Forget Why Poetry Series - Edwin Torres, Cathy Eisenhower, Vivek Narayanan

Forget Why Poetry Series presents an evening of poetry with multidisciplinary poet and performance artist Edwin Torres, Washington, DC poet Cathy Eisenhower, and Guggenheim Fellow Vivek Narayanan. The program brings together experimental, literary, and performance-oriented poetic voices, with all three featured readers connected to the broader Washington and contemporary poetry communities.

Torres is a New York City–based poet whose “bodylingo” performances have been presented internationally. His books include *Quanundrum: i will be your many angled thing*, which received an American Book Award, and *Ameriscopia*. He also edited *The Body In Language: An Anthology*. His honors include support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the DIA Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts. His recent recordings are *sublingual infinities* and *parallel infinities*, released by Room 40 Records, and his newest book, *Feel Recordings in the Evershift*, was released by Wave Books. He teaches poetry as an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

Eisenhower is a Washington, DC–based psychotherapist and poet. Her books include *Language of the Dog-heads*, *clearing without reversal*, *would with and*, *distance decay*, and *animalitos*. She has translated selected poems by Argentine poet Diana Bellessi and co-curates a reading series at Rhizome DC. Her work has appeared in *The Recluse*, *Aufgabe*, *West Wind Review*, *The Brooklyn Rail*, and *Fence*.

Narayanan’s distinctions include a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry, along with fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute and the New York Public Library. His books include *After* and *The Kuruntokai and its Mirror*. His writing has appeared in *Poetry*, *The Paris Review*, and *The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem*. He teaches in the MFA Poetry program at George Mason University.

When: Saturday, November 14, 2026

Showtimes: 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Tickets: $10–20

Lineup: Edwin Torres, Cathy Eisenhower, and Vivek Narayanan

Venue: Rhizome DC

Event type: Poetry reading and performance

Ages: Not specified

Accessibility: Not specified