It is known...a woman denied her voice is like a candle without a flame...
STACY DYSON
is a Black woman poet who explores/illuminates the life and times of the Black woman. She is the founder /lead poet of TESORO.
With shows in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, California, Nebraska, South Dakota, Louisiana, Colorado, and Texas, she has released six chapbooks and five CDs Her play FANNIE’S GIRLS: A 4-1-1 IN 5-PART ATTITUDE is a 2000 Colorado Women’s Playwriting Festival winner.
Former Poet Laureate for Imagination Celebration (Colorado Springs), CEO/lead poet of DragonsWing (Colorado Springs), and Page to Stage:Women's Voices (San Diego),
she is touring with her latest collections, LOVELY AND SUFFERING and FOLLOW ME ON THIS, and building TESORO one firesinger at a time.
IG:@saintraines
JANE SPOKENWORD the Poet
"Nothing can prepare you for the poetry within that stings the senses like the hot breath of the poet. A fine conjurer of sinewy imagery, sculpted from the angst and ennui of the architecture of capitalism, her metaphors are dripping with irony" World Music Report
A spoken word artist, performer, writer, activist, workshop facilitator, host, curator, and Poet of the Street Jane SpokenWord’s performances represent the spoken word as it is meant to be experienced, raw, uncensored and thought provoking. Believing that Words have Power, she yields her pen like a warriors sword to inspire change. Her work speaks to humanity, spirituality, soulfulness, ancestors, the yin of crying out against injustice and cruelty, and the yang of assimilating stardust, moonbeams, nature's beauty and the wisdom of the elders. Aiming to preserve the cultural heritage of wording to document life, and to foster a broader collective community she gumbo's the elements of spoken word, music, sound and song. "Like those of the Jazz poets, the Beats, The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron and others Jane is usually accompanied by Albey onBass' moaning, groaning, rumbling contrabass - adding double the gut-punch to her words." Raoul Jazz daGama
From solos, to slams, duo's, trios, and bands, she brings her poetry and spoken word to a diverse set of venues including museums, festivals, libraries, slam lounges, art galleries, clubs, busking street corners and living rooms everywhere.
Notable performances and collaborations include; The Whitney Museum with Avant-Garde Maestro Cecil Taylor which garnered All About Jazz's Best of 2016, Butoh dancer Min Tanaka, founder of the Nuyorican Poet's Café Miguel Algarin, Amiri Barakaa, Beat Poet John Sinclair, her son HipHop musician/producer DJ Nastee, and her partner in all things Albey onBass.
Her publications include various magazines, websites, 16 anthologies: Nationa Beat Poetry Foundation's Beat Generations 2023-2022-2021-2020-2019, Poets Underground Press, American Graveyard (Poety & Art) - Read or Green Books, Pandemic of Violence Anthology - North of Oxford Pub., Protest 2021 - Moonstone Anthology, The NYC Underground Poets & Artists Anthology - OhWow Press, Shadow of The Geode - Bonsia Press, Stars in the Fire & Palabras Luminosas - Rogue Scholars Express, Boston Globe, Off Beat NOLA Magazine, 100K Poets for Change and several books of poetry w/art and music by co-author and partner-in-crime Albey 'onBass.
Notable features include; the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Bowery Poetry Club, Lizard Lounge, The Cantab, Arts for Art Poetry in the Park, Tribes, Maple leaf NOLA, Vision Fest, NYC Poetry Festival, NYC New Years Alternative Poetry Marathons, Dumbo Art Fest, MA Poetry Fest, New Orleans Festivals: Music & Words Fest, Poetry Fest, Essence Fest and Fringe Fest.
She facilitates a series of "Poetry & Spoken Word" workshops, live and virtual, for adults and children, as well as hosting her monthly spoken word series Word Jam'in.
During the pandemic she was Editor of Podcast & Interviews - which can be viewed at Word City Monthly & Time of the Poet Republic https://wordcitylit.ca/?s=jane+spokenword
Her artwork has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Boston Magazine, the Cambridge Tab, and she was awarded 1st Place by TheBeZine.com for her collage piece featured on their website homepage page.
