now Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) and Tsoyaha peoples (Yuchi, Muscogee Creek).

PiP 147: Guela Geurts

Poets in Pajamas brings you Guela Geurts at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Nov. 6 with a 15-minute live reading immediately followed by a short Q&A. The event will be held at the PiP Facebook page.

By clicking “going” to the Facebook event, you will let us know to expect you and will ensure that you are sent a reminder, so you don’t forget. Remember to prepare your questions for the featured poet, too!

Geula Geurts is a Dutch born poet and essayist living in Jerusalem. A 2021 Best of the Net nominee, her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Pleiades, The Penn Review, Salamander, Juked, Raleigh Review, Radar, CALYX, Spoon River and EcoTheo. Her lyric essay ‘The Beginnings of Fire’ was published by CutBank Books (Summer 2021). Her manuscript ‘Tiny Bones Glowing’ was selected as first runner-up in the 2020 Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Award. Her mini chapbook ‘Like Any Good Daughter’ was published by Platypus Press. She is a graduate of the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar Ilan University, and works as a literary agent at the Deborah Harris Agency.

“Distance, A Diagnosis“ The Adirondack Review

“The Lactation of Saint Bernard” The Ekphrastic Review

“Dissolvable Stitches,” Arcturus

Join us at the Poets in Pajamas Facebook page at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Sunday October 16th, 2022. When the live video starts, click join to watch the reading and interact with the poet.

This reading series is hosted courtesy of Sundress Publications. The land on which Sundress Publications operates is part of the traditional territory of the Tsalagi peoples (now Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians) and Tsoyaha peoples (Yuchi, Muscogee Creek).