Join us for Speaking of Survival: A Poetry Reading & Fundraiser, a free event benefitting Resilience!

Speaking of Survival brings together eight poets, one literary journal, and one survivor-supporting nonprofit for a virtual event to share poetry, build community, and spark hope.

Held in April —  both National Poetry Month and Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month — Speaking of Survival is designed to give voice to survivorship through poetry; foster creative permission, inspiration, and collaboration; provide opportunities for fresh dialogue and deeper literary and broader community connections, particularly among those affected by sexual violence; and raise funds in direct support of survivors of sexual violence in the Chicagoland area.

Hosted virtually by Olney Magazine and Raegen Pietrucha to benefit Resilience, Speaking of Survival features the following writers, who will read, among other work, poetry they wrote on the many facets of sexual violence survivorship:

Madeleine Barnes is a writer, visual artist, and Ph.D. Candidate at The Graduate Center, CUNY. She is a Writing Across the Curriculum Fellow at Baruch College, and a recent Graduate Research Fellow at The Morgan Library & Museum. Barnes serves as Poetry Editor at Cordella, a press that showcases the work of women and nonbinary creators. Her debut full-length poetry collection, You Do Not Have To Be Good, was published by Trio House Press in 2020. She is also the author of four chapbooks: Women’s Work (Tolsun Books), Light Experiments (Porkbelly Press), The Mark My Body Draws in Light (Finishing Line Press), and The Memory Dictionary, forthcoming from Ethel Press in 2023. She has taught creative writing and research courses at New York University and Brooklyn College.

Avery Guess is a Jewish, queer, neurodivergent writer whose work focuses on disability (particularly mental illness) and survivorship. Her debut full-length poetry book, The Truth Is, was published by Black Lawrence Press in 2019. Avery was named a 2015 poetry fellow from the National Endowment for the Arts. She has received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women (where she now works full-time as the Grants Program Manager) and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. Avery received an MFA from Southern Illinois University and is working toward her PhD at the University of South Dakota. She lives in Louisville with her dog Quigley.

Raegen Pietrucha writes, edits, and consults creatively and professionally. Head of a Gorgon, a finalist in the 2022 American Book Fest Awards, is her debut full-length poetry collection; her debut poetry chapbook, An Animal I Can't Name, won the 2015 Two of Cups Press competition; and she has a memoir in progress. She received her MFA from Bowling Green State University, where she was an assistant editor for Mid-American Review. Her creative work has garnered an Academy of American Poets Prize, among others; has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net; and has been published in Cimarron Review, Puerto del Sol, and other journals and anthologies. Her photography has been published in Rivanna Review, Olney, and other outlets. Connect with her at raegenmp.wordpress.com and on Twitter @freeradicalrp.

Sage Ravenwood is a deaf Cherokee woman residing in upstate NY with her two rescue dogs, Bjarki and Yazhi, and her one-eyed cat Max. She is an outspoken advocate against animal cruelty and domestic violence. Her work can be found in The Temz Review, Contrary, Literary, Grain, Sundress Press anthology - The Familiar Wild: On Dogs and Poetry, The Rumpus, Lit Quarterly, Massachusetts Review, Savant-Garde, ANMLY (Anomaly), River Mouth Review, Native Skin Lit, Santa Clara Review, The Normal School, UCity Review, Punk Noir, Janus Literary, Jelly Bucket, Colorado Review, Pangyrus, PRISM International, 128 Lit, A Gathering of the Tribes, Ponder Review, and more. Her book, Everything That Hurt Us Becomes a Ghost, is forthcoming from Gallaudet University Press in Fall 2023.

Meggie Royer is a Midwestern writer, domestic violence advocate, and the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Persephone’s Daughters, a literary and arts journal for abuse survivors. She has won numerous awards for her work and has been nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize. She thinks there is nothing better in this world than a finished poem. In 2022, she received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Lannie Stabile (she/her), a queer Detroiter, is the winner of OutWrite’s 2020 Chapbook Competition in Poetry and a back-to-back semifinalist for the Button Poetry Chapbook Contest. Lannie was also named a 2020 Best of the Net finalist. Her debut poetry full-length, Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dogs Zeus, was published in 2021 by Cephalopress. Her fiction debut, Something Dead in Everything (ELJ Editions), was released in 2022. Find her on Twitter @LannieStabile or @NotALitMag, where she throws random writing contests and open mics.

Zoë Fay-Stindt is a queer, bicontinental poet with roots in both the French and American south. Their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, featured or forthcoming in places such as Southern Humanities, Ninth Letter, and Poet Lore, and gathered into a chapbook, Bird Body, winner of Cordella Press’ inaugural Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize. She lives in Ames, Iowa, where she is an MFA candidate at Iowa State University, poetry editor for the environmental journal, Flyway, and community farm volunteer. You can learn more at www.zoefaystindt.com. 

Qiana Towns is a lifelong resident of north Flint. She is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at Bowling Green State University and the Master of Arts program at Central Michigan University. Qiana has published in various literary journals including Harvard Review online. In 2016, her poem "Behest of a Fading Diva" was made into a short film by Motionpoems. In addition to her professional and community endeavors, Qiana is mom to two exceptional daughters—Sam and Cass. 

Through the words shared at the event to the packages up for auction as part of the fundraising component and more, Speaking of Survival strives to help survivors in a variety of ways — from ones who listen to and find community in the poetry shared to those whose needs are more deeply and better served with funds raised for ResilienceChi.

