10/28 On Language & Immigration Law: An Evening of Poetry, Song, and Conversation

About this event

Join local poet Michelle Phương Hồ and immigration lawyer-singer-songwriter Tina Colón Williams on National Immigrants Day to celebrate the power of poetry and song to dignify the lives of immigrants and refugees and to create new ways for doing language in the face of empire. Michelle will read a selection from her debut collection, Bone Symphony, accompanied by musical interludes by Tina. Michelle & Tina will discuss the limits of language in the context of immigration law; the politics and poetics of limbo for families separated by war, detention, and deportation; and the importance of poetry and song in expressing the realities immigrants and refugees face and in resisting the empire’s control over how they are seen and heard in the United States. More about Michelle: Michelle Phương Hồ is the author of Bone Symphony (Boa Editions, 2026), chosen by Aracelis Girmay as a Blessing the Boats Selection. Her work appears in Nat Brut, Ninth Letter, The Offing, Poetry, and elsewhere. Her honors include a Friends of Literature Award from Poetry magazine, a Connecticut Artistic Excellence Award, and a BRINK Literary Journal Award for Hybrid Writing. She received her MFA in poetry from NYU. Born to Vietnamese refugees in San Jose, CA, she lives in New Haven, CT, where she teaches poetry in university classrooms, community book spaces, and living rooms. More about Tina: Tina Colón Williams is an immigration attorney, worship pastor and vocalist based in New Haven, Connecticut. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Tina moved to New Haven in 2005 to attend Yale University. She graduated from the University of Connecticut school of law in 2014, and she currently leads an immigration litigation practice at Esperanza Attorneys at Law, a small low-bono law firm based in New Haven that represents immigrants from countries around the world in humanitarian immigration applications, removal proceedings and immigration appeals. She and her husband Josh lead the Elm City Vineyard church in New Haven, where Tina serves as the Worship Pastor.

Who

• Michelle Phương HồAuthor

The book

• Bone SymphonyMichelle Phương Hồ

Venue

Possible Futures

318 Edgewood Ave, New Haven, CT 06511

Venue website

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