BOOKSMITH: Sara Mae with Yujane Chen / Priestess of Tankinis

Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - 7:30pm
Body: 

Booksmith hosts Sara Mae for her poetry chap, Priestess of Tankinis (Game Over Books). Performing with her is Yujane Chen. Please join us!

Sara Mae's Priestess of Tankinis is a time capsule of shirley temples, bird feathers and girlhood. In her poems, she explores the implications of trauma and unapologetic joy, navigating episodic relationships and trying to orient herself in her body, in the world. With tricky, syrupy sweet language, she tackles what it means to remain hopeful and wondrous as a young girl. She invites the reader to take these poems as evidence of her staying.  


"Sara Mae's Priestess of Tankinis is a prayer to herself that invites me into that holy place and reminds me what the fuck I deserve from love, girlhood and tenderness." – Zenaida Peterson, author of Breakfast for Dinner

"Tenderness and unapology work together not just to assert the poet's strength and resilience, but to remind us of ours. Priestess of Tankinis shows me that magic is real -- both around me, and within me." – Jess Rizkallah, author of the magic my body becomes



Sara Mae is a kitchen witch and community organizer raised in Baltimore and based in Boston. She is the 2017 IWPS rep for Slam Free Or Die - Poetry Open Mic & Slam, a 2018 Emerson College CUPSI team member, and a 2018 Boston Poetry Slam NPS team member. She is the Executive Director of Feminine Empowerment Movement Slam Tournament - FEMS. Her work can be found in Tinderbox, Peach Mag, Breakwater Review and elsewhere. Her first chapbook, Priestess of Tankinis, is out via Game Over Books. She believes in the magic of blue bicycles and orange lipstick. If she could go to dinner with any famous person, she wouldn’t care who it was as long as there was Old Bay on the food.

Yujane Chen is a poet, student organizer, teaching artist, & queer migrant alien from Taiwan. Their poems are forthcoming or have appeared in Black Warrior Review, the Shade JournalFoglifter, Bettering American Poetry, & others. A recipient of fellowships from Pink Door, Kundiman, and Winter Tangerine, they are a 2018 Brave New Voices Future Corps member and a member of the 2018-2019 CalSLAM CUPSI team. They are currently earning a B.A. in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, where they are an intern with the Multicultural Community Center on campus. They believe that their revolution begins with listening.


This event is free and all ages, with mature content.

RSVP appreciated but not required.