Visit her website for free videos, recitations, and collaborations, her work is available on various music platforms and her book/cd's can also be purchased from her website:
https://janespokenword.com
Find he on Instagram @janespokenword
MARISSA PRADA
is a poet, author and spoken word artist, and publisher from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is polyamorous & a mother of two daughters. She loves books, authors, and advocates for poetry and the literary arts.
She began journaling in high school to cope with teenage stress and trauma. Poetry is the heart of her passion for the past 20 plus years and has seen her through surviving death twice in her life.
Marissa is the founder of Read or Green Books, a female-forward press that publishes many debut poetry collections. She authors "Poetography505" on Facebook and is the Creative Director for "The Word is Write" on Facebook & Instagram.
Marissa currently sits on the Board of Directors for The New Mexico State Poetry Society.
She has been included in We Don’t Break We Burn, poems of resilience, by MindWell Poetry Press, Milk and Honey, assembled by Samantha Swain, Touching Tongues, a Women’s Erotic Anthology, as well as multiple international poetry anthologies, magazines and journals. Her current collection of poetry, Conversations with Grief, is available for purchase through Read or Green Books. Her next collection, Barfing Up the Butterflies, will debut summer 2022.
https://www.facebook.com/marissaprada505
https://www.instagram.com/pradapaintingandpoetry
https://www.facebook.com/Poetography505
https://www.facebook.com/TheWordisWrite
https://www.fb.com/thewordiswrite/events
IG: @TheWordisWrite
https://www.facebook.com/ReadorGreenBooks.com
New Mexico State Poetry Society.
My books "Conversations with Grief" and
Also…“Touching Tongues” a Women’s Erotic Anthology
are available at https://www.readorgreenbooks.com
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THE POET ROSEGOLD
hails from “the real Gotham City” – a Bronx, New York native who discovered Poetry at 15 and began using it as a more creative way of communicating with the world. Coupled with her 20-year career as an Army photojournalist, Poet RoseGold knew how to capture the human condition in real time through her lens and record its consciousness with her pen.
She jokingly refers to her work as “Incendiary Redbone Poetry,” highlighting the injustices tarnishing the American landscape; spirituality; intimacy; self-love/Black love; mental health; and (past) life in the military. Poet RoseGold’s voice has crossed time zones virtually and in-person, through podcasts and numerous community engagements, including an appearance on the “red-dot stage” at TEDx Colorado Springs, in 2019. Poet RoseGold is also a member of TESORO – a newly-formed organization whose purpose is to hold safe space internationally for women “word-warriors” to “do their work.”
Poet RoseGold’s own work has been featured in several anthologies: Between a Laugh and a Tear (1991); Love Letters to Gaia (2021); The Cuddy Family Foundation For Veterans Poetry Journal Volume One and The Cuddy Family Foundation For Veterans Poetry Journal Volume Two (2021); and Rising Voices: Poems Toward A Social Justice Revolution (2022). Her debut Poetry book, Poetry Is A Love Language (But First, Lemme Tell You Something … ) is slated for a late 2022 release.
FB: The Poet RoseGold
IG: @thepoetrosegold
DIOSA X
is a bilingual poet and educator with a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in Cross-Cultural Education. She has been published in both English and Spanish in Hispanic L.A.’s online magazine and L.A. Poet Society's Love Letters to 2020 and upcoming anthology, Refleshing, as well as Creative Juices: Pisces Publishing’s upcoming anthology, Once Upon a Poem. She has been a featured poet for the Panamanian International/ELA Film Festival; L.A. Poet Society; Pomona Art Walk; Sims Library; Mil Mujeres' La Otra Fil; Muzeo's Poetic Voices, Boca de Oro, La Feria de las Flores, Latinas in Hollywood’s Herstories; Alas de Mariposa; and Centro Cultural de Mexico’s Día de la Mujer. She published her first multilingual poetry collection in 2021, a book titled, A Church of My Own.
