Poetry Night Reading Series: Rooja Mohassessy with Teresa Pham-Carsillo

The Poetry Night Reading Series is excited to feature Rooja Mohassessy and Teresa Pham-Carsillo at 7 PM on Thursday, February 3rd, 2023, on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery, 521 1st Street in Davis.

Rooja Mohassessy is an Iranian-born poet. She is a 2022 MacDowell Fellow and a recent graduate of the Pacific University MFA program in Oregon. Her debut collection, When Your Sky Runs Into Mine, was the winner of the 22nd Annual Elixir Poetry Prize and will be released by Elixir Press in February, 2023. When Your Sky Runs Into Mine comprises ekphrastic poems that respond to the art of the prominent Iranian painter and sculptor Bahman Mohassess (1931-2010). The poems address such universal themes as coming of age, sexuality, and the challenges faced by child immigrants displaced as a result of war and political turmoil. Mohassessy’ poems and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Narrative Magazine, Poet Lore, RHINO Poetry, Southern Humanities Review, CALYX Journal, Ninth Letter, Cream City Review, The Adroit Journal, New Letters, The Florida Review, Poetry Northwest, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. 

Teresa Pham-Carsillo is a Vietnamese American writer of poetry and fiction. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing and Communications from the University of California, Davis. Her published works have appeared or are forthcoming in numerous publications, including Poetry Magazine, The Southern Review, Black Warrior Review, Salt Hill Journal, The Minnesota Review, Smartish Pace, and Passengers Journal. She was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship and was nominated by Salt Hill Journal for the 2021 Pushcart Prize in Fiction. She was also a finalist for the 2022 BART Lines Short Story Contest, and her story Interior Life can be found in dispensers at BART stations throughout the Bay Area.

She is passionate about fostering creative writing communities and making poetry accessible to all. In her spare time, Teresa volunteers as a poetry mentor at Chapter 510, an Oakland-based creative writing, bookmaking, and publishing center for Black, brown, and queer youth ages 8-19. Teresa currently resides in Napa, California, and is working on her first full-length collection of poetry. She can be found online at www.teresaphamcarsillo.com.

This event will take place on the first floor of the John Natsoulas Gallery (521 1st Street) at 7 PM on Thursday, February 3rd, 2023. An open mic will follow the featured performers. Open mic performances will be limited to five minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. As the Bard says, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” The open mic list typically fills by 7 PM, so please sign up early if you would like to perform something during the 8 o’clock hour.

We recommend that you wear a mask to Poetry Night. According to a Yolo County December 6 press release, “This winter is the first in several years where we are seeing significant flu and RSV activity, in addition to COVID-19, so we are now making masking recommendations based on all circulating respiratory viruses, not just on COVID,” said Yolo County Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson. “Wearing a high-quality mask indoors is a great way to protect yourself and others from respiratory viruses like flu, RSV, and COVID-19.”

The Poetry Night Reading Series, taking place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, and by John Natsoulas and the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. This event is supported by Katerina Hanks, producer, Poetry Night Reading Series.