Kramers Poetry Reading: Summer Edition
There’s no respite from the heat quite like an ice-cold canto or canzone! Join us for the Summer 2026 Edition of the Kramers Poetry Reading Series, during which we will feature three local DMV poets. Each poet will read for 10-15 minutes from original work, and we’ll have their books for sale. Afterwards, there is always time for chatting and getting your book signed. So raise your sweaty glass to the sun and cheers the incoming sweltering sestinas!
This month we are featuring Chet’la Sebree, Lauren Russell, and Mario Melo.
Chet’la Sebree is the author of the debut essay collection Turn (W)here: A Geography of Home as well the poetry collections Blue Opening, longlisted for PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry and a finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry; Field Study, winner of the James Laughlin Award; and Mistress, nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Currently, she’s an associate professor at the George Washington University.
Lauren Russell is the author of three books, including A Window That Can Neither Open nor Close (Milkweed Editions, 2024) and Descent (Tarpaulin Sky Press, 2020), winner of the Poetry Society of America’s 2021 Anna Rabinowitz Award. An NEA and Cave Canem fellow, she teaches in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Baltimore.
Mario Melo is an Angolan-American poet living in Washington, D.C. They received a Master of Arts in English & Literary Studies from the University of Denver. Mario’s poetry can be found in the Hill Rag, the anthology Capital Love, and forthcoming in 20.35 Africa’s Fall 2026 anthology.