COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS
Out of concern for everyone’s well-being in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, attendees are invited to wear masks during the event. We strongly recommend advance registration to our events so we can best prepare to host and accommodate everyone’s space needs [it is also a great way to support our progromming efforts].
Note: there are opportunities to receive a low-cost COVID-19 test, vaccine, or booster in most neighborhoods, at walk-in clinics or by appointment. COVID-19 vaccines are often free with health insurance and low-cost without insurance at Philly health centers. Visit phila.gov for latest info and please support the work of the Black Doctors’ COVID Consortium.
FREE AND BY DONATION
All of our events are accessible both free and by donation. Both options are available on our registration pages. This is the one and only way we ask our community for financial support for our ongoing programming, so please consider donating if you can.
ACCESSIBILITY
We are an ADA-accessible space on the ground floor. Our event setup is flexible and can accommodate the needs of everyone. Our bathroom is also ADA accessible with transfer rails (note: the door is not automatic). Note we are not a scent-free space. Pleases contact us with any questions or need specific accommodations.
IN-PERSON EVENTS
Please note, advance registration via our withfriends page is requested for all events, so we can plan for attendance and gather safely.
Event registrations will be honored until 15 mins after start time of the event; afterwards, availability will be on a first-come basis.
LIVESTREAMING
Occasionally, our events are livestreamed only. Those recordings of our events are hosted by Common Notions Press on their YouTube channel. Feel free to subscribe to that channel and spread the word!
Interested in working with us on an event at Making Worlds? Fill out this form and email the information along with a short introduction to info[at]makingworldsbooks.org. Note: we need full info sent via email in order to best consider your proposal.
Bi-Monthly writing group on Wednesdays from 4:30-6:30 PM.
Open ended prompts. Bring something you’re working on. Rad writers of all types and skill levels. Masks required and provided. Presented by Renya.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Award-winning translator Jeremy Tiang discusses his debut novel State of Emergency, winner of the Singapore Literature Prize. Sunisa Manning, author of A Good True Thai, will join him in discussion.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join poet Bitania Yemane for a reading and signing of Words of Yesterday—a poetry collection that, while themeless in structure, is deeply inspired by Langston Hughes’ concept of dreams and the scattered thoughts of resistance, love, social justice, and identity. The evening includes an interactive workshop exploring how writers like Hughes, Audre Lorde, and other Black and marginalized voices have used language to reflect and reshape the times we live in.
Join us at Making Worlds Cooperative Bookstore & Social Center for the Compa Philly Language Cooperative Launch!
Please RSVP here.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Good Trouble: The story behind the connection between the US Civil Rights Movement and the Catholic Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland
Register for this event here.
We are once again screening How To Start A Revolution with funds going to ActionAid USA!
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
In Breaking Awake, Moskowitz takes us on a kaleidoscopic voyage through our country’s collective mental health collapse, and the drugs we take—from fentanyl on the streets of Philadelphia to SSRIs in the suburbs, to ketamine and LSD in the clubs on New York and beyond—to cope with the gnawing bleakness of our present moment. Moskowitz questions whether drugs can spark liberation or simply quell the pain of modern life. Is it time to view drugs differently?
Registration is required to attend. Register in advance here.
Sheena King's Submerged: On Healing from Abuse While Navigating a Lifetime of Imprisonment is a raw, harrowing memoir anchored in revolutionary and transformative love. The event will feature recordings from Sheena, who is currently serving a life sentence at SCI Muncy in Muncy, PA, plus stickers signed by Sheena, and discussion from her friends, family, and supporters.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Come play a beta version of RIGHT TO THE CITY, a cooperative card game, designed to get people thinking and talking about the relationship between land use — who has decision-making power over it — and the many challenges we face, from environmental injustice to gentrification and displacement.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Building on her groundbreaking research that exposed how schools systemically fail Black girls, Dr. Monique Couvson expands her lens in Girls, Unlimited, exploring the many ways our society overlooks the unique experiences and needs of all girls.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join us with local Philadelphia author and Ignatz and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Ben Passmore for the launch of his upcoming graphic novel BLACK ARMS TO HOLD YOU UP: A History of Black Resistance.
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED!
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join us Thursday, September 25th at 6:00 PM for a ghazal writing workshop with poet and educator, Sanam Sheriff. This workshop is open to South Asians and SWANA folks, and people of these diasporas. People with all experience levels are welcome! Bring a notebook or paper and something to write with. Workshop instruction will be in English and the workshop will be framed with an Urdu lens, honoring the cultural roots of the ghazal.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
A healing-centered community event dedicated to bringing out your inner creative, while also connecting with like-minded individuals. Materials for this workshop will be provided to you at a low-cost, sliding scale from $5 up to $25. We'll also provide some light refreshments to nourish and keep the creative juices flowin'! Whether you are a fellow crafter yourself or completely new to jewelry making, all creative mediums are welcomed to this space.
Bi-Monthly writing group on Wednesdays from 4:30-6:30 PM.
Open ended prompts. Bring something you’re working on. Rad writers of all types and skill levels. Masks required and provided. Presented by Renya.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join us for a discussion and Q&A with author Alec Karakatsanis and the Abolitionist Law Center’s Saleem Holbrook on his recent book, Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News.
General meeting of the Philadelphia Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Come meet folks and find out what work the group has been up to!
Please register for this event here!
