MoCA Arlington's Poetry Reading Series -- featuring Sunu P. Chandy

Hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington in the Tiffany Gallery, the Poetry Reading Series features established poets, who will share their work through reading and performance. Refreshments and time for Q&A to follow.

On May 28, the feature poet is Sunu P. Chandy (she/her). Chandy is a social justice activist including through her work as a poet and a civil rights attorney. She’s the daughter of immigrants from Kerala, India, a queer woman of color, and lives in Washington, D.C. with her family.

Poetry readings enrich the museum experience by connecting visual and literary arts, and offering a space for poets, like visual artists, to reach an audience and share their work. FREE to attend.

Bio

Sunu P. Chandy (she/her) is a social justice activist including through her work as a poet and a civil rights attorney. She’s the daughter of immigrants from Kerala, India, a queer woman of color, and lives in Washington, D.C. with her family. Her award-winning collection of poems, My Dear Comrades, was published by Regal House. Sunu’s creative work can also be found in , , , Split this Rock’s online social justice database, , and in anthologies including , and . Sunu is currently a Senior Advisor with Democracy Forward. Sunu was also the Legal Director of the National Women’s Law Center for six years until August 2023. Sunu earned her B.A. in Peace and Global Studies/Women’s Studies from Earlham College, her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law and her MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Queens College/The City University of New York in 2013. Sunu is on the board of the Transgender Law Center, and was included as one the Washington Blade’s Queer Women of Washington and one of Go Magazine’s 100 Women We Love. Sunu is delighted to celebrate her collection of poetry, My Dear Comrades, with you and with the book's fabulous cover artist, Ragni Agarwal.

ABOUT:

My Dear Comrades

In this poetry collection, Sunu P. Chandy includes stories about her experiences as a woman, civil rights attorney, parent, partner, daughter of South Asian immigrants, and member of the LGBTQ+ community. These poems cover themes ranging from immigration, social justice activism, friendship loss, fertility challenges, adoption, caregiving, and life during a pandemic. Sunu’s poems provide some resolve, some peace, some community, amidst the competing notions of how we are expected to be in the world, especially when facing a range of barriers. Sunu’s poems provide company for many who may be experiencing isolation through any one of these experiences and remind us that we are not, in fact, going it alone. Whether the experience is being disregarded as a woman of color attorney, being rejected for being queer, losing a most treasured friendship, doubting one’s romantic partner or any other form of heartbreak, Sunu’s poems highlight the human requirement of continually starting anew. These poems remind us that we can, and we will, collectively rebuild.

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