First Fridays Reading Series featuring Yolanda Movsessian

Even though Independence Day will be over for the next First Fridays Reading Series, we’ll still be celebrating with poetry! The July 5th featured reader for First Fridays Reading Series is Yolanda Movsessian—a talented and dedicated Houston arts and literary community member.

Yolanda Movsessian is an Armenian born in Iran who currently resides in Houston, Texas. Her writing, art, and photography have been featured in various publications such as Mississippi Review, Synkroniciti, Defunkt, and Equinox magazines. Her short stories have received notable recognition, including the winner of Mississippi Review’s 2020 prize for best fiction, finalist for Kallisto Gaia Press’s Chester B. Himes Memorial Short Fiction Prize, and one of the top three selections of the first round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge in 2021.

In 2021, Yolanda served as the art editor for table//FEAST literary magazine. She is passionate about collaborating with other artists, exemplified by her video poem collaborations with filmmaker Mitchell Collins. Their last three projects have received awards, including Judges’ First Prize at the ReelPoetry Festival 2022, the Audience Award at ReelPoetry Festival 2023, an Honorable Mention at ReelPoetry Festival 2024, acceptance into Aurora Picture Show’s Extremely Shorts Festival 2023, and inclusion in Moving Poems, an anthology of the best poetry videos from around the web.

Yolanda is dedicated to fostering creativity and poetry within her community. She serves on the board of Mutabilis Press, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and publishing poets, and is one of the hosts of the 2023/2024 Poetry Reading Series in Houston.

Join us on July 5th to experience Yolanda’s beautiful and powerful poetry in person.

Host or Publisher First Friday Reading Series