NEWS

Read “No Fragile Flowers, These,”
Christina’s review
of Fiona Sze-Lorrain’s Dear Chrysanthemums

My co-translator Fiona’s interview with NER editor Carolyn Kuebler gives some intriguing insights into the life and work of Surrealist writer and post-Cubist painter Greta Knutson.



“The Black Virgin,” a short story co-translated by Christina and Fiona Sze-Lorrain, appeared in the fall 2019 edition of New England Review. Written by surrealist French writer Greta Knutson, “The Black Virgin” is an early twentieth-century Bildungsroman where transgressions fueled by erotic drive, maternity, and possession are set against the stifling social conventions and religious politics of a typical southern French village.


6:00-8:00PM, Thursday, March 28
The Portland Burger
304 SW 2nd Ave, Portland, OR 97204

7:30-10:30PM, Saturday, November 4
Charmed Instruments
824 S 8th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

7:00PM, Tuesday, April 18
In celebration of National Poetry Month
The Green Line Cafe Poetry Series presents: An Affection for Poetry:
A Discussion with Christina Cook, John Timpane and Leonard Gontarek
4426 Locust St
Philadelphia, PA 19104


Maureen Alsop reviews A Strange Insomnia in The Rumpus:

“Consistent with psychological waves of grief—shock, sorrow, and acceptance—Christina Cook’s A Strange Insomnia extracts wakefulness into three sections bearing the themes of threat, shadow and communion. These highly empathic poems quietly walk through the world with a subdued grace, yet bear a vigilance culminating as if in mythopoeic conversations on momentary grit.” Read more.

7:00PM, Tuesday, January 10
Winter Poetry Night 2017: A Pen Parentis Salon
Hotel Andaz Wall Street
Christina reads alongside talented NY poets Stella Padnos-Shea and Matthew Thorburn

screen-shot-2016-10-03-at-2-43-16-pm

READING WEEK: October 10-15
Parisian poet and translator Fiona Sze-Lorrain joins me for three readings around Philadelphia. Fiona will be reading from her latest book of original poetry, The Ruined Elegance, and I’ll be reading from A Strange Insomnia.

screen-shot-2016-09-14-at-9-30-21-pm
7:00 PM, Saturday, October 15
Poetry Reading: Fiona Sze-Lorrain, Darla Himeles, Deborah Fries, & Christina Cook
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, Philadelphia(West Mt. Airy)
Philly poets Darla Himeles and Deborah Fries will be reading with us.

screen-shot-2016-09-14-at-9-31-24-pm
6:30 PM, Wednesday, October 12
Poetry Reading: Julia Bloch, Fiona Sze-Lorrain, & Christina Cook
Penn Book Center, Philadelphia (University City)
UPenn poet Julia Bloch, whose latest book is Letters to Kelly Clarkson, will be reading with us this evening.

screen-shot-2016-09-14-at-9-34-08-pm
7:30 PM, Monday, October 10
Poetry Reading: Fiona Sze-Lorrain, Jaime Fontaine, p.e. garcia, & Christina Cook
Painted Bride Quarterly Reading Series
Black Sheep Pub , Philadelphia (Center City)

Screen Shot 2016-08-19 at 9.16.03 AM

Sea Summit, the first book-length English translation of Chinese poet Yi Lu’s work, challenges readers to think about the cultural attitudes and imbalances of power that have brought our global ecosystem to the brink of breakdown. Read my review of it here.

A STRANGE INSOMNIA
A full-length collection of poems by Christina Cook, published by Aldrich Press.
Screen Shot 2016-07-05 at 10.51.09 PM

Cover art from Deirdre Murphy‘s painting Pisces.
Cover design by Lee Seidenberg.


Ricochet
A new chapbook of poems by Christina Cook, published by Casa de Cinco Hermanas Press. Purchase via email request to editor, Kyle Laws, at kylelaws@qwestoffice.net.

Ricochet cover

Hot off the Press:
Poet Showcase: An Anthology of New Hampshire Poets, 
Edited by Alice B. Fogel and Sidney Hall Jr.

My work is included in this wonderful new anthology of New Hampshire
poets. . . makes me a bit nostalgic for the long snowy winters and pine-
scented summers that inspired my writing for over a decade.

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 9.40.45 PM

Fiona Sze-Lorrain’s new book of poems, The Ruined Elegance, is gorgeous and thought-provoking. Visit The Rumpus to read my review of it.

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 10.11.10 PM

AN AFTERNOON OF POETRY AND ART
Saturday, November 21, 4 – 6 pm
Gross McCleaf Gallery, 127 S 16th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 10.30.32 PM

A joint reading of seven Philadelphia-area poets will be followed by nibbles, wine, and book signings, all surrounded by the exquisite work of painter and University of Pennsylvania fine arts faculty member Deirdre Murphy.

The poets include: former Montgomery County Laureate Kristina Moriconi, Temple creative writing faculty Pattie McCarthy and Kevin Varrone, UPenn creative writing faculty Michelle Taransky, Philadelphia poets Mara Adamitz Scupe and Christina Cook, & Cherry Hill poet Dave Worrell.

Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 5.16.04 PM

Coming up: November 7 at 5:00pm
Book Launch for Poet Showcase: An Anthology of New Hampshire Writers
Hosted by Hobblebush Books, at The Barley House, Concord, NH

I won’t make it up north to read, but other contributing poets will, and it promises to be a terrific evening of poetry by New Hampshire’s finest.

Screen Shot 2015-09-28 at 6.02.41 PM

Maureen Alsop’s latest collection, Mirror Inside Coffin, is a luminous must-read. Visit the current issue of Cutbank Literary Magazine to read my review of it~

Screen Shot 2015-08-22 at 8.59.26 AM

Coming up: September 25 at 7:15pm
Poetry Aloud and Alive Reading Series
Hosted by the Mad Poets Society
at the Big Blue Marble Bookstore
Philadelphia, PA
Christina Cook, featured poet

Screen Shot 2015-08-22 at 8.47.51 AM

Hot off the Press:
Erasures of Randall Brown’s flash fiction by Christina Cook, Maureen Alsop, and 16 other wild eraser-wielding poets

Mad to Live: Erasures
In 2008, Flume Press published the flash fiction prose collection Mad to Live. In 2015, eighteen poets erased it.