Tag: local poets

Excalibur Poetry // January 2026

Excalibur will happen in the same time and place as Scribes on South, the last Sunday of each month on the second floor of Tattooed Mom. It will also keep the same format, with one-two featured poets and a signup based open mic list.

Excalibur is the sword given to Arthur by the lady in the lake. It is the legendary sword used to defend against colonialism and oppression. Our guiding principles are the same. This is a place to wield your words against the forces that would rather see us dead.

 

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25TH
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

FEATURES
Kaylee “Kade” LeMasney is a nonbinary writer born and raised in South Jersey. Building their creative roots in New Jersey and Philadelphia, they find inspiration through the bustling streets of the city, the beaches, pine barrens and Jersey farms – always exploring ways to tie in humanity’s inner connectivity with the world around us. When they’re not writing sad and strange poems, they travel locally and far beyond, pursuing a career in live entertainment management. Their upcoming chapbook release titled “When It Unfolds” dives into the spiritual life beyond the veil, exploring themes of grief, uncertainty, and divinity. Release date TBD. IG: @k.lemasney
Juniper Danger is a queer poet inspired by nature, community, and the trans experience. She loves filling her house with people and filling those people with soup. You can find her at @androjunous on instagram

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | if u didn’t get glitter in ur drink did you even craft sunday? Craft Sundays at TMoms every sunday, play both upstairs and downstairs. u heard me, both.

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Scribes on South // December 2025 (THE FINAL SCRIBES!)

SCRIBES ON SOUTH is a poetry reading and open mic. Open mic readers have 5 minutes.

SCRIBES ON SOUTH seeks to create community through poetry. Show out, share, and meet some new friends by sharing your work!

Read poems. Kick ass.

This reading’s featured readers are Mel Edgar and Simon Feral.

 

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28TH
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

Follow Scribes on South on Instagram and Substack.

 

MEL EDGAR: IG @ MELIEDGAR

BIO: Mel Edgar is a young professional, backseat jester, and washed up camp kid refusing to age out. Despite their best efforts they remember everything, still sharpie it on clipboards, and occasionally speak from their diaphragm for posterity. Mel writes to make room in their steel trap full of bees, and for every stranger telling them they’ve wrangled something complicated into talking shit and belly-laughing. For that, they will always run their mouth.

 

SIMON FERAL: IG @ SIMONFERALPOETRY

BIO: Shayla Mills is a writer and visual artist in the Philadelphia poetry scene. She got her start performing in 2022, alongside Temple University’s Babel Poetry Collective. She adopted the stage persona, Simon Feral, a gothic literature inspired character as means to explore themes of eldritch horror, the wilderness, and monstrous femininity in her work. Over time, the Simon Feral poems have expanded to include general meditations on queerness, political issues, and the human condition. Find her work @simonferalpoetry on Instagram and @simonferal on TikTok.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | if u didn’t get glitter in ur drink did you even craft sunday? Craft Sundays at TMoms every sunday, play both upstairs and downstairs. u heard me, both.

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Scribes on South // November 2025

SCRIBES ON SOUTH is a poetry reading and open mic. Open mic readers have 5 minutes.

SCRIBES ON SOUTH seeks to create community through poetry. Show out, share, and meet some new friends by sharing your work!

Read poems. Kick ass.

This reading’s featured reader is Chloe Williams.

 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

ASH(LEY) MICHELLE C.: IG @ SCUM.POET

BIO: Ash(ley) Michelle C. is a poet, performance and visual artist. She’s a poetry slut rodeo queen…and her style——she got it at Ross and stock shows.

“My poetry-based works are multifaceted, sensual experiences that are the result of a varying combination of poetry, performance, and material creation. I aim to provoke a more sensorial understanding of Poem and a more verbal experience of Art.

My body, objects, words and the viewer work in tandem with unexpected forms of reading to erase the borders between witness, environment, and material. From writing and visual art to performance and installation, I create opportunities for shared intimacy with our obsessions and shadows in relation to the truths and lies that form identity and memory.

My practice explores the often silenced and, conversely, exaggerated connections between womanhood, sex, memories, time, and solitude. Through the lens of a country girl grown and erotic manipulation of body, items of domesticity, trash and poetry, I create provocatively human moments for voyeuristic reflection and liberation. 

I adore putting on public display the inner-workings and contradictions of desire. I live to expose the lies behind the so-called truths of a “good woman.”

As the poetry slut rodeo queen of this get-up, it’s my aim to destroy academic definitions of publishing and to intimidate men and impress the ladies.”

Follow @scribesonsouth on Instagram.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | if u didn’t get glitter in ur drink did you even craft sunday? Craft Sundays at TMoms every sunday, play both upstairs and downstairs. u heard me, both.

