On Wednesday, April 7th, from 7–9 PM CT/8–10 PM ET join Kundiman South for HAVE COME, AM HERE: A Gathering of Adoptee Poets in Celebration of Tiana Nobile's CLEAVE. Poets include Tiana Nobile, Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, Ansley Moon, Sun Yung Shin, Leah Silvieus, and host Matthew Salesses.

In CLEAVE, poet Tiana Nobile writes on the history of transnational adoption, both her own from South Korea and the broader, collective experience. In conversation with psychologist Harry Harlow’s monkey experiments and utilizing fragments of a highly personal cache of documents from her own adoption, these poems explore dislocation, familial relationships, and the science of love and attachment.

CLEAVE enters the world at a time when pandemic-frenzied violences are being perpetrated against Asian Americans, and the community is mourning the loss of Christian Hall, a Chinese transracial adoptee who was shot by police during a mental health crisis. Nobile’s book joins a small but powerful canon as part of a new wave of adoptee writers who, rather than having others speak over and for them, speak up to tell their own stories.

This collective of adoptee voices honors Filipino American poet, Jose Garcia Villa, when they say, “HAVE COME, AM HERE.” What does it mean to survive and reclaim your own story? Join us for this gathering of poets in celebration of the release of CLEAVE.

This event is free to attend. Register here!