Poetry & History

This is a free event, but registration is required.

Poetry brings a personal, emotional, and artistic lens to the historical record. It can bridge the past and present, offering startling insights and unexpected connections.

In Trace Evidence, Charif Shanahan meditates on mixed-race identity, queer desire, time, and the legacies of anti-Blackness in the US and abroad. D.M. Aderibigbe traverses poetic forms in 82nd Division to create a love song to his native Nigeria and explore the imprint of British colonialism. In Gestuary (tr. Nancy Naomi Carlson), Sylvie Kandé offers a collection of gestures that fracture the flow of time, such as Senegalese riflemen from World War I juxtaposed with migrants at the border who sew their lips shut in protest over immigration policies.

Join us as Nigerian-American poet and writer Hafizah Augustus Geter (The Black Period) leads a discussion with these lauded poets about their reckonings with history, blackness and belonging in different cultural contexts, and the art of poetry.

The 2026 PEN World Voices Festival is a celebration of world literature and free expression. The 2026 edition will be the 21st World Voices Festival. Over four days, more than120 writers from over 40 countries will be featured in 40+ engaging talks, panels, readings, and activations in New York City and greater Los Angeles.

Visit for more information about the entire festival, as well as PEN America.

This space is ADA compliant. An elevator is onsite that goes to the event space.

ASL interpretation is available for this event by request only. Please reach out to our Box Office team at [email protected] by April 15th to request.

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Host or Publisher PEN America