6:30-8pmFREE for Members
FREE for Youth 17 & under
Free with General Admission for Adults
*Advance tickets required. Subject to cancellation in case of inclement weather.
In partnership with Tri-City Collective, Philbrook presents an evening of poetry organized by poet and civil rights historian Quraysh Ali Lansana. Poems and readings, presented by local writers, educators and historians will examine the carceral state and internment across Oklahoma and the U.S.
The evening will feature work by writers who are part of The Writers Guild at Joseph Harp Correctional Center, a writing program founded by inmates in 2016, and Poetic Justice, a restorative writing and creative arts program founded in Oklahoma in 2014, which now serves incarcerated women in Oklahoma, California, Arkansas, and Tijuana, Mexico.
This event will take place in the Philbrook Gardens. Distanced seating on the lawn will be available for up to 150 guests.
Readers include:
Hanna Al-Jibouri is a writer, teacher, and learner. She has a Bachelors of Arts in English and Creative Writing with a minor in Gender Studies from Hendrix College. She received her Masters of Science in Teaching from Oklahoma State University. She currently teaches third and fourth graders in North Tulsa and this is her ninth year in the classroom. She is the Board President for the nonprofit organization Poetic Justice. Whatever work she is doing, Hanna seeks to disrupt and dismantle broken systems and build more equitable bridges for the oppressed.
Timothy Bradford is the author of the poetry collection Nomads with Samsonite and the introduction to Sadhus, a photography book on the ascetics of South Asia. Currently, he is a Faculty Mentor in the Red Earth MFA Program at Oklahoma City University and a Lecturer in the Expository Writing Program at the University of Oklahoma, where he co-directs the Mark Allen Everett Poetry Series and volunteers with the Writer’s Guild at Joseph Harp Correctional Center.
Claire Collins is an actor and poet. First appearing in The Drunkard, the longest continually running play in the US, at age ten. In 2013 they became a poet mentor for the literary arts organization Louder Than A Bomb. They are the co-founder of Poetic Justice, an educational program within the criminal justice system. Their short film i love you like science received the Linklater Award for Best Dialogue at Austin Arthouse Film Festival. As a non-binary artist their work celebrates not only their sexuality but their connection with the divine & the fluidity that allows for creation.
Ellen Stackable is the Executive Director and co-founder of Poetic Justice, which offers restorative writing workshops for incarcerated women in Oklahoma, California, Arkansas, and Tijuana, Mexico. Since it began in 2014, over 3,000 women on the inside have participated in Poetic Justice. In 2018 Ellen was one of 10 finalists for CNN Hero of the Year. In 2019, she received the Courage Award given by the University of Oklahoma. Ellen Stackable believes in the power of writing to change lives.
Norman D.L. Washington is a poet of African descent. He likes writing, reading, and learning new things. He says, “My poetry is inspired by personal life experiences. The fact that I can share my deepest thoughts with the world through my writing personally means a whole lot to me. If I can satisfy my reader by expressing my life story through poetic form, my mission is complete.”
Mia Wright is a Tulsa native. She earned her MFA in Poetry from Boise State University. Her poems have appeared in Spill Words, Elephants Never, Please See Me, Q/A Poetry, The Girl God, Word Riot, This Land, and forthcoming in Santa Clara Review. Wright is two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of three poetry chapbooks. She teaches at University of Tulsa and Tulsa Community College, and also teaches poetry workshops online.
Event Venue
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd, Tulsa, United States
Tickets