"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.

The Readers:

Kristen Brida

Kristen Brida's poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Fairy Tale Review, The Journal, New Delta Review, poetry.onl, and Tinderbox. She earned her MFA from George Mason University, where she was a teaching fellow and served as the Editor in Chief of So to Speak, an intersectional feminist literary journal. Currently, she is a volunteer at The Head & The Hand and runs a TikTok account, @booksby_kb.

Samantha Paige Rosen

Samantha Paige Rosen writes about queerness, mental health, chronic illness, arts and culture, and social justice for publications including Slate, Electric Literature, Washington Post, Nylon, and Literary Hub. She's currently editing an anthology of personal essays on different forms of communal living--if that describes you, get in touch! Sam earned an MFA in creative nonfiction from Sarah Lawrence College and is a proud Smith College graduate. In addition to creative and content writing, she tutors and coaches writing alongside her three cats. 

Arielle Brousse

Arielle Brousse is a marketing, development, and communications professional based happily in Philadelphia. She serves on the boards of the Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania and of Blue Stoop, and she co-leads a progressive Girl Scout troop. She holds a Master's degree in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. In her spare time, she finds herself fascinated with gardens, fiber arts, horror movies, grief rituals, taking photos in and around South Philadelphia, and especially telling and hearing stories. You can read her work at tinyletter.com/beachwitch. 

Anni Liu

Born in the year of the metal goat, Anni Liu is the author of Border Vista (Persea Books), which won the Lexi Rudnitsky Prize and was a New York Times Best Poetry Book of 2022. She's currently an iLab Artist-in-Residence at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.