Flaws Forward: A poetic conversation about difficult intimate relationships, judgment, and the persistent, tragicomic yearning for love. Featuring: Eben E. B. Bein Special Guests: Lulu Liu, Lora Keller, & Chen Chen
Flaws Forward celebrates the one year anniversary of Eben E. B. Bein's Character Flaws with some depressingly fun, ridiculously serious poetry readings and conversation. Like the chapbook itself, we will contemplate how we judge ourselves and others in intimate relationships. We will admire the exquisite, persistent, and tragicomic yearning for love that outlives old partnerships. Lastly, we will discuss how poetic community and conversation deepen our sense of interconnectedness and help us keep our hearts soft and open. Eben will do some solo reading, but mostly they and their poet friends will be reading pairs of poems one of Eben’s and one of theirs, and discussing their work and these themes in dialogue. There will also be a Question and Comment section. e) Genres of Show
Eben (they/he) is a biology-teacher-turned-climate-justice-educator by day and Renaissance person by night. They joined the youth-serving nonprofit Our Climate as Massachusetts Field Organizer in 2018, after 6 years of teaching biology at Revere High School (MA) and Phillips Exeter Academy (NH). They are also an adult administrator for the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition, where they empower and co-learn with next-generation climate advocates in over 25 organizations across their home state. They grew up in a cohousing community on Nipmuc land (Acton, MA) and earned a B.A. in Biology from Dartmouth College and an M.S. in Science Writing from MIT. They were a 2022 Fellow for the Writing By Writers workshop and winner of the 2022 Writers Rising Up “Winter Variations” poetry contest. Their individual poems can be found in the likes of Nimrod Journal, New Ohio Review, & Sonora Review. Their first chapbook Character Flaws won Fauxmoir lit’s Spring 2023 competition and explores judgment of the self and others in romantic and sexual relationships. They write often about parent-child relationships as well as relationships with the natural world and the body, especially in urban settings and on the backdrop of climate catastrophe. They live on Pawtucket land (Cambridge, MA) with their husband and can be found online at ebenbein.com or @ebenbein.
Lora Keller (she/her)
Is it a pink tulle or zebra stripe satin day? That’s what drives Lora Keller’s decisions on what to wear each day. So, clothes tell the story of her life -- from the red dress her grandma stitched to the roses she embroidered for herself. After growing up in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, Lora lived in New York City and Kansas City and has made Milwaukee, Wisconsin her home. She was a scriptwriter, public relations executive, educator, and small business owner and now writes full-time. Her poems are published widely and have earned numerous awards. The poem printed here is part of her in-process collection titled What I Wore to the Mental Hospital which is dedicated to her mom.
Lulu Liu (she/her)
Lulu Liu is a writer and physicist and lives between Arlington, Massachusetts and Parsonsfield, Maine. Her writing has appeared in the Technology Review and Sacramento Bee, among others, and recently her poetry in Apple Valley Review and Thimble Lit. Her poem “The Next Life” was nominated for Best of the Net 2023.
Chen Chen (he/him)
Chen Chen is the author of two books of poetry, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (2022) and When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (2017), both published by BOA Editions. His latest chapbook is Explodingly Yours (Ghost City Press, 2023). His honors include the Thom Gunn Award, two Pushcart Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and United States Artists. He lives in Rochester, NY and teaches for the low-residency MFA programs at New England College, Stonecoast, and Antioch.
