SWWIM: Rita Mookerjee & Madison Whatley

An intimate evening of contemporary poetry highlights voices from South Florida and beyond as part of an ongoing women-centered literary series on Miami Beach.

SWWIM: Rita Mookerjee & Madison Whatley takes place on Wednesday, January 7 at The Betsy - South Beach, located on Miami Beach. The reading is part of the SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami) Reading Series, which brings together visiting poets in residence with Miami-based writers for paired readings that encourage cross-generational dialogue and close engagement with new work.

Featured poet Rita Mookerjee is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Worcester State University and the author of False Offering. Her work has been supported by the Fulbright Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and she serves in editorial and leadership roles with several national literary organizations. She is joined by Madison Whatley, a South Florida poet and Florida International University MFA graduate whose work has appeared in regional and national publications and whose manuscript Hotline Bimbo was a semifinalist for the 2023 Berkshire Prize.

SWWIM is a Miami-based nonprofit organization co-founded by Jen Karetnick and Catherine Esposito Prescott, dedicated to sustaining and amplifying women poets through live readings, publications and community-building initiatives. The series is presented with support from the Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation CreARTE and is held in The Betsy’s Writer’s Room, offering audiences a focused setting for experiencing contemporary poetry and conversation.