Critically, Speaking of Survival is a FREE event open to all, regardless of financial capacity. No one will be turned away for not being in a position to donate. Tiered ticketing options, which involve donated packages that will be auctioned off to donors who are positioned to contribute at the various levels, can also be made in others’ names and on others’ behalf if financial means are a challenge. Additionally, there is a donation-only option for those who want to contribute funds/support to this important cause but cannot or choose not to attend the virtual reading event.

Auction packages include such things as books, consultations, critical feedback, publicity packages, author services, and more! If you are interested in donating items to be auctioned off in any of the tiers or are interested in donating your financial support specifically on behalf of another person in one or more of the tiered auctions, please contact Raegen Pietrucha at headofagorgon@gmail.com.  

Donation Tiers & Packages

A donation at any of the following levels specified below covers 1 entry in a drawing for a gift package in that tier, which will go to as many donors per category as we have gifts available in the particular category (specified next to each respective category below). While we hope all donations will be made without expectation and in the spirit of supporting survivors and their healing, we do feel it necessary to note that with respect to any item or service offered as part of a gift package, we reserve the option to replace or swap with substitutions in the event the person providing the item/service may face hardship or the item/service otherwise becomes unavailable. Regardless of donation made, there's no guarantee of receipt of any package or the specific one selected by the donor, as availability depends on the number of donations received at each dollar amount.

$25 (7 packages)

• Package 1: A signed copy of You Do Not Have to Be Good by Madeleine Barnes.
• Package 2: A signed copy of The Truth Is by Avery M. Guess (2 copies/packages available).
• Package 3: A signed copy of Head of a Gorgon by Raegen Pietrucha.
• Package 4: A signed copy of the forthcoming Everything That Hurt Us Becomes a Ghost by Sage Ravenwood (will be sent once available).
• Package 5: A signed copy of Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dogs Zeus by Lannie Stabile.
• Package 6: A signed copy of Bird Body by Zoë Fay-Stindt.

$50 (4 packages)

• Package 1: Olney mystery swag package.
• Package 2: A set of beaded earrings from Sage Ravenwood.
• Package 3: Feedback from Meggie Royer on a packet of 5-10 poems.
• Package 4: Feedback from Sage Ravenwood on a packet of 5-10 poems.
• Package 5: Copy of The Truth Is by Avery M. Guess and feedback on a packet of 3 poems (6-page maximum).

$75 (2 packages)

• Package 1: The Bodies, Bodies, Bodies book bundle from Kith Books, featuring the following titles: Book of Extraction: Poems with Teeth by Adrian Frandle, twelve ways to occupy my body by sloane angelou, the fine line by nat raum, Heaven, Ekphrasis by sterling-elizabeth arcadia, and body comic and what is a body by Kimball Anderson
• Package 2: The Trans, Queer, and Here book bundle from Kith Books, featuring the following titles: lacuna by tommy blake; icarus, rising by dre levant; Within Light by Arthur DeHart; Utopia in Green by Magi Sumpter; Snakeskin Stockings by Clem Flowers; Flying the Jolly Scarlet, Gambling with the Gods by Gwendolyn Diana Harper

$100 (4 packages)

Your donation of $100 covers two trauma therapy sessions for a survivor or their loved ones.

• Package 1: Copy of Bird Body by Zoë Fay-Stindt and feedback from the author on a packet of 5-10 poems.
• Package 2: Copy of The Truth Is by Avery M. Guess and feedback from the author on a packet of 5-10 poems (20-page maximum).
• Package 3: Original embroidery piece and You Do Not Have to Be Good by Madeleine Barnes.
• Package 4: Book bundle including 1 copy of each of the following books: You Do Not Have to Be Good by Madeleine Barnes, The Truth Is by Avery M. Guess, Head of a Gorgon by Raegen Pietrucha, the forthcoming Everything That Hurt Us Becomes a Ghost by Sage Ravenwood (will be sent separately once available), Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dogs Zeus by Lannie Stabile, and Bird Body by Zoë Fay-Stindt.

$250 (4 packages)

Your donation of $250 helps cover the cost of ResilienceChi’s 60-hour medical advocacy training for 4 new volunteers.

• Package 1: Consultation and guidance from Raegen Pietrucha on author-led book promotion, including how to build a book press kit, marketing plan, social media strategy, etc.
• Package 2: Olney mystery swag package.  Ages 21+ only; contains alcohol.
• Package 3: A mystery book bundle of 20 titles from Raegen Pietrucha’s personal collection.
• Package 4: Consultation and skill share package from Kith Books editor Katharine Blair on the creation of one press-ready project, whether for self-publication or eventual submission to a publisher.

$500 (1 package)

Your donation of $500 helps cover costs for multiple prevention education sessions with K-12 students in the Chicagoland area.

• Package 1: Poetry manuscript consultation with Raegen Pietrucha, including the review (with feedback) of 1 full-length poetry collection or poetry chapbook unpublished and/or in progress, preparation guidance, and submission strategies.

$1,000 (1 package)

Your donation of $1,000 covers monthly transportation expenses for survivors to and from hospitals.

• Package 1: A poetry book PR package from Raegen Pietrucha including a PR consultation, 1 review (to be shopped with publications or published on Pietrucha’s blog), 1 interview (to be shopped with publications or published on Pietrucha’s blog), and a minimum of 10 leads for podcasts and reading venues to pursue. (Note: You must have a poetry book forthcoming or out no earlier than 2022 to be eligible for these services.)

Questions?  Contact Miranda Ehmke at mehmke@ourresilience.org.