Join us for Poets in the Conversation Room!

Cosponsored with Grace Cavalieri, Maryland’s lOth Poet Laureate, Kymberly Taylor, Editor-in-Chief of Annapolis Home Magazine, and St. John’s College.

About the Poets

Majda Gama was born in Beirut to a Saudi father and American mother. Her hometown is Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and her roots Hijazi, but she also has a long, complicated relationship with Northern Virginia where her father was stationed in the 1970's. Majda is the author of the debut poetry collection In the House of Modern Upbringing for Girls, winner of the Wandering Aengus Press prize for poetry, and the chapbook The Call of Paradise selected by Diane Seuss for the Two Sylvia’s press chapbook prize. Her poetry has been published recently in Adroit, AGNI, Ploughshares, Poetry, Prairie Schooner, TriQuarterly, and Tupleo Quarterly. Her honors include a Gregory Djanikian Scholar award from The Adroit Journal and the Graybeal-Gowen award for Virginia poets from Shenandoah literary journal. She received a special mention from the Pushcart Prize for a poem published by Terrain.

Zeina Azzam is a Palestinian American poet, writer, editor, and community activist. She served as the poet laureate of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, for 2022-25. Her publications include the full-length poetry collection, Some Things Never Leave You (2023), and chapbook, Bayna Bayna, In-Between (2021), in addition to poems in literary journals, webzines, edited volumes, and anthologies. Zeina worked in the fields of education and Middle East affairs for most of her professional career, including 27 years at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. Since 2016, she has served as a mentor for We Are Not Numbers, a writing program for youth in Gaza, and is currently WANN’s poetry editor. She also volunteers with Grassroots Alexandria, a local group that advocates for the civil rights of vulnerable communities. Zeina holds an M.A. in Arabic literature from Georgetown University, an M.A. in sociology from George Mason University, and a B.A. in psychology from Vassar College. www.zeinaazzam.com

About the Poets in the Conversation Room Series

In partnership with Annapolis Home Magazine, St. John’s College presents a series called Poets in the Conversation Room hosted by renowned poet, author, playwright, and tenth Maryland Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri.

“Annapolis needs poetry,” says Kymberly Taylor, poet and Editor-In-Chief of Annapolis Home Magazine. “It needs this incredible art form that helps us feel things beyond what we hear and read online, on television, and in the news.”

The poetry series is free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Works by the featured poets will be on display at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library and available to purchase at the St. John’s College Bookstore.

“I think it’s going to create a tremendous audience because it’s also entertaining,” says Cavalieri. “Poetry speaks to how we feel and how it is to be alive in this world—and who does not want to hear that?”

*Please note, registration is for estimating attendance; tickets are not required.