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

You Can’t Kill A Poet // November 2025

Were backkkkkk! We’ll be at Tattooed Mom on Tuesday, November 11th for an evening of queer and trans joy (and sorrow, and love, and sex, and humor, and so much more). Doors open at 7:30pm, readings begin at 8pm. Join us in a lively room filled with queers and hear some incredible poets share their work.

 

21 and over. Free to attend!

 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH
DOORS @ 7:30PM + SHOW @ 8PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

Follow You Can’t Kill A Poet on Instagram.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Tuesdays, 4-10pm | it’s tacos. it’s tecate. it’s tuesdays. what more can we say. $1.50 beef or bean tacos every Taco Tuesday + $3 tecate!

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Scribes on South // October 2025

SCRIBES ON SOUTH is a poetry reading and open mic. Open mic readers have 5 minutes.

SCRIBES ON SOUTH seeks to create community through poetry. Show out, share, and meet some new friends by sharing your work!

Read poems. Kick ass.

 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26TH
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

JAX SIMINERIO: IG @ JAX.ETC

BIO: Jax Siminerio is a graduate from University of the Arts with a BFA in Creative Writing. Their “Jax” of all trades mentality is cemented by their expansive videography portfolio, backlog of original music, and fiber and fine art projects that linger half-finished. Their work tackles addiction, self-esteem, sexuality, queerness, body horror, and beyond. You’ll also catch them pole dancing to emo music, collecting trinkets galore, and indulging in every type of cheese under the sun.

 

SEAN HANRAHAN: IG @ GAYCAKEPOET

BIO: Sean Hanrahan (he, him, his) is a Philadelphian poet originally hailing from Dale City, Virginia. He is the author of Headless (Collapse Press), the full-length collections Safer Behind Popcorn (2019 Cajun Mutt) and Ghost Signs (2023 Alien Buddha), and the chapbooks Hardened Eyes on the Scan (2018 Moonstone) and Gay Cake (2020 Toho). His work has also been included in various anthologies and journals. He has taught classes titled A Chapbook in 49 Days, Ekphrastic Poetry, Poetry Embodied, and has hosted and read at poetry events throughout Philadelphia. He can be found on Instagram as gaycakepoet.

 

Follow @scribesonsouth on Instagram.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | if u didn’t get glitter in ur drink did you even craft sunday? Craft Sundays at TMoms every sunday, play both upstairs and downstairs. u heard me, both.

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Scribes on South // September 2025

SCRIBES ON SOUTH is a poetry reading and open mic. Open mic readers have 5 minutes.

SCRIBES ON SOUTH seeks to create community through poetry. Show out, share, and meet some new friends by sharing your work!

Read poems. Kick ass.

This reading’s featured reader is Nyeree Boyadjian.

 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

Nyeree Boyadjian is an Armenian-American poet from Queens, New York. She has a BFA in Creative Writing from The University of the Arts, and an MFA in poetry from The University of California, Davis.

Follow @scribesonsouth on Instagram.

***

What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | if u didn’t get glitter in ur drink did you even craft sunday? Craft Sundays at TMoms every sunday, play both upstairs and downstairs. u heard me, both.

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

You Can’t Kill A Poet // September 2025

A reading for queer and trans poets.

 

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH
DOORS @ 7:30PM + SHOW @ 8PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

Alexa Vallejo

Alexa Vallejo is a transfemme child of Filipino immigrants living in West Philadelphia. Her writing has appeared in Illuminations, Discount Guillotine, swamp pink, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and TriQuarterly, among others. Her first chapbook, Girls Love, was recently published by Bottlecap Press. Alexa is also a musician who performs in musical theater pit orchestras and cabarets throughout the Philadelphia region, as well as the goth band Morgue Arcana. She grew up in Newark, Delaware.

 

Allen Means

Allen Means is a queer, trans poet from Boulder, CO, currently living in Philadelphia with his partner, Carlos, and cat, Chihiro. He holds an MFA from the University of Miami, where he was a James A. Michener Fellow. His work appears in South Florida Poetry Journal, Voicemail Poems, Variant Lit, and Seventh Wave Mag, among others. He hopes that his poems leave you with delight and hope for something new.

 

Emily Rose Reed

Emily Rose Reed is a queer trans chaotic mess of a DIY musician, writer, and all around sweetie from Philly/South Jersey who makes music under the name How I Became Invisible. If you have a band she’s probably in it, and she might also be your girlfriend. Find her music at howibecameinvisible.com, and everywhere except Spotify because they’re a garbage company.

 

Viveca

Viveca loves to write and is just happy to be here.