Website: www.diosax.net
IG: @diosa_xochiquetzalcoatl
Email: temachtianicitlali@gmail.com
Book link: http://thebp.site/316134
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/DiosaX
RED MEDUSA
is an established spoken word artist and scholar who combines her learnings from her experiences as a Black, neurodiverse, educated, working-class woman and mother with her academic knowledge of health and social inequalities to deliver moving, visceral and disruptive poetry. Grounded in Black feminist theory, her exciting works have led to headlines at the famous Southbank Centre in London, the infamous She Grrrowls Festival, The Million Woman Rise March and published in Vogue and Forbes Magazines.
Kimberly M Anderson
also known as KMA is a “coloured” or mixed race poet from South Africa.
Coming from the small town of eShowe in KwaZulu-Natal, she found her voice through poetry and
started the Turning Pain into Power movement or journey as she calls it. Her poems speak of what it is
like being a coloured /mixed race woman in South Africa as well as other topics that take you on a
journey of consciousness and thought. She is also co-founder of #Iampoetry_Africa , a foundation that
guides poets on how to master their craft and to find healing through poetry. Her love for history has
also played a big role in influencing her writing and telling the stories of the ones before us.
"My name might be forgotten but may my teachings continue to live on so history is never repeated"
Facebook;
Kimberly Anderson
Turning Pain into Power
Instagram;
Kimberly_kma
Turningpain_intpower
Youtube;
K.m.a Kimberly Anderson Brown
Phynne~Belle
is a poet, writer, and podcaster from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also the host of the weekly PGN YouTube program, “The Poet’s Lighthouse.” To know more about what Phynne has been up to, check out https://linktr.ee/PhynneBelle
Martina McGowan is a physician, poet, writer, artist, advocate, activist in the wars against social, racial, and sexual injustices.
Her debut poetry collection, “i am the rage,” was the 2021 International Book Award winner in the Social Change category, and Goodreads Choice Award Nominee.
Her work has been published internationally in literary magazines and anthologies. She is also a poetry editor and book reviewer.
My blog- https://MartinaMcGowan.com
Twitter, Instagram- martinamcgowan
FB, LinkedIn - MartinaMcGowanM
Phylisha Villanueva (Phylli V) is a spoken word artist from Yonkers, NY. She is first-generation Belizean-American multifaceted artist. Phylli V has been performing and teaching "Spoken word" for over ten years. Publications include Situationship n Tings and Pretty Girl Special and the following ekphrastic publications; Out of Africa, Fiber Plus, On your mark, and A Sarah Lawrence teen anthology. Featured performances include; John Jay University, NYU, SUNY Purchase, ArtsWestchester, Lehman College, BMCC, Potters house in Washington, DC, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Blue Door Art Center, to name a few. She is Westchester County Poet Laureate, a teaching artist with Arts Westchester and is the first-ever Poet-in-Residence with Yonkers Arts.
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Leonora Simonovis is a Venezuelan born poet, educator, and scholar who lives in San Diego, CA, on the unceded territory of the Kumeyaay Nation. Her poetry manuscript Study of the Raft was selected by final judge Sherwin Bitsui as the winner of the 2021 Colorado Prize for Poetry and was published by The Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State University. She teachers Latin American literature and creative writing in Spanish at the University of San Diego.
IG @leosimonovis
Website: www.leosimonovis.com
Where to buy book: https://bookshop.org/books/study-of-the-raft/9781885635792
Diane Murray Ward is a proud New Yorker of West Indian descent. Her creative endeavors began with modern dance choreography, blog talk radio hosting and continued by writing reviews/prose / poetic works, appearing in journals/anthogies and open mic performances with international peers.
Her published works and book reviews appear within a variety of publications including NHK Haiku Masters Gallery, “Love Letters to Gaia” and the “Bronx Council of the Arts Bronx Memoir Project Volumes IV and V.”
Always an active member of the National Writers Union, She presently serves on their International and Immigration Committee.
She appears in several venues which include the Nuyorican Poets Café, Art In the Basin, Creative Expressions, Unmesh (Mohitkar) Life, Phynnecabulary (Tricia De Jesus-Gutierrez), Between the Lines and They Call Me Mitch.
Diane also appears periodically in open mics hosted by the International Women's Writers Guild (IWWG).
She advocates for the National Writers Union's " Freelancing Isn't Free" legislation implementation..
