Join the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Literature Department in celebrating the 30th Anniversary season of Monday Poets. This year’s theme is Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah), a Twi word from the Akan Tribe of Ghana which loosely implies that to move forward, one must “go back and get it”. In that spirit we will be celebrating at each event a past Monday Poet and introduce a new one. Each month from September 2024 to April 2025 a new Sankofa pair will read at a new library. Monday Poets exists to inspire and connect poets and community members across the city of Philadelphia. This program, hosted by Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library, is free and open to the public. Please call 215-685-7433 for more information.

Previous Monday Poet: Vernita Hall

Vernita Hall is the author of Where William Walked: Poems About Philadelphia and Its People of Color, winner of the Willow Books Grand Prize and Robert Creeley Prize (Marsh Hawk Press); and The Hitchhiking Robot Learns About Philadelphians, winner of the Moonstone Press Chapbook Contest. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, American Poetry Review, African American Review, Barrow Street, The Common, River Styx, Solstice, The Hopkins Review, Arts & Letters, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College and serves on the poetry review board of Philadelphia Stories.

New Monday Poet: Lindo Jones

Lindo Jones (he/him), is a dyslexic spoken word poet born, raised and lives in Philadelphia. He has been featured in the Philly Weekly, MetroPhilly Philadelphia Inquirer, Button Poetry, Voices in Power and Def Poetry Jam to name a few. Lindo poetry has expanded to short animations, gumball machines and plays where he has centered Black existence, mental health and fantasy/sci-fi. He is the recipient of 2023 Jackie Robinson award by Color of Change, the 2023 "Change Maker" award by Uptown Standards and nominated for "The Social Impact" award by Voices In Power.