CAConrad has worked with the ancient technologies of poetry and ritual since 1975. As a young poet, CA lived in Philadelphia, where they lost many loved ones during the early years of the AIDS crisis, as documented in the essay, “SIN BUG: AIDS, Poetry, and Queer Resilience in Philadelphia.” CA exhibits their poems as art objects in places such as Futura Gallery in Prague, Robert Grunenberg Gallery in Berlin, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City, Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong, and as part of the 2021 Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art. In 2023 CA will celebrate the 30th anniversary of writing The Book of Frank (Wave Books, 2010), which is now available in 9 different languages. They received a Creative Capital grant, a Pew Fellowship, a Lambda Literary Award, and a Believer Magazine Book Award. Their play The Obituary Show was made into a film in 2022 by Augusto Cascales. They currently live in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and will teach at UMass, Amherst, in the MFA creative writing program from fall 2022 to spring 2023. They teach at Columbia University in New York City and Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam.
CAConrad will offer a poetry workshop, (Soma)tic Rituals with CAConrad, and a craft session, How AMANDA PARADISE Became the Golden Boomerang, as well as an evening reading followed by Q&A.
Photo credit: Anya Klepikov