Where:
Asian Arts Initiative
1219 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Art
City of Pearls Book Release
Sham-e-Ali Nayeem
Tuesday, April 23, 7 – 9 p.m.
In her debut book City of Pearls, Sham-e-Ali Nayeem’s poetry offers a meditation on healing from grief. The poems ask the reader, what happens when we lose our anchor? Weaving together memories of her late father and ancestral home of Hyderabad, Nayeem’s poems explore landscapes of loss. She writes from the perspective of an Indian Muslim American who draws from the languages of her life to compose a poetics of vulnerability and tenderness. Known as the “City of Pearls,” Hyderabad’s jewels become a metaphor for resilience and growth. Each poem gains their opulence from the transmutation of the grit of migration, displacement and loss.
*Asian Arts Initiative is designed as a mobility accessible facility, with access to all public floors and spaces, and seating accommodations for programmed events. Both non-gendered and individually isolating restrooms are available on each floor, all equipped with changing stations.