Join Seattle Civic Poet Jourdan Imani Keith and six other poets who will read work that shows how protecting endangered womxn will protect endangered whales. Registration required. Click here to register.

Celebrate World Poetry Day with seven Black, Indigenous, Womxn of Color reading original poetry that explores the intersectionality of womxn’s health, healing, and the endangered Orca whales of the Salish Sea. Seattle Civic Poet Jourdan Imani Keith says, “As Black Indigenous Womxn of Color in Seattle, we share the urban wilderness of the Salish Sea with the endangered Killer Whales. Our bodies face the same cumulative risks of environmental toxins and the harms of objectification, yet we both survive and are revived by the cumulative benefits of matrilineal wisdom, tradition and community. Our brilliance and wellness is entwined with the need for healthy and protected social and natural ecosystems.”

Join Keith, along with 6 other local poets, who will perform original pantoums developed through workshops facilitated by Keith over the last few months as part of her larger project, Womxn & Whales First, Poetry in a Climate of Change. After the reading, Keith and the other poets will hold a conversation with the digital audience.

The event is presented in partnership with The Seattle Public Library Foundation, the Office of Arts & Culture, and Seattle City of Literature. This event is supported by the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times.

We can provide accommodations for people with disabilities at Library events. Please contact leap@spl.org at least seven days before the event to request accommodations. Captions are available for all recorded Library programs.