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MELINDA JIJI ARCADIA is a Queer Massachusetts writer, I use poetry to share my experiences with grief, love, and life since the passing of my father.
Social media:
Ig: iron_resilience
Website: Arcadian-poetry.com
Cashapp: JiJiArcadia
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ELLEN WEBRE is a poet, artist, and educator, currently acting as a social media specialist for Moon Tide Press, a co-host of Two Idiots Peddling Poetry, and an editor of Freezeray Magazine. Her debut book, A Burning Lake of Paper Suns, was released in October 2021 with Moon Tide Press.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/ellenwebrepoetry/
Instagram: @lnwebre
Two Idiots Peddling Poetry: http://www.poetryidiots.com
Moon Tide Press: https://www.moontidepress.com
Freezeray Magazine: http://www.freezeraypoetry.com
TERESA E. GALLION is a seeker on a journey to work on unfolding spiritually in this present lifetime. Writing is a spiritual exercise for Teresa. Her passions are traveling the world and hiking the mountain and desert landscapes of the western United States. Her journeys into nature are nurtured by the Sufi poets Rumi and Hafiz. The land is sacred ground and her spiritual temple where she goes for quiet reflection and contemplation. She has published four books: Walking Sacred Ground, Contemplation in the High Desert, Chasing Light, a finalist in the 2013 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards and her most recent book, Scent of Love, a finalist in the 2021 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards. She has two CDs, On the Wings of the Wind and Poems from Chasing Light. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Website: http://teresagallion.yolasite.com/ Publisher: http://www.innerchildpress.com/teresa-e-gallion.php Quintessential Listening: http://tobtr.com/12119212 WNP Featured Reading: https://www.facebook.com/skailight8/videos/287996153138347 Review by Dr. Mary Dezember: https://www.marydezember.com/blog/2020/5/13/bliss-with-the-beloved-rumi-hafiz-and-teresa-e-gallion
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NAMU is just one human trying to find peace. She uses her poetry and other creative outlets in the hopes to help herself and other to find their own level of peace, what ever that might look like.
Namu has featured her poetry in her local communities in Perth, Western Australia, as well as nationally in Australia and internationally in zoom rooms around the world. She hopes to one day have the opportunity to present her poetry in person around the world.
Namu would also like to share a few fun facts about her:
1. Namu has 34 letters in her full name... 9 of which make up her first name and the remaining 25 make up her 4 other names... This is often why she prefers to go by Namu, so she doesn’t unnecessarily punish any new people she meets
2. Namu loves everything creative... dance was her first love but poetry, drawing, making things, singing or mostly anything that breathes creativity, has always been the part of life that has brought her the most joy.
3. Namu hails and adores her one and only god... Mickey Mouse
4. Namu is half human half horse… or as it’s most commonly known, a Sagittarius
5. Namu shares her house with one human, 2 dogs, 2 snakes, 1 lizard and a stuffed monkey named Monkey who she has loved since she was a baby.
6. Finally, Namu is often very quiet and likes to stay hidden when you first meet her, but will often become a bit of an oddball once you get to know her and will always try to make you feel welcomed.
You can find Namu on Instagram @igobyna
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SHOCKIE G is a Black, Lesbian, Spoken word Poet. Currently the regional Slam Champion in Pittsburgh PA, she has won multiple Slam competitions both online and in person. You can find samples of her work within Read or Green’s “Out Loud” LGBTQ Anthology and a previous self-published chapbook “Shattered Emotions Scattered Thoughts” . as well as her first book IN LIEU OF FLOWERS. You can catch her in and out of Open Mics, Workshops and other spaces that allow for connection with our communities.
Shockie G
IG: @shockieg_the_poet
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NAZELAH JAMISON is a gifted poet, emcee, and vocalist who has learned from and graced the stage with some of the finest people in entertainment today. She has competed on and/or coached 12 National Slam teams; and has performed poetry & music across 3 continents. Until 2014, she hosted and co-produced The Oakland Poetry Slam & Open Mic, an on-going monthly poetry slam in Oakland, CA, as well as performing at venues around the SF Bay Area and the country. She has collaborated on music recording projects with the Rondo Brothers, and is embarking upon a career as a stand-up comedienne. Her first collection of poetry, evolutionary heart, was released by Nomadic Press in Fall 2016. Nazelah is well-known and beloved for her work with Spearhead and the French music group, Les Nubians, and her love of hip-hop translates onto the stage.
