June 15, 2022, Room 31 NYC
Readings by: Dena Igusti, Dolan Morgan, Aida Zilelian, Haolun Xu
Music by: Iris Lune
Iris Lune is a musician and producer living in NYC. She has three EPs and a full length LP under her belt, as well as multiple music videos. Billboard has called her music “a microcosm of swirling, authentic stories […] with a tinge of electro-pop to tie everything together.” Iris Lune’s music is unflinchingly honest and dedicated to a kaleidoscopic vision of the world. By engaging with raw sound objects, the artist brings a unique vision that melds an electronic sound palette and an organic sonic experience. Iris Lune is currently working on a visual album titled “Home is Where” which is a multidisciplinary collaboration with nine dancers and visual artists from across the globe.
Dena Igusti is a queer Indonesian Muslim writer born and raised in Queens, New York. They are a Best of the Net Nominee and Stories Award Finalist, with fellowships from Seventh Wave, Sundress Publications, Baldwin for the Arts, Radical DreamYard Consortium, & more. Their poetry collection, Cut Woman (published by Game Over Books), has been selected as a 2020 Harvard Bookstore Staff Pick and Entropy Mag’s Best of 2020-2021. Their work has been featured in BOAAT, Seventh Wave, Waccamaw Journal, and more. Their work has been produced and performed at The Brooklyn Museum, Apollo Theater, The Tank, and more. They are a Converse All-Stars Artist.
Dolan Morgan is a writer and illustrator living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and the author of two story collections, including That’s When the Knives Come Down. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in BOMB Magazine, The Believer, The Lifted Brow, The Rumpus, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Selected Shorts, and elsewhere.
Haolun Xu is a poet and filmmaker born in Nanning, China, and raised in New Jersey. His writing has appeared in Electric Literature, Narrative, Gulf Coast, jubilat, and more. His upcoming short film, Long Beach, will be made on the Jersey Shore.
Aida Zilelian is a first-generation American-Armenian writer and educator from Queens, NY. Her first novel (unpublished), The Hollowing Moon, was one of the top three finalists of the Anderbo Novel Contest. The sequel, The Legacy of Lost Things, was published in 2015 (Bleeding Heart Publications) and was the recipient of the 2014 Tololyan Literary Award. Aida has been featured on NPR, The Huffington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Poets & Writers, the New York Times, and various reading series throughout Queens and Manhattan.
