A Ukrainian poet and author is scheduled to deliver a poetry reading at a downtown Salina bookstore.

Luisa Muradyan, originally from Odesa, Ukraine will perform a poetry reading as part of  the 41st annual Salina Spring Poetry Series on Tuesday, April 22nd, at Red Fern Booksellers (106 S. Santa Fe) at 7:00 pm. According to the City of Salina’s Arts & Humanities department, Muradyan is the author of the renowned poems, “I Make Jokes When I’m Devastated” (Bridwell Press, 2025), “When the World Stopped Touching” (YesYes Books, 2027) and “American Radiance” (University of Nebraska Press, 2018).

Muradyan has earned a Ph.D in Poetry from the University of Houston and won the 2017 “Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner” Book Prize.

“Her poems defy so much of what I thought poems could do. Celebrities show up, pop culture is everywhere and she can make you laugh and cry in the span of a page,” said the event’s curator, Traci Brimhall.

Muradyan currently resides in Mission Hills, Kansas and is a high school teacher.

Admission will be $5 at the door and is free for students with a valid ID.