Join the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Literature Department in celebrating the 30th Anniversary season of Monday Poets. This year’s theme is Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah), a Twi word from the Akan Tribe of Ghana which loosely implies that to move forward, one must “go back and get it”. In that spirit we will be celebrating at each event a past Monday Poet and introduce a new one. Each month from September 2024 to April 2025 a new Sankofa pair will read at a new library. Monday Poets exists to inspire and connect poets and community members across the city of Philadelphia.

This program will take place in the Skyline Room on the 4th Floor of Parkway Central and is free and open to the public. The event will be led by Philadelphia's current Poet Laureate, Kai Davis. 

Previous Monday Poet: Lawrence Dugan

Lawrence Dugan is the author of  THE SEA AGAIN: POEMS published by Finishing Line Press. He has published poetry in Arion, Cyphers, Daedalus, First Things, National Review, The Irish Edition, The New Republic, The Spectator, Tar River Poetry, and The Threepenny Review, among other journals and magazines. He was born in New York City, and has lived most of his life in Philadelphia where he attended Roman Catholic High School, and Temple, Villanova and Drexel Universities. He worked for many years as a librarian at The Free Library of Philadelphia where he ran the Monday Poets Series.

New Monday Poet: Gabriel Ramirez

Gabriel Ramirez is a Queer Afro-Caribbean writer, performer and educator. A 2023 Gregory Djanikian Scholar in Poetry at Adroit Journal.  Gabriel has received fellowships from the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, The Conversation Literary Arts Festival, CantoMundo, Miami Book Fair, a graduate fellow at The Watering Hole, and a participant in the Callaloo Writer’s Workshops. You can find his work in publications like Poetry Magazine, Muzzle Magazine, Split This Rock, BOMB, and Acentos Review. Learn more about Gabriel Ramirez @RamirezPoet and RamirezPoet.com