Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks

Join us for Brooklyn Poets Staff Picks, a virtual, triannual reading series curated by the poets who assist with our space, web, events and office work. Each reading features a lineup of three poets nominated by different staff members as among the most essential new voices today. The series focuses on writers yet to publish a full-length collection of poetry, with an emphasis on those from underrepresented communities. The event includes readings by our three featured poets, who have all been invited to choose their own openers. Our featured poets on October 16 will be SG Huerta, Kaylee Young-Eun Jeong and Ananya Pandya with opening readings by Donna Lee Davidson, Maria Gray and mónica teresa ortiz. All readings are free and open to the public.

Featured Poets

SG Huerta (they/he/el) is a queer Xicanx writer, editor, and activist. A Roots Wounds Words Fellow and Tin House Winter Workshop alum, they spend their time freelancing and working on the masthead of Abode Press, ANMLY, and Split Lip Magazine. He is the author of two poetry chapbooks and the nonfiction chapbook GOOD GRIEF (fifth wheel press 2025). Their work has appeared in the Offing, Honey Literary, Infrarrealista Review and elsewhere. They also write about all things trans/literary in their newsletter, trans poetica. Find them at sghuertawriting.com, or in Texas with their partner and two cats, working towards liberation for oppressed and colonized peoples everywhere.

Kaylee Young-Eun Jeong is from Oregon. Her work can be found in or forthcoming from the Adroit Journal, ONLY POEMS, Shenandoah and Tinderbox, among others. She is a 2024 Tahoma Literary Review Fellow at the Mineral School Artist Residency.

Ananya Pandya (she/her) is a 23 year old prose writer. She writes about the meat of girlhood, racial solidarity, sexual abuse and love. Currently, she is receiving her MFA from Columbia University via the Rajam Family Foundation Scholarship. You can find her on instagram @jesuswasajock.

Opening Poets

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia,Donna Lee Davidson is the youngest of 11 children. She is an orchestral percussionist, jazz vibraphonist, music teacher and music journalist. She attended the Manhattan School of Music, Spelman College, and is currently pursuing an MFA at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, Early Music America Magazine and New Music Box, amongst others.

Maria Grayis a poet unconditionally supportive of Palestinian resistance and liberation. Originally from Portland, Oregon, her work is published by or forthcoming from ONLY POEMS, Best New Poets, SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine and others. The recipient of the John Tagliabue Prize for Creative Writing from Bates College and a Departmental Poetry Fellowship from New York University’s Creative Writing Program, she was also a semifinalist for the Adroit Journal’s Djanikian Scholars Program in 2024. Her poem “Where Were You When Mac Miller Died” was selected for inclusion in Best New Poets 2022 by guest judge Paula Bohince. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she edits COUNTERCLOCK and coordinates the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers’ National Student Poets Program.

mónica teresa ortiz is a poet, critic and memory worker born, raised and based in Texas. Their poetry collection, Book of Provocations, was published in 2024 by Host Publication, and they have work in Scalawag, Mizna, and Tiny Magazine. mónica calls for the liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian people.

Closed captions for the event will be available via Zoom. To request additional accommodations or more information, please contact us at bkp@brooklynpoets.org. Note that by attending you agree to abide by our code of conduct below.

Brooklyn Poets Code of Conduct

Brooklyn Poets will not tolerate any instances of discrimination, harassment or abuse in conjunction with any of our programs. Respect and consideration for others, both within and outside our programs, are core values to be upheld by all participants. Discrimination against and/or harassment of community members on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, religion, age, marital status, veteran status or any other factor is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Program participants are expected to adhere to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Should a board or staff member, independent contractor, volunteer or program participant be found to violate any aspect of the organization’s code of conduct, Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss them from the program. Consequences may include, but not be limited to, dismissal from the current activity, suspension, ineligibility for all future activities, and/or loss of payment or fees. If you have any issues to report, please do not hesitate to contact anyone on our Conduct Committee and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Interim Director r kay: kay@brooklynpoets.org
Board Director Emily Blair: emiblair@gmail.com
Board Director Miller Oberman: miller.oberman@gmail.com