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Upcoming Events

​2023

  • Saturday, 12/2 - 2 - 4 pm ET: Care in Publishing: Resilience in the Face of Rejection. Panel @ LitArts RI. The path to publication can be riddled with rejection. Whether you are looking for an agent, submitting to publishers, sending your manuscript out to contests, or receiving a challenging round of editorial feedback, cultivating care is key. On Sat, Dec 2, join local authors Rebekah Bergman, Nada Samih-Rotondo and Candace Williams at LitArts RI for an honest discussion about the difficulties inherent in traditional publishing—including the barriers writers from historically underrepresented identities are forced to navigate—and explore the resources and self-care practices these recently published authors turned to in moments of despair. Learn productive strategies for approaching the publishing world, connect with fellow writers facing these challenges, and shore up your resilience in the face of rejection.

Past Events

2023

  • Tuesday, 10/31: Lang Craft Talks: Critical Analysis featuring Candace Williams

  • Wednesday, 5/3 - 6 - 9 pm: Poetry Workshop @ Brooklyn Museum: I See You Face to Face. Join Candace Williams, a poet and interdisciplinary artist, and Indira A. Abiskaroon, Curatorial Assistant for Modern and Contemporary Art, for an intimate poetry-writing workshop in A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration. 

  • Friday, 5/12 - 7 - 9 pm: Launch of I Am the Most Dangerous Thing at Brooklyn Poets with readers Omotara James, Chase Berggrun, and Hafizah Augustus Geter.

  • Thursday, 5/25 - 7 - 8 pm: Providence launch of I Am the Most Dangerous Thing at Twenty Stories Providence with Charlotte Abotsi. 

  • Saturday, 6/17 - 12:45 pm - Schomburg Lit Festival reading (Zora Neale Hurston stage)

  • Thursday, 6/22 - 6 - 8 pm - ALL PRIDE, NO PREJUDICE! A Literary LGBTQ+ Celebration at The Center for Fiction. Readers include Jenny Fran Davis (Dykette), Eliot Duncan (Ponyboy), Henry Hoke (Open Throat), Haley Jakobson (Old Enough), Lancali (I Fell in Love with Hope), Amelia Possanza (Lesbian Love Story), Bushra Rehman (Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion), Candace Williams (I Am the Most Dangerous Thing), and Denne Michelle Noris (When the Harvest Comes).

  • Tuesday, 7/18 - 7 - 8:30 pm: Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle, WA) reading and conversation with Jane Wong. 

  • Sunday, 8/20 - IWWG virtual reading and conversation

  • Friday, 8/25 - OiT virtual reading and conversation

 

2021​​

  • Thursday, 10/28 - 6 - 8 pm: Conjuring the Sacred: Poets of the Diaspora with the Bureau of General Services - Queer Division. Join us for a free virtual celebration of Black poets, living and writing in the diaspora. This magical lineup includes: Gbenga Adesina, Kemi Alabi, Romeo Oriogun and Candace Williams. These four contemporary scholars, storytellers and archivists, whose work expands the cannon, will perform poems and offer their favourite poetry prompts to the audience. The program will be moderated by Omotara James and is brought to you by City Artists Corps Grant & NYFA.

  • Friday, 1/1 - 5 - 6 pm: 47th Annual Poetry Project Marathon

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2020​​

  • Thursday, 11/12 - 8 pm: Chapbook Book Club with Host Publications - Spells for Black Wizards

  • Monday, 7/13 - 7 pm: Brooklyn Poets Yawp - workshop and reading (Zoom).

  • Wednesday, 7/8 - 8/18: Memento Mori poetry workshop via Brooklyn Poets. Fellowships and discounts are available. Asynchronous via WetInk.

  • Sunday, 3/22 - 4/26: Poet Against Empire erasure workshop via Brooklyn Poets. Fellowships and discounts are available. Asynchronous via WetInk.

