"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:

Alyssa Songsiridej

Alyssa Songsiridej is the author of Little Rabbit, shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Edmund White Award. She is a 2022 5 under 35 National Book Foundation honoree, and has been supported by institutions such as the Corporation of Yaddo, the Ucross Foundation, and Lighthouse works. She lives in Philadelphia.

Sofie Wise

Sofie Wise is an MFA candidate at Rutgers-Camden. Her poetry and prose have appeared in Passages North, HAD, Hobart and others. She lives in Philadelphia with her two cats, Mia and Toni.

Farwa Zaidi

Farwa Zaidi (she/her) is an urbanist and writer living in Philadelphia. She is a Master of Science in urban strategy, and a Drexel University alum. Farwa published a thesis titled “Disinvesting in Food: How Philadelphia's History of Redlining and Food Apartheid Has Contributed to Mass Incarceration.” Farwa's degree, background, and research have all been with the focus and aim to increase the quality of life of low-income and immigrant communities. She is passionate about using urbanism to create more equitable societies for all, especially people like herself: a brown Muslim first-generation woman from Queens, NY.

Annie Liontas

Annie Liontas is the genderqueer author of Let Me Explain You and the memoir Sex with a Brain Injury: On Concussion and Recovery, which was featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. They helped secure a Mellon Foundation grant on Disability Justice to bring storytelling to communities in the criminal justice system. Annie co-hosts the literary podcast LitFriends and lives in Philadelphia with their wife, dog, and Email the rabbit.