The Mad Poets Society is proud to join forces with Thirty West Publishing bring you a virtual event to close out September and kick off the autumn reading season. Join us as we celebrate 3 writers and their new books online and from the comfort of your home. This event is free and begins at 6PM EST (5PM CST). Check out the authors' bios below. Register HERE through EventBrite until Friday Sept 24th at 6PM. See you then!

About the writers:

Alla Vilnyanskaya was born in the Ukraine and raised in the U.S. She came to Philadelphia in 1989 with her parents. She holds an MA from Miami University and an MFA from Columbia University. Her work has been published in multiple online and print journals including Zaum, Poetry International, Saint Ann’s Review and Boog City. She is an alumna of The Home School and has won several teaching fellowships and other awards from Miami University and Columbia University. Her debut poetry collection, VOID, was published by Thirty West Publishing in August 2021.

Jennifer Companik holds an M.A. from Northwestern University and is a fiction editor at TriQuarterly. The child of South American immigrants, one of her life goals is to travel from Colombia down to Argentina sampling every region's empanadas along the way, because traveling and empanadas are the meaning of life. Her literary accomplishments include: first prize, The Ledge’s 2014 Fiction Awards; a Pushcart Prize nomination from Border Crossing; and work appearing in: The Evansville Review; Pop Matters; Glassworks; Another Chicago Magazine; and The London Reader. Her personal accomplishments include every time she makes someone laugh. By reading her work you are participating in one of her wildest dreams. Her debut short story collection, Check Engine and Other Stories, is now out through Thirty West Publishing.

Maria Masington is a poet, author, and spoken word artist from Wilmington, Delaware. Her poetry has appeared in over a dozen publications including Adanna, The News Journal, The Broadkill Review, Gyroscope Review, and Earth’s Daughters and by the University of Colorado. In 2016, she received honorable mention for the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize and has had seven short stories published in both local and international press. Maria is a member of The Mad Poets Society and is an emcee and featured poet on the local art scene. She has been a guest on WVUD ArtSound and a three-time fellow at the Delaware Division of the Arts Cape Henlopen Poets and Prose Retreat. Her first chapbook, Mouth Like a Sailor, is being released by Parnilis Media in September 2021.

About the organizers:

The Mad Poets Society, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts organization dedicated to promoting poetry in the Greater Philadelphia area & beyond since 1986, is thrilled to partner with Thirty West on this exciting event!

Thirty West Publishing House: hand-made chapbooks (and more) since 2015.