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, hosted by Thomas F. Donatucci, Sr. Library, is free and open to the public.

Previous Monday Poet: M. Nzadi Keita

M. Nzadi Keita's third book, Migration Letters: Poems, reflects on her Black working-class upbringing in Philadelphia. In Brief Evidence of Heaven: Poems from the life of Anna Murray Douglass, Keita used persona to unveil Frederick Douglass’s first wife. For many years, she taught creative writing, American literature, and Africana Studies at Ursinus College. Keita is a Pew Fellow and Leeway Foundation Transformation Awardee.

New Monday Poet: Mabel Lee

Mabel Lee is a poet and educator from Philadelphia, where she participates in various literary groups and teaches middle school students. Most recently she has facilitated poetry workshops centering around the preservation of beloved neighborhoods and resistance against big development. She believes in the transformative and connective power of poetry within and across communities and language as a bridge towards knowing and helping others.