 

Mateo Souada

Mateo Souada (they/them) is a Queer Muslim poet whose experiences as a gender non-conforming child of immigrants, eldest daughter, and survivor color their work. Using poetry, Mateo asserts the fact that Queer Muslims, trans people, and BIPOC often work tirelessly to curate safe environments and provide space for the marginalized to move beyond survival. Mateo is a 2019 Pink Door fellow, Collegiate Union Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) 2017 Co-Champion, Feminine Empowerment Movement Slam 2018 Runner-Up, and currently performs with the Philly Pigeon poetry collective. They have been published in What Are Birds Journal, Rigorous Journal, Ghost Heart Literary Journal, Colorbloq Mag, and more. Recently, they won the Leeway Transformation Award from the Leeway Foundation in Philadelphia.

 

Mariah Ayscue

Mariah Ayscue (he/him/king) is a Black, Trans, Intersex, Artist, Activist, and mental health advocate from Montclair NJ. He also identifies as a Christian Witch, Disco Ball Dyke, Pansexual pancake, and a Demisexual dream that is expressed through his poetry. His full-length book WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN is published with Beyond 28 Publishing. King was also chosen to perform his poetry for the 2024 Dodge Poetry Festival with NJPAC. He is also the founder of the Bearded Lady Rebellion Collective which focuses on reclaiming the narratives, education, and healing of Trans and Intersex people with an emphasis on QTBIPOC lives. It is the work he wants to do for the rest of his life.

 

Tyrell Brown

Tyrell Brown (They/Them) is a Philadelphia-based advocate, organizer, and community leader who has served as the City’s Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs and as Executive Director of GALAEI. They are the Founder and current Executive Director of Philly Pride 365, where they reimagined Pride as a year-round movement centered on inclusivity, cultural vibrancy, and community care. Through their work, Tyrell continues to build spaces where joy, justice, and representation thrive for LGBTQIA+ communities.

 

Sara Guiang

Sara Guiang, (she/they/siya) is a queer, FilAm writer snd art therapist in training with a strong passion for youth work. Sara’s writing mainly focuses on belonging, identity, and memory.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Tuesdays, 4-10pm | it’s tacos. it’s tecate. it’s tuesdays. what more can we say. $1.50 beef or bean tacos every Taco Tuesday + $3 tecate!

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Scribes on South // August 2025

SCRIBES ON SOUTH is a poetry reading and open mic. Open mic readers have 5 minutes.

SCRIBES ON SOUTH seeks to create community through poetry. Show out, share, and meet some new friends by sharing your work!

Read poems. Kick ass.

This reading’s featured readers are Atlas St. Cloud & C.R. Hooker

 

SUNDAY, AUGUST 31ST
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

ATLAS ST. CLOUD: IG @DRDISSOCIATION
BIO: atlas st cloud is a wasteland haunt. he writes about gender, faggotry, & Madness through the lens of physical disability. unavoidably raised mormon & in lust with the catholic aesthetic, st cloud’s religious trauma manifests in his blasphemous body horror. check out his catalogue with Kith Books and catch him on most social media sites @drdissociation

C.R. HOOKER: IG @COWBOY.JINGLE
BIO: c.r. hooker (they/them) is a nonbinary, bisexual poet and artist born and raised in the unforgiving heat of the Arizona desert. c.r. graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Creative Writing & a BA in Film & Television studies. They are the photographer for Scribes on South and currently call the concrete jungle of Philadelphia their home. Their work has been featured in fifth wheel press and they aspire to publish many more pieces and eventually a collection of poetry (so stay tuned!) When not writing poetry, they can be found covered in paint or playing with their cat.

Follow @scribesonsouth on Instagram.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | if u didn’t get glitter in ur drink did you even craft sunday? Craft Sundays at TMoms every sunday, play both upstairs and downstairs. u heard me, both.

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Poetry Reading: Courtney LeBlanc & Miriam Kramer

Join us at Tattooed Mom on Thursday, August 7th at 7pm for a Poetry Reading with Courtney LeBlanc and Miriam Kramer. Free!

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 7TH
7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

Follow Courtney LeBlanc and Miriam Kramer on Instagram.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Thursdays, 4-10pm | we support bad decisions but this isn’t one of them. 75¢ pierogis all day for Pierogi Thursday … with all the toppings & sauces ur heart desires + $3 cans of tecate!!!

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Delilah McCrea Book Launch and Signing

The Philadelphia launch of Book of Flowers, the debut poetry collection by writer Delilah McCrea. With Alex DiFrancesco.

 

MONDAY, AUGUST 4TH
8PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN

 

Follow Alex DiFrancesco and Delilah McCrea on Instagram.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Mondays, 4-11pm | mom’s marvelous meatless mondays?? Say it 3 times fast and see what happens. we dare u. Meatless Monday is here at TMoms from open ’till close. See what’s on special this month!

• Mondays, Upstairs 6-11pm | cue ball as bright as ur future. Free Pool Mondays upstairs at TMoms continues!

• Daily Happy Hour | $4 drafts every day from 4-6pm, everybody cheered!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

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