Celebrating the Book Launch of OUTSIDE WOMEN by Roohi Choudhry

Bel Canto Books is delighted to celebrate the book launch of OUTSIDE WOMEN by Roohi Choudhry, in conversation with Lisa Ko, Chris Si Yuh, and Tamiko Beyer.

Kindly RSVP so we can plan accordingly. Please stay home if you feel sick.

This event will be held indoors at KUBO LB (3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach CA).

EVENT SCHEDULE

6:45PM - Event check-in begins

7:00pm - Welcome & event start

7:15-8:00pm - Writers reading, conversation, and Q&A

8:00pm-9:00pm - Book signing & shopping time

9:00pm - Event ends

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roohi Choudhry was born in Pakistan and grew up in southern Africa. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan and is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship and residencies at Hedgebrook and Djerassi. She worked as a researcher in criminal justice reform and public health, wrote for the United Nations, and facilitates creative writing workshops for interfaith groups, schools, libraries, and community organizations. Her stories and essays have appeared in Ploughshares, Callaloo, Longreads, and the Kenyon Review. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

ABOUT THE IN CONVERSATION PARTNERS

Lisa Ko is the author of the new novel Memory Piece and the nationally bestselling novel The Leavers, which was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Award, and winner of the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Ko’s writing has appeared in Best American Short Stories, McSweeney’s, and The Believer.

Chris Yi Suh (she/they) is a queer diasporic Korean artist, writer, and spiritual care practitioner. As an artist-mystic, they believe in the power of creativity and storytelling as a path to cultivating empathy, speaking truth to power, and building spiritual and social change. As a spiritual director and retreat facilitator, they hold sacred space primarily for women & femmes, queer, trans and gender expansive folks of color through spiritual accompaniment, creative rituals, and somatic practices. Her hope for the communities she works with is to support folks' ancestral connection, divine agency & interiority, and assist their healing journey in ways that aid collective liberation. More of their work can be found at their website: www.chrisyisuh.com or on IG @chrisyisuh.

Tamiko Beyer is a poet, writer, and spell-maker. Her books include LAST DAYS and WE COME ELEMENTAL, and she is a co-editor of POETRY AS SPELLCASTING: POEMS, ESSAYS, AND PROMPTS FOR MANIFESTING LIBERATION AND RECLAIMING POWER. She co-directs Brew & Forge, which brings poets and organizers together to alchemize dreaming and build capacity in movements for liberation, justice, and survival. She lives with her human, canine, and plant family on Lenapehoking and the land colonized as Philadelphia.

ABOUT BEL CANTO BOOKS

Founded by Jhoanna Belfer, a Filipina-American poet and former hospitality executive, Bel Canto Books offers a curated selection of fiction, nonfiction and children's books, organized around a theme of the month, in particular celebrating books by women and people of color. Learn more at belcantobooks.net.

ABOUT KUBO LB

KUBO LB is a creative community space for Filipinx, BIPOC, LGBTQ, and Women led small businesses. KUBO LB is a space to support and educate small businesses through retail, business workshops and more. Learn more at kubolb.com.

OUTSIDE WOMEN by Roohi Choudhry

Host or Publisher Bel Canto Books - Long Beach, CA