Reading Recap: Cornelia Street Cafe

Audience: About 30.
Anxiety index: 4 (out of 10).
Surprise guest(s): My friend Maaza M., and MG reader Ched B.
No. of Moroccans who said hello: 1.

I was invited to Cornelia St. Cafe by the kick-ass women who run Ziryab, a monthly reading series for Arab and Arab American writers. Nathalie Handal, Sholeh Wolpe and Mathew Shenoda were also on the bill, each reading from their new poetry collections.

It was wonderful to see the reading so well attended. I didn’t give a book away this time because I was trying to keep my luggage to a minimum, but hopefully will get to do that again soon. I signed a few copies of Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits for readers and later hung out with a friend at a great Korean restaurant not too far away.