IG:supernaz_your_superfriend
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SYLVIA CAMERON TELEFARO, is an award winning fiction writer, poet, story teller & activist. She is the current President of The African American Writers and Artists, Inc. of San Diego and Membership Coordinator for The Friends of the Malcolm X Library.
Sylvia has completed three books of poetry; "Innovations, Illusions, Devices & Desires"; poetic expressions on family relationships, love, Inspirational, social injustice and a book of political poetry entitled, “A Diary of Pre-emptive Action and Occupation”; Home is where my poetry begins while all Eyes are on the Middle East. Sylvia has had poetry and short stories published in several magazines and anthologies, including SDSU School of Social Work Textbook: “Cultural Pluralism. She also was published in the Social Work Journal HBSE Special Edition for her award-winning piece on the Killing of Michael J. Brown.
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NICOLE HERNANDEZ MAGUIRE is a Puerto Rican-Ukrainian poet from Queens, NY. A child of an illiterate father, she was determined from childhood to pursue writing and education, and earned Master’s degrees from New York University and the CUNY Graduate Center in English and Business, respectively. She currently teaches on the university level.
Nicole has been recognized and awarded for her volunteer work in her Queens community by various not-for-profit schools and a state senator. She performs regularly at open mics and is currently working on publishing her latest works. She is a proud mom of two.
ONYX H2O is a Texas-based writer, poet, spoken word artist and entrepreneur from California with a background in business, education and community relations. She has been honing her skills at storytelling through poetry since age eleven, has been a host of southern California open mics, currently co-hosts Prayer n' Poetry Open Mic on Instagram and is a traveling poet, writing herself free of past bondages in her first book of poetry.
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SHANE MANIER is a Creative Coach, Visual Artist, Tedx Key Note Speaker, Trauma Informed Care Instructor, Poetry Mentor and National Spoken Word Poet based in the Charlotte Metro Region of NC. She is the founder of Guerilla Poets, a nonprofit art collective with branches in the US and UK. She is currently the Spoken Word and Arts Teaching Instructor for The Harvey B. Gantt Center, Henderson High School and Playing for Others as well as Center for Faith in the Arts current Artist in Residence. In 2011 she was the youngest poet to ever be inducted in the Poetry Council of North Carolina and served on board of CCAG Arts Collective of Cornelius North Carolina in 2017. She has been recognized as a National Poet performing with Respect Da Mic Slam Team from 2017-2020. In 2015 she released her first poetry album, “Bootstraps” and her first chapbook, “Fallen Heroes of the Awful Waffle” was published through Main Street Rag in 2017. She released her second album, “Carrier Pigeons” and poetry book “Divine Disturbances” in 2019 and 2020. Her full length poetry book “Road Hunger” was recently published June 2021.
Social Media Handles:
Website: www.shanemanier.com
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/shanemanierart
| https://www.instagram.com/shanemanier
Nonprofit: www.guerillapoets.com
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ZEDEKA POINDEXTER is a Nebraska-born and raised writer and performer. In her work, she builds a historical record through poems and essays that draw on all five physical senses to connect with readers and listeners. By sharing stories of people in her community, Zedeka creates a relationship with audiences and guides them through the world as she sees and experiences it.
Zedeka is a 2022/23 Amplify Arts Public Impact Grant winner and a two-time fellow at Nebraska's Union for Contemporary Art. She has featured in performances at the John Beasley Theater, the Great Plains Theater Conference, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and Metropolitan Community College. In February 2022, Zedeka was named the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards performance poet of the year.
Her written work can be found in print and online anthologies, including The Metropolitan, Slamma Lamma Ding Dong: An Anthology of Nebraska Slam Poetry, and Alight: Best Loved Poems from the 2013 Women of the World Poetry Slam.
