Between Worlds, Between Words

The Polish Cultural Institute New York and exquisites queer and trans reading series are excited to announce “Between Worlds, Between Words,” an afternoon of poetry and conversation celebrating the work of Irena Klepfisz taking place on Sunday, May 4th, 3pm, at the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division. Irena Klepsfisz is the author of several poetry collections including her newest publication, Pomiedzy swiatami/Between Worlds: Selected Poems and Essays, translated in English and Polish.

The afternoon at the Bureau will feature cross-generational readings by queer Jewish poets Ariel Goldberg, Clairette Atri Mizrahi, Ayaz O. Muratoglu, and Irena Klepfisz. Following the readings there will be a conversation moderated by danilo machado and Em Marie Kohl of exquisites, touching upon themes of diaspora, identity, and translation. Audience members will be able to participate in a Q&A and enjoy the opportunity to mingle after the event at the Bureau, with refreshments provided by the Polish Cultural Institute New York. This event is free, with suggested donations supporting the Bureau.

More about the participants and organizers:

Irena Klepfisz is a lesbian poet, essayist, translator, activist and a practicing secular Jew. She was a co-founder and co-editor of the ground breaking Conditions magazine, co-editor of The Tribe of Dina, and promoter and translator of the works of Yiddish women writers. She taught Jewish Women’s Studies at Barnard College for 22 years and English and Women’s Studies at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women. She has focused much of her activism on reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians. Her recent work Her Birth and Later Years: Poems New and Collected 1971-2021 was the winner of the Audre Lorde Lesbian Poetry Prize from the Publishing Triangle and a finalist for the 2022 Jewish Book Council prize in poetry. In 2024, a bilingual edition of her poetry and prose appeared in Poland titled Pomiedzy swiatami/Between Worlds and published by slowo/obraz terytoria.

Ariel Goldberg is a writer, curator, and educator devoted to trans and queer lineages and lesser-known histories of photography. Goldberg’s books include The Estrangement Principle (Nightboat Books, 2016) and The Photographer (Roof Books, 2015). Their exhibition Images on which to build, 1970s-1990s was on view from 2022-2024 in at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Leslie-Lohman Museum in NYC, and the Chicago Cultural Center. Goldberg was a recipient of the 2020 Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Book Grant and a 2024 Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellow at the New York Public Library, to support their book-in-progress on trans and queer image cultures of the late 20th century. A proud member of ACT-UAW 7902, Goldberg has taught at Bard College, The New School, New York University, Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, and Rutgers University. Goldberg is in the Winter 2025 Apprenticeship Program at the New York Peace Institute and works independently as a Conflict Mediator.

Clairette Atri Mizrahi studied Social Psychology at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). She holds an MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish from New York University and is currently working on her PhD in Critical Social / Personality Psychology at the Graduate Center (CUNY) in NYC. Her first poetry collection, De la Boca de Mi Madre (self-published), explores the intergenerational saying-without-saying, an alternative way of using language, of Syrian-Jewish women in Mexico. Her theater script Nunca estás y estás has been selected for various staged readings and play development programs including Cimientos (2024) at IATI Theater and DramaLab (2019) at King Juan Carlos I Center.

Ayaz Orme Muratoglu is a poet, critic, and translator working between Istanbul and New York. From 2022-24, he worked as an audio and technical manager at the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, and he curated and edited the 2023-24 chapbook series for the feminist poetry press Belladonna*. Ayaz was born on a Tuesday in April.

exquisites is a Brooklyn-based queer and trans poetry series co-founded by Em Marie Kohl and danilo machado. Since 2022, exquisites has hosted over 170 poets at their collectively-curated first Thursday readings held in community spaces throughout Brooklyn. For April-August 2025, exquisites monthly readings will be at Aberdeen Community Garden in Bushwick. Exquisites also hosts workshops and, to date, has published four anthologies. exquisites has received support from the Brooklyn Arts Council (2023, 2024) and Poets & Writers (2023-2025), and is a fiscally-sponsored community project with Fractured Atlas.

Polish Cultural Institute New York, established in 2000, is a diplomatic mission to the United States serving under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. The mission of the Polish Cultural Institute New York is to share Polish heritage, history and art with American audiences, and to promote Poland’s contributions to the success of world culture.