  • Sunday, 1/12, 3:30 - 5 pm: Soul Sister Compilation Tour Kickoff at the Bowery Poetry Club. Join Jamii Publishing and Soul Sister Revue as they kick-off the New Year with Soul Sister Revue: A Poetry Compilation. Readers include Cortney Lamar Charleston, Denice Frohman, Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, Yasmin Belkhyr, Candace Williams, and Rico Frederick. Tickets are $6 online and $10 at the door.

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​2019

  • Poetry Reading by award-winning NYC-based Candace Williams w/ UConn-Stamford Writing Students. As part of the programming for the Franklin Street Works exhibition Otherwise Obscured: Erasure in Body and Text, Candace will teach two generative erasure workshops to the public and students of Dr. Gregory Pierrot. In the evening, Candace gave a reading and participated in a conversation with exhibition curator Danilo Machado. This free, public reading is at Franklin Street Works. The workshops will take place at UConn-Stamford. The reading and workshops are co-sponsored by Franklin Street Works and UConn-Stamford's English Department and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies program. ​Thursday, 11/14.

  • Refusing Racial Capitalism: Poetic Erasure and Redaction at the Mellon Research Initiative in Racial Capitalism at UC Davis. Poet-educators Jordan Abel, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Erin Gray, Margaret Ronda and Candace Williams participate in a roundtable panel, dinner, and creative workshop.​ Wednesday, 10/2, 4-8 pm.

  • Brooklyn Poets Workshop Showcase at 61 Local. Julie Hart, Emily Hunt, and Candace Williams read with their students. Monday, 8/19 at 7 pm.

  • The FARM Reading Series at Starr Bar with Nadia Owusu, Christopher Boucher, and Candace Williams. ​Monday, 8/12 at 7 pm.

  • The Poet at Work poetry workshop via Brooklyn Poets. Fellowships and discounts are available. Thursdays, 7/18 - 8/15, 6:30 - 9:30 pm.

  • Generative Erasure: A Reading by Candace Williams - (Re)Patterning Performance at the Center for Performance Research. (Re)Patterning Performance will bring together artists, curators, and scholars to explore how language can be retooled by the performing body to create new ways of thinking about who can speak, and how. In a series of talks and performances, we will think through methods by which the body can be “re-patterned” to open out into a network of exchange among cultural communities, modes of self, and the ecological environment. Participants include Hõng-Ân Truong, Lakshmi Padmanabhan, and Greta Hartenstein. Sunday, 7/9, 2 pm.

  • Office Hours Poetry Workshop at the Bureau of General Services, Queer Division. An erasure craft class taught by Candace Williams followed by a reading with Candace Williams, Omotara James, and Safia Jama. Saturday, 5/18.

  • Sunday, 4/6-5/5​, Sundays, 3 - 6 pm: Poet Against Empire workshop via Brooklyn Poets. Fellowships and discounts are available. Details here. ​​Sundays, 4/6-5/5​, 3 - 6 pm

  • Sarah Lawrence College, Slonim Living Room. Content: Poetry, Form And Power—An Evening with Joseph Legaspi, Claire Schwartz, and Candace Williams presented by Sarah Lawrence College and Jack Jones Literary Arts. Wednesday, 4/24, 6-7:30 pm.

  • AWP 2019 in Portland, OR (Wednesday, 3/27 - Saturday, 3/30/19)

    • Panels:​

      • Thursday, 3/28, 1:30 pm (E146, Oregon Convention Center, Level 1): So You Think You Need a Website: A Tech-Wonk(ish) Lesson for DIYers with Sonia Greenfield, Corrie Williamson, Michelle Menting, Candace Williams, and Nicole Byrne

      • ​Saturday, 3/30, 1:30 pm (Portland Ballroom 255, Oregon Convention Center, Level 2): Rx for Writers Targeted by Hate Speech and Trolling with Summer Lopez, Yumi Wilson, Candace Williams, and JoBeth McDaniel

    • Offsite readings: 

      • ​Thursday, 3/28, 6:30 pm: I Scream Social (AWP edition at Ruby Jewel). Camonghne Felix, Grace Shuyi Liew, Lily Someson, Candace Williams, and Maryan Captan read. An ice cream reception follows.

