About this Event
We are very excited to welcome Christine Degenaars to Asbury Book Cooperative! She will be presenting her newest title THIN GLASS in conversation with local author, Meredith Avakian!
The $19 event ticket reserves your seat and purchases a copy of THIN GLASS! The $5 ticket reserves a seat only; you will receive a $5 voucher upon arrival to spend at the store for a purchase that night!
Walk-ins to this event are welcome but space is limited.
Hope to see you in the shop!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Thin Glass unfolds in the after-hours of a city: neon signs blinking, windows open to the street, sidewalks slick with rain. In this lyric coming-of-age, Degenaars writes with clarity and vulnerability about those caught between responsibility and abandon, love and self-erasure.
These poems follow a speaker in flux-lover, daughter, would-be mother-as she questions what it means to survive, and even celebrate, the in-between. "Despite all I've tried, I am myself. Still," the speaker confesses, reckoning with a self she can't quite shake.
Degenaars searches for meaning in the small details-hailing a cab, folding laundry, changing in a window. This is a collection about how ordinary life can break us open, an unforgettable meditation on what can't be left behind. These poems are emotionally exact and quietly defiant; they explore how longing threatens and shapes us. "Who'd hide from this," the speaker asks, "the almost tender-who'd dare?"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christine Degenaars has work published in Rattle, Tar River Poetry, Epiphany, Nimrod International Journal, Cider Press Review, & elsewhere. She was nominated for the 2023 Pushcart Prize and in 2022 was selected as a semi-finalist in the 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest. She is the recipient of the 2021 Colie Hoffman Prize in Poetry and the Bishop Kelleher Award. She graduated from Hunter College with a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry. Thin Glass, her debut collection, has been published by Fernwood Press in 2025. She lives in New York.
BOOK REVIEWS:
It’s a thin glass that separates us from the lives of others, suggests Christine Degenaars in this searching, beautifully observed collection. Intimate, conversational, these poems are fueled by desire, curiosity, a fascination with transgression, and a hunger for the sacred.
- Donna Masini, author of Did You Find Everything You Were Looking For?
Thin Glass by Christine Degenaars examines the fragility of everyday life. Degenaars’ poems explore both the domestic and the profound, searching for equal meaning in love, betrayal, heartache, and beginnings. These poems examine the meandering journey from girlhood to womanhood and highlight the paradoxes of love and intimacy. The lyrical intensity and evocative images create a melancholy glimpse into both the alluring nature of love and its dangerous reality. Thin Glass shows the many ways that our images shape who we are and what we want to become while we still have the time to change.
- Vanessa Ogle, author of Mother of O
ABOUT THE MEDIATOR:
Meredith Z. Avakian (“MZA”) believes in living a great story and for the past nine years has been experiencing something new every single day. She now shares this lifestyle with others in her Journey of Firsts community and MZA’s Prism blog. Meredith is a writer, spoken word poet, keynote speaker, storyteller, conscious communications coach and community connector, as well as the author of Propaganda Begins with PR: Poetry for the Soul and PRhyme Time: Power of Poetry. Additionally, Meredith is an instructor and the director of community outreach and engagement at Project Write Now. Her writing has been published by The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Lawyer, and philly.com. Her poetry has been published in The Armenian Mirror-Spectator, The Armenian Poetry Project, The Literary Groong, and in several of Moonstone Arts’ Poetry Ink chapbooks. Meredith received her Bachelor’s degree in public relations from Temple University, where she also served as president of the school’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America before entering the corporate world and legal community, respectively. During her time in the Philadelphia, she also served as president of the Philadelphia Public Relations Association and spent 13 years on its Board of Governors, as well as serving on the Board of the PRSA Philadelphia Chapter and as an active member of the National Association of Bar Executives. After becoming a new mama, Meredith returned home to the Jersey Shore, where she started the next chapter of her story.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Asbury Book Cooperative, 644A Cookman Avenue, Asbury Park, United States
USD 7.18 to USD 22.11