MAUREEN P. MEDINA
is the author of My Fears Out Loud and a Pushcart Prize Nominee. She hosts writing workshops with the goal of healing, strengthening the mind-body connection, and normalizing fear. Maureen advocates for all animals, including humans; asserts that all oppression is connected; and - in alignment with the idea that none of us are free unless all of us are free (Fannie Lou Hamer) - hopes to inspire the pursuit of collective liberation with her writing.
Maureen's work has been published on AlterNet, Grassroots Theatre Company’s Winter Zine, Harness Magazine, Heartland Society of Women Writers' I Dissent Magazine, The Independent Media Institute, LA Progressive, Nation of Change, Poets Against Racism & Hatred (PARH), Tesoro's Anniversary Collection, Waxy and Poetic, and The Well World's Mindful Poetry Moments.
Her forthcoming podcast, My Fears Out Loud, will be released in June 2024. To buy My Fears Out Loud, connect with Maureen, or attend her workshops and events, visit: http://linktr.ee/MaureenPMedina.
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Best-selling author, international speaker & educator, SIERRA MELCHER is founder of Red Thread Publishing LLC. She leads an all-female publishing company, with a mission to support 10,000 women to become successful published authors & thought-leaders. Offering world-class coaching & courses that focus on community, collaboration, and a uniquely feminine approach at every stage of the author process.
Sierra has a Master’s degree in education, has spoken & taught around the world. Originally from the United States, Sierra lives in Medellin, Colombia with her young daughter.
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VIVIANNI GLASS hatched from a hummingbird egg. Since then, her explorations have cut a wide path to include wildland firefighter, live model, art council board member, and farmer. As a compulsive creator, her work explores stories and spaces of ease for communities historically undervalued. She uses her poetry, short-stories, and visual art to consider the strange marriage holding grief and humor together. She is driven by the desire to amplify the wonder of her family and friends as accurately as possible.
She lives with a chorus of lenient houseplants in St. Louis, MO. Her written work was recently selected in the LeVar Burton Reads ‘Origins & Encounters’ competition and can be found on Tor.com.
LINDA THAI is a trauma therapist, storyteller and former child refugee.
Born in Vietnam, raised in Australia, and now living in Fairbanks, Alaska, she shares stories from her life that speak into the universal themes of love and loss that are interwoven with the complex impacts of traumatic displacement, race, ethnicity and culture.
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CHRIS DICKINSON, retired teacher, mentor of adolescents and novice grandmother, lives with
her husband in Lincolnshire UK. Reading is her favourite activity for relaxation, escapism
and to learn more about how others live their lives. Writing is a recurring itch which has to
be scratched. For decades she wrote secretively but nowadays she thinks, ‘if not now, when?" and started reading her words at Spalding Red Wine Writers Group and the local folk club.
fThe wonderful poets she has met on line especially Cathy Carson and Gary Huskisson- have been a revelation and a constant source of encouragement.
She is active on the open mic evoking the day-to-day details that throw light on our human experience. Passionate about justice and equality, she begins most
days with a rant whilst reading the morning paper; after this she is calm enough to face the day.
Chris Dickinson’s poetry was first published in Spokes in 1993 , most recently in The North
and she has contributed with over 70 other poets over 70 years old to Fin Hall’s anthology ‘I Ache in Places I used to Play’. She says:
‘In a life which can seem harsh and unfair, looking into the mirrors we hold up to scrutinise our
experiences of family and friends, the sorrow, love and all the emotions between, is a comfort and
a blessing. The community of open mic poets has inspired me to share many memories which I
hope will resonate with the thoughts of others . May we never tire in our pursuit of the right words
and in sharing the discoveries which promote empathy, deepen our understanding and give us joy
in one another’.
Track Chris down on Facebook.