      • Friday, 3/29, 9 pm: NARCISSUS & SOME OTHER DEMIGODS // a off-site + on-line reading @ CHINGADA GALLERY. FT. Candace Williams, Kamden Hilliard, Wo Chan, Sara Bess, KiKi Nicole & Cyree Jarelle Johnson. Organized by jayy dodd. 

  • Women of Color Writers' Workshop reading at Greenlight Bookstore. Thursday, 3/14: 

  • Brooklyn Poets Yawp at 61 Local. Candace Williams will lead a workshop on erasure poetry. After looking at a couple of examples, participants will discuss the process for selecting source texts and surfacing poetry in those texts via erasure, then practice their own erasure. This will be drawn from her five-week workshop "Poet Against Empire: An Erasure Workshop" beginning April 7 (read more: bit.ly/bkp-empire). ​Monday, 3/11, 7 pm:

  • Poet Against Empire workshop reading at the Poetry Project. Students from my erasure workshop read their new work. Friday, 1/18, 8 pm.

​

2018

  • Plexus Project Residency with Laimah Osman, Brooklyn, NY. ​Saturday, 12/8 - Sunday, 12/9.

  • Parallax Issue Six launch at Brooklyn Wayfarers. ​Saturday, 12/1, 6 pm.

  • Prelude Issue #4 Launch at Berl's Poetry Shop. ​Wednesday, 11/14, 7 pm.

  • Poet Against Empire: a Generative Erasure Workshop — Workshop with Candace Williams at the Poetry Project. View the workshop description here. Tuesday, 10/23 - Tuesday, 11/27, 7 - 9 pm.

  • National Coming Out Day Reading at SVA Library with Sarah Sala, Candace Williams, Bakar Wilson and Irene Villaseñor.  Thursday, 10/11 at 7 pm.

  • Fine Arts Work Center Student Reading and Open Studios, Provincetown, MA, Thursday, 6/26 at 4:30 pm.

  • Brooklyn Poets Reading Series at 100 Bogart with Candace Williams, Chen Chen, Donna Masini, Friday, 6/8 at 7:30 pm

  • Broken Bells Reading Series at Church Bar in Brooklyn. Candace Williams, Thiahera Nurse Natalie Eilbert. Sunday, 4/8, 7 pm.

  • Final Fantasy Reading Series. Friends and Lovers. Moreshin Allahyari, Candace Williams, Simon Defeo, Karisma Price, Kenning JP García, Parissah Lin, Ser Serpas. ​Tuesday, 3/27, 8 pm.

  • Free Black Women's Library @ Bailey's Cafe: The Black Imagination. Join us for a reading and lively conversation about Afro-futurism and creative writing. You can browse the library's 900+ books and bring books by written by black women to exchange.The session ran from from 2-7 pm at Bailey’s Café.​ Sunday, 2/25.

  • We celebrated the launch of SPELLS FOR BLACK WIZARDS on Monday, 2/5 at 8pm at the Ace Hotel! Camonghne Felix, Omotara James, Precious Okoyomon, and Rafia Santana were on hand to help celebrate. More info here. 

  • Read at the Poetry Project's 44th Annual New Year’s Day Marathon Benefit Reading! Monday, 1/1/2018.

​

2017

  • Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Celebration at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Langston Hughes Auditorium). DéLana R.A. Dameron, Gregory Pardlo, Terrance Hayes, Tyehimba Jess, Kevin Young, and Candace Williams share and respond to Gwendolyn Brooks' work. Wednesday, 12/13 at 6:30 pm.

  • EMPIRE: Reading Series with Yasmin Belkhyr, Sheila Maldonado, and Jameson Fitzpatrick at Art Bar + Cafe. ​Yasmin Belkhyr, Sheila Maldonado, Candace Williams and Jameson Fitzpatrick. Friday, 11/10, 7:30 pm. 

