"First Person Plural" Reading Series Launches in Harlem

Amy Benson , a writer and faculty member at the School of the Arts , was tired of always going to downtown Manhattan for literary events. So when she discovered that a friend and fellow writer was also experimenting with writing from the "we" perspective, an idea for a literary event took shape, one that could be conveniently located near her Harlem home. Professor Amy Benson, a co-founder of First Person Plural, speaks at the Shrine World Music Venue in Harlem. Earlier this month, the new reading series debuted at the Shrine World Music Venue on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 134th Street. It is called First Person Plural because it is devoted to works written in the "we" voice. Columbia writing professors Margo Jefferson and Sam Lipsyte and Mendi Obadike, a mixed-media artist with no University affiliation, gave readings.