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 Northeast Regional Library, is free and open to the public.

Previous Monday Poet: Jeffrey Ethan Lee

Jeffrey Ethan Lee is the author of The Autobiography of Somebody Else (White Pine Press), identity papers (Ghost Road Press), a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, invisible sister (Many Mountains Moving Press), and the chapbooks: Towards Euphoria (Seven Kitchens Press & winner of the editor's prize), The Sylf (Sow's Ear Poetry Press, winner of the chapbook prize), Color Schemes (Moonstone Press), & Strangers in a Homeland (Ashland Poetry Press).

New Monday Poet: Cydney Brown

Cydney Brown is the 2023 Northeast Regional Youth Poet Laureate and 2020-2021 Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate. She is the author of the book of poetry  “Daydreaming” and producer of the Spoken Word Album “Roundtrip.” You can follow her on Instagram @cydtalks and learn more about her at cydtalks.com