  • Soul Sister Review at Le Poisson Rouge with Ananda Lima, Yanyi, Cynthia Dewi Oka, John Murillo, and host Ed Toney. Thursday, 11/2, 6:30 pm doors/7:30 pm show.

  • ​The Poetry Project (St. Mark's Church)—Sasha Banks and Candace Williams read. Monday, 10/16, 8 pm.

  • Celebrate Storyfolks! Drum, sing, make art, and break bread as we celebrate a month of self-care programming at the Concord Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center. Saturday, 9/23 from 2- 6 pm at Concord Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center (300 Madison St, Brooklyn).

  • Ghetto Hors D'oeuvres Festival at Maria Hernandez Park (FREE). Performance in the evening. Festival runs all day. ​Ghetto Hors D'oeuvres is a poetic theatrical performance in which rappers and poets break down borders to collaboratively create an ode to Brooklyn’s gritty streets. Sunday, 7/30 (8 pm for the show; 3-7 pm for the climate change festival). 

  • New York City Poetry Festival at Governors Island. Pamela Sneed, Simone Wolff, and Candace Williams will read on behalf of Pen America.  Sunday, 7/30 - 5 pm at the Algonquin Stage.

  • ​BUFU Digital Security Skillshare at Powerplnt. Tuesday, 7/11 at 7 pm.

  • Intersectional Feminism: Histories, Strategies, And Imagined Futures at A.I.R. Gallery. Join us for a conversation with artist Luciana Achugar, writer Laina Dawes, artist Michelle Y Lee, and poet Candace Williams, organized by A.I.R. Fellowship artist Naomi Elena Ramirez. This event is being held in conjunction with Ramirez's first solo show in NYC. A Dangerous Body is on view at A.I.R. from June 29 - July 30, 2017. Friday, 7/7 at 7 pm. 

  • Poetry reading curated by Jesse Chun at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Main Street Terrace with Ana Bozicevic, Camilo Roldan, Candace Williams, Shireen Alia Ahmed, Bonnie Chau, Cat Tyc, Samir Hazelhurst, Haley Markbreiter, and more. ​Sunday, 6/11 at 2 pm.

  • TFW reading at the Silent Barn with Haley Houseman, Kevin Lozano, Parissah Lin, Sydney Yeo, Candace Williams, and others (TBD). Saturday, 6/10 at 3 pm.

  • The Living Altar Project. I'm collaborating with Kaimera Productions to devise a 30 minute performance in honor of celebration of the lives of individuals killed in conflict. There will be two showings on May 23 and May 24 from 5-10pm both days. You may arrive at any point between 5-10pm and come and go as you please.

  • Reading with Tony Trigilio, Hafizah Geter, Albert Mobilio, and Tommy Pico at Pacific Standard. Brooklyn, New York. Wednesday, April 26th at 7 pm. 

  • ​Workshop: Web Security for Dissident Artists. Get Artists Paid x MAMI's Art is Labor: A Day of Artist's Rights and Critical Imagination. Knockdown Center. Queens, New York. Sunday, April 23, 2017.

  • Brooklyn Poets Anthology Launch @ Smack Melon. Brooklyn, New York. Thursday, April 20th @ 7 pm.

  • The Felt Issue 2 Launch @ Shoestring Press. Brooklyn, New York. Saturday, March 25th @ 7:30 pm.

  • Pete's Big Salmon @ Pete's Candy Store. Jennifer Michael Hecht, Deborah Landau, and Candace Williams. Brooklyn, New York. March 10, 2017.

  • Critical Matter of Performance at the New Museum. I gave a presentation at this three-day think tank that "explores the relationship of criticism to live art through multiple registers—across time, space, bodies, politics, and institutions". Participants include Rizvana Bradley, Tania Bruguera, Malik Gaines, Jack Halberstam, Jenn Joy, Thomas J. Lax, Simone Leigh, and Wu Tsang, with special guest speaker Robert Longo. February 16 - 18, 2017.

