Book Launch: Chivalry in the Shadows

Join us for an exciting afternoon at the Chivalry in the Shadows book launch, where we celebrate the release of this new work by the award-winning writer, Dr. Meg Wahlberg. Taking place on Sunday, September 29, upstairs at Tattooed Mom, the event will offer an opportunity to hear Meg Wahlberg introduce her LGBTQ+ Historical Fiction set in 13^th-century Brittany. In this novel, a noblewoman convinces her brother to fight in a tournament that will win him the hand of the Baron’s daughter. The knight soon realizes, though, that there is a secret and forbidden love between the ladies. As the tournament nears, the siblings are faced with the predicament of either forming an alliance… or becoming each other’s romantic rival.

Enjoy an exclusive interview with the author, followed by a theatrical reading and a Q&A session where you can delve deeper into the themes of the book. Dr. Wahlberg, a medievalist specializing in the High and Late Middle Ages, also welcomes any questions you might have about medieval culture, literature, and what we know about queer identities of this time. Attendees will have the chance to purchase signed copies and mingle with fellow book lovers.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH
1-4PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
RSVP: EVENTBRITE

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Sundays, All Day Long | Craft Sundays at TMoms? BACK. Googly eyes? BACK. Coloring pages? BACK? Your creative spirit? BACK. Come thru every Sunday for FREE arts & crafts upstairs and downstairs at Tattooed Mom!

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

• Accessibility at TMoms | Due to the construction of our historical building, Tattooed Mom is only partially accessible. Our event space is on the second floor, which is only accessible via a flight of stairs (20 steps, 3 feet wide, railing on the left side only). For more information, please visit our Accessibility page.

Breaking the Curse Book Launch

Come join Philly faves Alexandra Naughton, Sawyer Lovett, and Daniel DiFranco for the release of Alex DiFrancesco’s new book, Breaking the Curse: A Memoir about Trauma, Healing, and Italian Witchcraft. Readers will each be on stage for 15 minutes followed by a book signing. But! There’s more! Tarot readings! Spell jars! We could even play “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” if you’re into it! But there will definitely be tarot readings and spell jars.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5th
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
RSVP: FB EVENT

Alex DiFrancesco is the author of Psychopomps, All City, Transmutaion, and Breaking the Curse. Their work has appeared in New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Tin House, Brevity, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and more. They are the first transgender awards finalist in over 80 years of the Ohioana Book Awards, and the winner of the 2022 Ohio Arts Councli’s Individual Excellence Award. They are the human companion of two rescues, Roxy Music, Dog of Doom (a Westhighland Terrier), and Janglin’ Jack (some kind of cat).

Sawyer Lovett is a trans writer living just outside of Philadelphia by way of Tazewell, VA. He’s a graduate of the Rosemont College MFA program and the human parent to two chaotic rescue dogs. He is an accomplished balloon twister, a pretty good barista, and an occasional bookseller.

Alexandra Naughton is the author of ten poetry collections. Her first novel, American Mary, won the 2015 Mainline contest by Civil Coping Mechanisms and was published in 2016. Her work has been featured in Dusie, Sporklet, sin cesar, Maudlin House, carte blanche, and elsewhere. She writes Talk About It on Substack, and organizes the Bring A Blanket reading series in Philadelphia. Find her on instagram: @alexandranaughton

Daniel DiFranco is a writer/musician/teacher from Philadelphia. He is the author of two novels, Panic Years (Tailwinds Press, 2018) and Devil On My Trail (Unsolicited Press, 2024). His short stories can be found in Smokelong Quarterly, Monkeybicycle, Fractured Lit, and others. Full list of pubs and miscellany can be found at danieldifranco.com.

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What’s Up at TMoms:

• Wednesday, 4-10pm | Burger Wednesday is BACK y’all! Come slam some Smash Burgers (classic or vegan) every Wednesday for just $6!! Plus $3 PBR! Recently named one of the top burgers in the city by The Philadelphia Inquirer!

• Daily Happy Hour | All drafts are just $4 every day from 4-6pm!

• Daily Menu | Tattooed Mom will also be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.

• Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

Choose Your Own Beginning: Book Launch Party

Come celebrate the launch of CHOOSE YOUR OWN BEGINNING (Be About It Press) with an evening of poetry at Tattooed Mom! The event will feature readings by local poets Violet Gehringer, Warren C. Longmire, Nicole Steinberg, Alison Lubar, and Amy Saul-Zerby.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1ST
DOORS @ 6PM + SHOW @ 7PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
RSVP: FB EVENT

Praise for Choose Your Own Beginning:

“Amy Saul-Zerby’s language is direct, beautifully clipped—a terseness that poem after poem swells into an expansive reckoning with depression, love, and, of course, the self. Insight, here, is hard-won. These memorable poems ripple with intimacies and linguistic pleasures. They will stay with you.”
– Eduardo C. Corral, author of Guillotine

“Amy Saul-Zerby’s unforgettable new collection is revelatory in its frankness and sexy in its cool detachment. Hungry, seductive, confessional, pithy, the intimacy of these poems is bracing and gorgeous.”
– Richie Hofmann, author of A Hundred Lovers

“Choose Your Own Beginning is a collection of beauty, devastation, and deep resilience resonating through every poem.”
– Ariel Francisco, author of Under Capitalism If Your Head Aches They Just Yank Off Your Head

Tattooed Mom will be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.
Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.

“Summonings” Launch Party

Join local poet Raena Shirali and friends to celebrate the launch of summonings with a night of poetry and art at Tattooed Mom, presented by Black Lawrence Press!

summonings investigates the ongoing practice of witch (“daayan”) hunting in India. These poems explore how antiquated and existing norms surrounding female mysticism in India and America inform each culture’s treatment of women, concepts that will be in conversation with the rest of the work from this incredible lineup of compelling Philadelphia poets.

In addition to readings from this collection and the work of Emma Brown Sanders, Cindy Arrieu-King, Kathy Fagan, Kim Gek Lin Short, and Alina Pleskova, the night will feature paintings by Brooklyn based artist Meera Dugal. All together, it will be a night of delicious drinks, tasty bites, and riveting art at a Philadelphia institution.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6TH
6-9PM
NO COVER // FREE FUN
RSVP: FB EVENT

Lineup:
Raena Shirali
Ebs Brown Sanders
Kim Gek Lin Short
Cindy Arrieu-King
Alina Pleskova

With artwork by Meera Dugal

Tattooed Mom will be serving tasty eats and ice cold drinks all evening.
Upstairs dining, bar access, and event entry is 21+ w/ valid ID.