Join us for an on-line community gathering of poetry by women

Appearing April 27 @ 7 PM

Naoko Fujimoto was born, raised in Nagoya, Japan, and author of Where I Was Born, winner of the editor’s choice by Willow Books (2019) and Glyph:Graphic Poetry=Trans. Sensory by Tupelo Press (2020). Her chapbooks, Mother Said, I Want Your Pain, winner of the Shared Dream Immigrant Contest by Backbone Press (2018), Silver Seasons of Heartache (2017) by Glass Lyre Press, Home, No Home (2016), winner of the annual Oro Fino Chapbook Competition by Educe Press, are available from each press. Her most recent publications are in POETRY, Kenyon Review, Seattle Review, Diode Poetry Journal, and PANK. She is Poetry associate editor at RHINO.

Freesia McKee is author of the chapbook How Distant the City (Headmistress Press, 2018). Her words have appeared in cream city review, The Feminist Wire, Painted Bride Quarterly, CALYX, Gertrude, So to Speak, Nimrod International Journal, Bone Bouquet, Flyway, and the Ms. Magazine Blog. Freesia’s poetry is forthcoming in The Hollins Critic, The Antigonish Review, and The Grabbed Anthology. Her book reviews have appeared in South Florida Poetry Journal, Gulf Stream, and The Drunken Odyssey. Freesia was the winner of CutBank Literary Journal’s 2018 Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry, chosen by Sarah Vap.

To learn more about Naoko Fujimoto, click here

To learn more about Freesia McKee, click here

RSVP: TheBetsyHotel.com/calendar to gain access.

About the presenting partners
The Betsy-South Beach (@thebetsyhotel) is a luxury boutique hotel located on Ocean Drive, boasting a globally regarded arts and culture program. Over the past ten years, the hotel has become a catalyst for energized discourse, innovative thinking, and charitable community conscience. The Betsy has been the home of SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami) for four years and is also the home of the O, Miami Poetry Festival, the Miami Classical Music Festival and the founding corporate sponsor for Reading Queer. The Betsy has hosted more than 1,000 artists in its Writers’ Room artist residency and its nine art galleries are open to the public. The Betsy is owned and operated by the Plutzik Goldwasser family. Contact Deborah Briggs, The Betsy Hotel, at dbriggs@thebetsyhotel.com.

The Miami Beach Urban Studios (@FIUMBUS) are a collider for people and ideas in arts, design, technology and the sciences. Headquartered on iconic Lincoln Road in Miami Beach, MBUS is a Cultural Anchor in the City of Miami Beach and, with over 150 events each year, is a creative space for students and the community in the heart of one of the most vibrant artistic urban centers in the world. John Stuart is the Executive Director. Contact John Stuart, FIU MBUS, at stuartj@fiu.edu.

Supporting Women Writers in Miami (@SWWIM) was co-founded in 2016 by Jen Karetnick and Catherine Esposito Prescott. SWWIM publishes, promotes & celebrates women-identifying writers with a year-round reading series held at The Betsy-South Beach in Miami Beach, FL, and through the online poetry journal SWWIM Every Day (www.swwim.org). Poems first published in SWWIM Every Day have been included in Best American Poetry, The Orison Anthology, Poets.org, and The Writer’s Almanac. Others have appeared in Glass Poetry Press’s year-end reading list, been finalists for Best of the Net, and garnered Pushcart nominations from contributing editors. Poet Caridad Moro-Gronlier joined the SWWIM editorial leadership team in 2019. Contact Catherine Esposito Prescott, Editor-in-Chief, SWWIM, at swwimmiami@gmail.com.

These events will be presented with Closed Captioning. Support for these services is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, in keeping with both The Betsy and FIU’s deep commitment to accessibility. To request materials in accessible format, and/or any disability accommodation, contact cmello@fiu.edu five days in advance to initiate your request. TTY users may also call 711 (Fla Relay Service).