Join us for a reading of new work by Tom Sleigh, followed by a conversation with poet Phillis Levin to explore some of the questions the work raises. For the past seven years, Tom Sleigh has been leading a double life as a long form journalist/essayist, writing about refugees in the wakes of two recent wars. Those experiences have worked themselves into his poems—but at an oblique angle. In what ways are humor and irreverence more or less effective than grim earnestness? What is the difference between exploring a political emotion and a political conviction and which one is the job of the poet? Both writers are part of The Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) an organization for literary activity and advocacy.