Do you want to learn more about contemporary China but don’t know where to start or which resources to trust? Join us for an open-ended discussion on contemporary China, China-US relations, and international economies. Labor activist Kevin Lin and historian Andy B. Liu will answer questions about contemporary China from a socialist perspective.
The Weather Report: Andrew Ross in conversation with Jordan Duran
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
The grisly future of climate change is arriving sooner than forecasted, and the parties responsible for our overindustrialization have no intention of walking away from their profits. Now more than ever, we need hope.
Registration is required to attend. Pre-register here.
Join us Saturday, September 6th at 4:00 PM for a film screening and panel discussion featuring the short documentary film Expanding Sanctuary with filmmaker Kristal Sotomayer in attendance!
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join us Friday, September 5th at 5:00 PM for a discussion with author and journalist Miranda Spivack on the shady deals that governments and industries strike and the local activists who have fought to keep their communities safe.
Register for this event here!
Join Penn Disorientation Guide for an introduction to student organizing at Penn! We will cover a brief history of activism at Penn, an overview of the current organizing landscape, and some general tips and good practices for new organizers. The presentation will be followed by an informal Q&A with several student organizers. This event is generally targeted towards Penn students who want to know more about activism on campus, but anyone is welcome to attend!
Bi-Weekly Wednesdays starting 8/20/2025
Open ended prompts. Bring something you’re working on. Rad writers of all types and skill levels. Masks required and provided. Presented by Renya!
Registration is required to attend. Register in advance here.
The tragedy of Karbala has been told through countless mediums for centuries -- from oral traditions and written accounts to lamentations and posters to Instagram posts and research papers -- each one creating the same story anew, offering a glimpse into something previously unfelt. In this long chain of retellings, the tradition of Qawwali has also made Karbala its own by framing Imam Hussain’s martyrdom as a triumph.
Join us on Saturday, August 30th at 2pm at Making Worlds Books in Philadelphia, PA for "Reliving Karbala in Qawwali." We will gather for a guided listening session of Qawwalis that weave together a narrative of the tragedy of Karbala.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine chapters from colleges and universities in the Philadelphia region for socializing, strategizing, and solidarity building. Thursday, August 21st from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at Making Worlds.
Bi-Weekly Wednesdays starting 8/20/2025
Open ended prompts. Bring something you’re working on. Rad writers of all types and skill levels. Masks required and provided. Presented by Renya!
Registration is required to attend. Register in advance here.
Black August is an annual commemoration and prison-based holiday to remember Black political prisoners, Black freedom struggles in the United States and beyond, and to highlight Black resistance against racial, colonial and imperialist oppression. It takes place during the entire calendar month of August. Political prisoners like Mumia Abu-Jamal will be honored. Join us on Saturday, August 16th at 2:00 PM to learn about the history of Black August. Spend time writing letters to current political prisoners.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join us for a community discussion facilitated by Alex Wilson exploring the realities of city life, from labor strikes to the collective struggle for urban survival. Through music and dialogue, we will connect connect Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s The Message and other songs to the lived experiences of Philadelphians on the front lines of struggle. Join as we unpack the pressures of the present and step into the future.
Register before the event here.
Join us for a reading from poets Mauricio Novoa and M L Mutrux and a poetry open mic at Making Worlds Bookstore & Social Center.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join author Kylie Cheung in conversation with Lex McMenamin for the book launch of Coercion: Surviving and Resisting Abortion Bans.
Registration is required to attend this event. Register before the event here.
From short-term power outages to longer periods sheltering in place or boil water orders, its always important to make sure you and your family are prepared for any scenario.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
The liberal myth is that politics is when we change people's minds with words. But as this book demonstrates, people's minds are rarely changed by arguments alone (and "discourse" often serves as a legitimizing myth for those in power). Instead, we can change people's hearts and minds only when we change their lives--through building relationships and helping them take action. Let's stop talking about politics and create a new world instead.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient study of life that takes a holistic approach to healing. Join UC Green in learning how to create a routine for yourself that assists with reducing chronic pain.
Join Philly Socialists for a special June film club! We will be screening 40 Years a Prisoner (2020), a documentary that chronicles the 1978 Philadelphia police raid on the Black liberation group MOVE and the subsequent fight of Mike Africa Jr. to exonerate his parents. Following the film, Mike Africa Jr. will join us for a Q&A.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join us on Saturday, July 19th at 5:00 PM for the book launch of Out Doing Science: LGBTQ STEM Professionals and Inclusion in Neoliberal Times with coauthors Tom Waidzunes and Ethan Czuy Levine in conversation.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Register for this event here!
Join us for the final meeting of the Learning While Black and Queer study group. Author Dr. Ed Brockenbrough will be in attendance to lead the discussion and answer your questions.
Registration is required to attend. Register before the event here.
Join South Philly Autonomous Cinema and Philly Socialists as we continue our series of Palestinian films, fundraising, and solidarity at Making Worlds Bookstore! We will be screening Elia Suleiman's The Time That Remains.
Join climate activists Mikaela Loach and Wawa Gatheru for a conversation about the need for radical climate action that fearlessly addresses the issues at the root of the climate crisis and to celebrate the launch of Mikaela Loach's book It's Not That Radical.
Registration is required for this event. Register in advance here!
Please arrive 15 minutes early to register for the event and browse books. Buying a book before or after the event is a great way to support the Making Worlds project.
