Featuring Susan Kiyo Ito, Shannon Gibney, and Lee.
REGISTER for the event HERE.
Grab a snack and favorite beverage, turn on your computer, and sit back to enjoy a beautiful hour of BIPOC adoptee voices, community, and Palestinian solidarity. Join us for the kickoff event for our monthly fundraiser reading series to help three families survive the genocide in Gaza. There will be seven readings! 

• Date: Thursday, July 31st 

• Time: 6–7pm PST

• Cost: Minimum $5

• Format: Virtual

The Zoom link will be sent a few days before the event; closed captions will be enabled. This will NOT be recorded or distributed. 

AUTHORS

Shannon Gibney (she/her) is a writer, educator, and activist. She is author of several books, including The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption, which received a Michael L. Printz Honor and a Minnesota Book Award; See No Color and Dream Country, both winners of Minnesota Book Awards; Where We Come From (co-authored), winner of the 2023 Carter G. Woodson Award; Sam and the Incredible African and American Food Fight, and We Miss You, George Floyd (published in November). A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, Gibney teaches at Minneapolis College, where she was named Educator of the Year in 2023. She lives with her two children in Minneapolis.

Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems (Gunpowder Press, 2024) and three other books of poems, including Scar and Flower. His writing appears widely, in Here: Poems for the Planet, with an introduction by the Dalai Lama; Indivisible: Poems of Social Justice, with an introduction by Common; and Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy, among others. Born in Daejeon, Korea and adopted to the United States at ten months, he lives and teaches in Fresno, California.

Susan Kiyo Ito is the author of the memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere, published by the Ohio State University Press. It was a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award, shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize for International Literature, and named a best book of 2023 by the Library Journal. She co-edited the literary anthology A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption. Her work has appeared in The Writer, Hyphen, Literary Mama, Catapult,The Bellevue Literary Review, Agni, Guernica, and elsewhere.  She has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, The Mesa Refuge, Hedgebrook and Blue Mountain Center. Her theatrical adaption of Untold, stories of reproductive stigma, was produced at Brava Theater. She teaches at the Mills College campus of Northeastern University.   

***You can buy their books at the BIPOC Adoptees online bookshop.***

MEET THE FAMILIES 

Tamara Abu Dayer and the Abu Dayer Family: The Abu Dayers are from Jabalia, a densely populated refugee camp in northern Gaza that has been destroyed. They have been displaced numerous times during the genocide, and thier large family has been separated to various locations. Over the past year, Tamara has become one of our closest dearest friends. To learn more about Tamara and life under occupation, here is a zine that Lisa MM Butler made to illustrate Tamara’s experience. Also, read Joon Ae’s essay, “A Debt of Gratitude” that connects Korean adoption to Palestine. Click HERE for her main fundraising page and consider setting up automatic monthly donations for sustained support. 

Alaa Abu Shammalh is also from Jabalia. Alaa is Tamara’s brother-in-law, married to her oldest sister, Mandi. Alaa was separated from his pregnant wife and young son when they were medically evacuated out of Gaza just before Israel closed the Rafah border well over a year ago. He has never met his youngest son, who was born in October. Alaa has been displaced over and over. He needs money to survive, and has depleted his fundraising account that was intended to be for reuniting with his family. Learn more about Alaa at his GoFundMe page. 

Nida is a 23-year-old student turned breadwinner for her family. Their home was bombed. Her father was taken hostage by the Israeli occupation and has yet to be released. Her mother and the rest of her family suffer from chronic health conditions. They do not have enough money for a tent. Her family relies on the support of others outside of Gaza to survive. Check out this zine that Lisa made to help amplify Nida’s story! Here is Nida’s main fundraiser page.

SAVE THESE DATES
We have a whole line up of great authors for you, including folks like: KE Garland, Nicole Chung, Melissa Guida-Richards, Cam Lee Small, Mila Konomos, Katelyn Durst Rivas, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, Cam McCafferty, Michael Hoyt, Alice Stephens, Kit Myers, and more! (All the following events take place online from 3-4pm PST/6-7 EST)

• Sun, August 31st

• Sun, September 28

• Sun, October 26

• Sun, November 30

• Sun, January 25

• Sun, February 22

HOSTS 

Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka and Lisa MM Butler 

Contact Joon Ae with questions at joonae@ajumamaworkshop.com

Lee will give a two-day online poetry workshop (two hours per day) on July 28 and July 30, 4:00 - 6:00 pm PST each day. Registration is capped at 20. Fees and information and the link to register are here.

