Join us on March 23rd for a powerful Sunday Salon that explores the intricacies of family, identity, and the legacies we inherit. This month’s featured writers bring poignant, diverse perspectives on the complexities of belonging, grief, and personal transformation. Their works explore the emotional and cultural currents that shape our lives, while grappling with the burdens and breakthroughs that define who we are. Don’t miss this evening of literary magic, with DJ DubSix supplying the perfect soundtrack. At 5pm, Von Bar, 3 Bleecker St.
Named a “Writer to Watch” by CBC Books and Shondaland, Christina Cooke is the author of Broughtupsy – named a “Best Book of 2024” by Elle, Electric Literature, CBC Books, and Debutiful, as well as a must-read title by over 30 outlets including Vogue, The Atlantic, Harper’s Bazaar, and Cosmopolitan. Her short fiction and nonfiction has appeared in The Caribbean Writer, The Journey Prize Stories, Electric Literature, LitHub, and others. Born in Jamaica, Christina is now a Canadian citizen who lives and writes in New York City.
Paulette Perhach is a regular contributor to The New York Times, and her work has previously appeared in Vox, Elle, The Washington Post, Slate, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, Yoga Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Hobart, and Vice. She’s the author of two multi-million-reader viral essays.
John Vercher holds a Bachelor’s in English from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in Creative Writing from the Mountainview MFA program. He is core faculty at Randolph College’s low-residency MFA program and has served as the inaugural Wilma Dykeman Writer-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina Asheville. His debut novel, Three-Fifths, was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune and was a Book of the Year in the U.K. His second novel, After the Lights Go Out (2022), received critical acclaim, with starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and The New York Times. His third novel, Devil Is Fine (2024), has received widespread praise, including starred reviews and accolades from TIME Magazine, The Root, and Electric Lit, and was longlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize. John’s work has been translated into multiple languages and published worldwide.
Tyriek Rashawn White is a writer, musician, and educator from Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of WE ARE A HAUNTING (Astra House, 2023), winner of The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. The novel was also a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize and the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Fiction, and long-listed for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. In 2024, he was named a National Book Foundation ‘5 Under 35’ honoree. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Callaloo, New York State Writers Institute, and Key West Literary Seminar, among other honors. He is currently the media director of Lampblack Literary Foundation, which seeks to provide mutual aid and various resources to Black writers across the diaspora. He holds a degree in Creative Writing & Africana Studies from Pitzer College and has earned an MFA from the University of Mississippi.