Announcing Poets in Pajamas 2023 Season!

We are so thrilled for a new season of Poets in Pajamas! After an incredible outpouring of submissions, we are excited to announce 24 incredible poets who will be sharing their work with us this year. This line-up is funded by a generous grant from the Poetry Foundation.

In order to grow and connect new audiences, we will be switching to a “Pajama Party” format this season – all readings will feature TWO poets! Readings are still Sundays at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time. Follow this blog and the PiP Facebook page for updates, bios, reminders, and links to the virtual readings!

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).

2023 Season

Jakky Bankong-Obi and Nicole Arocho Hernández, March 19

Mary Leauna Christensen and Sarena Brown, April 16

Ja’net Danielo and Athena Nassar, May 21

Noreen Ocampo and River 慧瑩 Dandelion, June 4

Taiye Ojo and Cindy Juyoung Ok, June 18

Will Carpenter and Shareen K. Murayama, July 16

Bo Schwabacher and Ashia Ajani, July 30

Chim Sher Ting and Grace Macnair, August 6

Sarah Sarai and Milica Mijatović, August 27

Jennifer Martelli and Shlagha Borah, September 10

Ide Thompson and Annette Covrigaru, October 15

Tzynya Pinchback and Emma Aylor, November 12

PiP 154: Crystal D. Mayo

Poets in Pajamas brings you Crystal D. Mayo at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Sunday, February 19th with a 15-minute live reading immediately followed by a short Q&A. The event will be held over the Poets in Pajamas Zoom and streamed on the Poets in Pajamas Facebook page.

Crystal D. Mayo is a Native New Yorker born and raised in the South Bronx. She is an African Amerian writer, actress and storyteller whose Southern roots are highly influential in her writing craft. Crystal’s repertoire of writing spans from memoirs and poetry to children’s books. Her literary contributions have been published in the Bronx Memoir Project Volumes three and four, The African Voices tribute to Ntozake Shange and Our Voices Our Stories, an anthology of Writings Advancing, Celebrating, Embracing and Empowering Girls and Women of Color through the National Girls and Women of Council Inc. Her memoir “Wicked Blues” will be featured in the Connecticut Literary Anthology 2021 this fall. When Crystal is not writing she serves as a mentor for the New York based organization, Girls Write Now.

“Running Into Time” Viewless Wings

Join us at the PiP Zoom or on the PiP Facebook page at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Sunday, February 19th. 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 153: Pamela Murray Winters

Poets in Pajamas brings you Pamela Murray Winters at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on February 5 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.

Pamela Murray Winters lives in Maryland. Her poems have appeared in many journals and
anthologies, including the Gettysburg Review, Gargoyle, and Beltway Poetry. Her debut
collection The Unbeckonable Bird (FutureCycle Press) was published in 2018. She has an MFA
from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she received a 2017 Maryland State Arts Council
Individual Artist Award. She assists with the legendary Evil Grin Poetry Series in Annapolis and
organized the 2017 Writers Resist reading there. She hates writing about herself in the first
person.

“One Meander” Mike Maggio

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 February 5th. 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 151: Carrie Nassif

Poets in Pajamas brings you Carrie Nassif at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on January 8 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.

Carrie Nassif is a queer poet, photographer, parent and psychologist with a private practice in the rural Midwest. She lives happily with her partner, a 17 year-old new driver, a spoiled bearded dragon, an aging but sassy orange cat, and an aggressively friendly 65-pound lapdog. Recent work can be found in Comstock Review, Concision, The Gravity of the Thing, Tupelo Quarterly, Pomona Valley Review, in several anthologies and was featured in AROHO’s Waves Series.

“Reflection” Concision Poetry Journal

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 December 18th, 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 150: Liz Chang

Poets in Pajamas brings you Liz Chang at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on December 18 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.

Liz Chang was 2012 Montgomery County Poet Laureate in Pennsylvania. Her poems have appeared in Verse Daily, Rock & Sling, Origins Journal, Breakwater Review and Stoneboat Literary Journal, among others. Her first essay was recently published in Oyster River Pages. Her fiction is forthcoming from Opia. She is an Associate Professor of English at Delaware County Community College.

“They’re Launching a Poem-less Library to the Moon” Verse Daily

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 December 18th, 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).

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).

PiP 146: Carolyn Oliver

Poets in Pajamas brings you Carolyn Oliver at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Oct. 16 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!

Carolyn Oliver is the author of Inside the Storm I Want to Touch the Tremble (University of Utah Press, 2022), selected by Matthew Olzmann for the Agha Shahid Ali Prize. Carolyn’s poems appear in The Massachusetts Review, Indiana Review, Cincinnati Review, Radar Poetry, Shenandoah, Beloit Poetry Journal, 32 Poems, Southern Indiana Review, Cherry Tree, Plume, DIALOGIST, and elsewhere. Carolyn is the winner of the E. E. Cummings Prize from the NEPC, the Goldstein Prize from Michigan Quarterly Review, the Writer’s Block Prize in Poetry, and the Frank O’Hara Prize from The Worcester Review, where she now serves as editor. Carolyn lives in Massachusetts with her family. Online: carolynoliver.net.

“Flowers for the Virgin” 32 Poems

“Crepuscular Rays” Superstition Review

“Northwest” Ilanot Review

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).

PiP 145: Bo Schwabacher

Poets in Pajamas brings you Bo Schwabacher at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Oct. 2 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!

Bo Schwabacher is a South Korean adoptee.  Born in South Korea, she was adopted at three-months-old.  Bo grew up in Illinois.  Her poems have appeared in Cha, CutBank, diode, Redivider, The Offing, Zone 3, and others.  Omma, Sea of Joy and Other Astrological Signs, published by Tinderbox Editions, is her debut collection of poems.

“My Omma’s Shame“ Tupelo Quarterly

“Asian Pear” Diode

“Junnam Province, My Birthplace” Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 

Join us at the Poets in Pajamas Facebook page at 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) on Sunday October 2nd, 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).