  • Bennington Review/Oversound AWP17 reading at 51st State. Readings by Sara Deniz Akant, Ari Banias, Julie Carr, Dan Chelotti, Erica Dawson, Robert Fernandez, James Allen Hall, Paul Killebrew, Adrienne Raphel, Evan Lavender-Smith, Lindsay Turner, Candace Williams, Ronaldo Wilson, Jane Wong, Ryo Yamaguchi, and Magdalena Zurawski. Washington, D.C. February 10, 2017.

  • A Very Avian AWP offsite Reading at the Big Hunt with Birds LLC and Sixth Finch. Camonghne Felix, Monica McClure, Lauren Hunter, Ana Božičević, Dan Boehl, Candace Williams, Anne Cecelia Holmes, & sam sax read. Washington, D.C. February 9, 2017.

  • Opening Night: Black Panther Got Loose from the Bronx Zoo at the American Jewish Historical Society. Ido Michaeli's exhibition opening. Readings of commissioned works by Mariam Bazeed, Michael Brown Jr., Miri Gabriel, Shlomi Hatuka, Boni Joi, Velina Manolova, Maryam Parhizkar, Candace Williams, Jayson P. Smith, and Sami Shalom Chetrit. New York, New York. February 2, 2017.

  • Experiments and Disorders - Dixon Place. Readings by Candace Williams and Joyce Miller. New York, New York. January 17, 2017.

  • Web Security for Dissidents and Artists - Anti-Trump Free School / Escuelita Libre Anti-Trump at Mayday Space. New York, New York. January 14, 2017.

​

2016

  • Art After Trump - Housing Works. New York, New York. December 15, 2016.

  • AlterConf talk: It's not Lit: Strategies for Exposing and Eliminating Cultural Appropriation in Advertising. Microsoft. New York, New York. December 10, 2016.

  • CryptoParty: Secure and Resist! Eyebeam. Brooklyn, New York. December 3, 2016.

  • The Bop Workshop: A Reading at Cave Canem. Brooklyn, New York. November 30, 2016.

  • Poetry Conversations: A Reading at Cave Canem. Brooklyn, New York. November 14, 2016.

  • Nomadic Press Presents Bodies At Christopher Stout Gallery. Brooklyn, New York. November 10, 2016.

  • Juicy Fruits: A Pack of Lesbian Writers. Bureau of General Services: Queer Division. New York, New York. October 20, 2016.

  • Garden Readings: Dolores Dorantes and Candace Williams. Melissa Buzzeo's Garden. Brooklyn, New York. October 14, 2016.

  • Earshot | Antigua, Languell, Xie, and Williams. Over the Eight. Brooklyn, New York. September 22, 2016.

  • Ghetto Hors D'oeuvres 2016 Gala and Benefit. New York, New York. August 27, 2016.

  • Brooklyn Poets Workshop Showcase. 61 Local. Brooklyn, New York. August 22, 2016. 

  • Union Square Slam presents an evening with Brooklyn Poets. Bureau of General Services: Queer Division. New York, New York. August 9, 2016.

  • Harlem Summer Turn Up. New York, New York. August 6, 2016.

  • Couplet at the NYC Poetry Festival - Featuring Susan Lewis, Candace Williams, Stella Padnos-Shea, Silvia Bonilla. Governors Island, New York. July 31, 2016.

  • Brooklyn Poets Workshop Showcase. 61 Local. Brooklyn, New York. May 23, 2016. 

  • No, Dear Magazine DOCUMENT issue release. Over the Eight. Brooklyn, New York. May 20, 2016.

  • Ghetto Hors D'oeuvres at the Obie Award-winning Bushwick Starr Theater. Brooklyn, New York. April 29 and 30, 2016.

  • Writing Across Cultures: A Reading at Cave Canem. Brooklyn, New York. April 14, 2016.

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2015

  • Brooklyn Poets Workshop Showcase. 61 Local. Brooklyn, New York. December 21, 2015. 

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