"Personal Velocity" organized by Katie Bennett. The series will feature personal stories (creative nonfiction/ memoir) by Philadelphia-based writers who identify as women, nonbinary, and trans.

This night’s readers include:

Katie Bennett

Katie Bennett is a writer and musician based in West Philly. Her work has appeared in Lit Hub and The Talkhouse, she's a mentor for PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program, and she’s led writing workshops for Mighty Writers and Blue Stoop. Her songwriting has been featured in Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and NPR.

Sam Heaps 

Sam Heaps is a genderqueer writer, organizer, and visual artist. Heaps has received support from The Virginia Center for Creative Arts and was a 2022 Tin House Scholar. They are currently a proud Philadelphian and teach writing at the University of the Arts. Their debut essay collection, Proximity, is forthcoming March 2023 and available for preorder from CLASH Books. 

Lauren Holguin

Lauren Holguin is a writer and educator from Southern California who now calls Philly home. She is an MFA candidate at Rutgers Camden, where she is exploring all genres while working on her novel and full-length poetry collection. Her poems were recently described as “a lightning bolt cracklin’ through the streets” by U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera for the 2022 Subnivean Award in poetry. With a Masters of Art in Teaching, Lauren continues to find joy working with young people as a virtual learning specialist for neurodivergent readers across the country. As Co-founder of the West Philly reading series & open mic Spit Poetry, she is always down to listen to poems. 

Tobey Ward

Tobey Ward’s writing has appeared in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, The South Carolina Review, DC Magazine, and Red Rock Review, among others. She holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Oregon and has attended the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop and Community of Writers. She currently lives in Philadelphia where she works as a fashion copywriter.