Lee will read with Lory Bedikian to celebrate her new book.
Details and Zoom link TBA.

Lee will give a poetry workshop for the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project. Details TBA.

Lee will read with Adela Najarro, Aideed Medina, Angela Drew, Diosa X, Gillian Wegener, Juan Luzuriaga, and Stella Bertalis. Music by Anne Martin. Doors at 6:30 pm. Reading at 7:00 pm. Drinks and appetizers. Modesto, CA. Text 209-872-5139 for the address.

Lee will read a short set before the Central Valley Regional Poetry Slam, featuring teams from the Central Valley, Bay Area, West Hollywood, and Orange County.

Visalia
Details TBA.

Lee will read with fellow poets at the Malibu Annual Poetry Summit.

Malibu City Hall, Civic Theater
23825 Stuart Ranch Road
Malibu, CA 90265

Lee will read to babies and pre-schoolers and families for Story Time with Superstars at the Clovis Library.
1155 Fifth Street
Clovis, CA 93612
For details and more information: visit here.

Lee will give the keynote address at the 2nd annual San Joaquin Valley Bookfest.
Noon
Fresno City College - Old Auditorium
1101 E. University Ave.
Fresno, CA 93741

Lee will read with Mai Der Vang and Rajiv Mohabir, along with a Q and A and book signing.
Clovis Community College
6:00 - 7:30 pm
Relaxed Parking
ACI-150 Lecture Hall

Lee will read and have a Q and A at Allan Hancock College. Details and time TBA.

Lee will read and give a poetry workshop at the Azusa Senior Center.
Azusa Senior Center
April 22, 2025, 6:00 pm
740 N. Dalton Ave.
Azusa, CA 91702
For information, call 626-812-5268

Lee is a special guest, along with Jack Kornfield, for this special occasion, Maria Shriver in conversation with Anne Lamott. This event is sold out, but some tickets may be available. There will be a stand-by line.

For details and more information: https://iammariabook.com/

Tuesday, April 15, 7:00 pm
20 Olive Ave.
Dominican University of California, Angelico Hall
San Rafael, CA 94901

Lee will read in Santa Barbara with SB Poet Laureate Melinda Palacio and adult and youth poets at the Alhecama Theater in El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park in downtown Santa Barbara. Time TBA.

Lee will read and sign copies of In Praise of Late Wonder: New and Selected Poems, along with a Q and A.
Alibi Bookshop
624 Marin Street
Vallejo, CA

Lee will read at Bookish in Modesto, California, to help celebrate Bookish’s One-Year Anniversary. Details forthcoming.
Bookish
811 W. Roseberg Ave.
Modesto, CA 95350

Lee will be in conversation with poet and editor Christopher Buckley, Editor of Naming the Lost: The Fresno Poets.
Judging By the Cover Bookstore
1029 F. Street
Fresno, CA 93706

Reading and Workshop
Saturday, March 29, 11:00 am - 2:00 pm
Glendale Central Library - Auditorium
222 E. Harvard Street
Glendale, CA 91205
Open to the public, with Glendale Poet Laureate Raffi Joe Wartanian
Registration encouraged but not required. Register here.

Lee will read with Rachel Robbins for the Traveling Mollys Virtual Reading Series. An open mic will follow the feature.
5:00 - 7:00 pm PT, 7:00 - 9:00 pm CT.

You can watch the livestream on YouTube here.

Lee will read with Blas Falconer and Maw Shein Win to celebrate the launch of Win’s new book, Percussing the Thinking Jar.

Medicine for Nightmares Bookstore, San Francisco.

Lee will read with Kim McMillon in Merced. Details forthcoming.

Lee will read and give a workshop for the Nipomo Coastal Dunes Writing Club. Details forthcoming.

Lee will read for the Briar Haus Writes online poetry reading series. Link forthcoming.

Lee will read with State Youth Poet Laureate Chloe Chou at the City Council Chambers, Library
Parks and Rec Center, 901 Civic Campus Way, South SF

Lee will visit the Association of Korean Adoptees, San Francisco, for a Member Spotlight, private event.

Lee will read for the Traveling Mollys (online) poetry reading series. Link forthcoming.

Lee will give a reading and poetry workshop in Glendale, CA, hosted by Glendale Poet Laureate Raffi Joe Wartanian. Details forthcoming.