RAY JANE is a Black female poet born in Brooklyn and raised in Far Rockaway Queens. She uses her poetry to lift herself and other women of color. Always aiming to strengthen her voice, RayJane won the Verb Benders slam poetry team’s inaugural poetry slam and was published in Lalibreta.online an online poetry journal for Women in Creative Rebellion (2021, 2022). She has participated in poetic writing workshops focused on empowering women and served as contributing editor for the anthology Love Letters to Gaia (2021). She has also moderated her own workshops with ¡Oyé Group! Poet’s Corner (2021 and 2022), Art Defined Inc (2022, 2023), and runs her own open mics as the host of The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Thursday Night Online Open mic (2022) and for The Word Is Write. You can hear more of how she uses her voice in over 50 recorded poems on SoundCloud
ASHLEY MOYO is an award winning poet, performer andTEDx speaker from South Africa. Her body of work acts as aid to begin conversations of healing and reflection with oneself. In 2020 she was apart of the (FWWMUN) Future We Want Model United Nation in New York City, where poetry was proposed as a medium to policy making for artists’ mental health. She is the Narowbi Slam champion 2022, TEWOP Slam champion 2022 and Night Embassy Slam champion 2022 sponsored by Jägermeister. Her body of work has been heard at book and art festivals. Most of her publications can be found on ODD MAG.
RITA ZAHIR goes by ‘The Rah Poet’ meaning the ‘Pathway of the Poet’ in Farsi and meaning Raw AF poet in English. After being in love with poetry for decades, she starting writing and performing spoken word poetry in 2021 and is publishing her first book in the Summer of 2023. She creates pieces that range from female empowerment, love, heartbreak, to sensuality and seeking joy. She also works in Marketing and has an MBA from the USC Marshal School of Business.
BEEYONKA is an artist who resides in the Bay Area. As an Antioch native with a mixed ethnic background, she uses various forms of art — through music, writing, poetry, and spoken word as a platform to mention topics she feels should be a part of everyday conversation.
Born in California as a 1st generation Fil-Am with English being a second language, finding her voice wasn’t always easy. As a Filipino-Spanish woman, BeeYonka easily learned one lesson from adversity: Even though you know your roots, sometimes the same water your culture feeds you is the same water that drowns you. Through her different platforms of writing, she specializes in a variety of odes to her trauma and culture for creating the healing bittersweet poet she is today. With a background in education and a degree from SFSU, her personal philosophy is: “It’s all relative and you are validated.”
BeeYonka has always been an educator at heart. She hosted her first workshop with Moroccan Poets where she realized how well rounded of a poet she could be. BeeYonka has performed in many venues including, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, local open mics around the East Bay, was a featured poet in A Time to Arrive, and even showcased in an AAPI Celebration with many poets and storytellers.
To follow and learn more about BeeYonka, visit her Instagram page @Bee.yonkaaa where she provides live updates on her writing projects. She currently has a Patreon in the works releasing on June 17th 2023. You can also donate to her artist fund via Venmo: @BeeYonkaaa.
Email| bee.yonkaaa@gmail.com
Instagram/TikTok| @bee.yonkaaa
LARA LINETTE has self-produced four collections of original music. Patchwork, with Mandy Woods, included 4 works in 1997. Lara’s original song Want You Near was selected for a highlighted performance at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1998. Paths of Memory was completed in 2002 with 14 original songs. Heartbeats was released in 2008 with 9 new tunes. The Journey Through, Songs from My View was released May 26, 2023, and is available now on Apple Music and all streaming platforms. Lara started writing songs and poems as a young girl, received her first guitar at age 10, and began performing as a teenager. Over the years she has performed in clubs, university venues, music festivals, and weddings. She has performed internationally in England, France, Greece, and is currently performing in Zoom music sessions around the world. Her memorable melodies and meaningful lyrics touch hearts and souls alike. Music and writing have always been her passion.
Poet/Playwright/Multi-percussionist/Photographer/Teacher
AVOTCJA has been published in English & Spanish in the USA, Mexico & Europe. She’s an award-winning Poet & multi-instrumentalist. She’s a popular Bay Area DJ & Radio Personality & leader of the group “Avotcja & Modúpue” (The Bay Area Blues Society’s Jazz Group Of The Year in 2005 & 2010), facilitates La Palabra Musical (The Music of The Word) the longest running Multi-lingual Poetry Series in Oakland, CA. Avotcja teaches Creative Writing & Drama & is a proud member of DAMO (Disability Advocates Of Minorities Org.), PEN Oakland, alumni of California Poets In The Schools & is an ASCAP recording artist. Her latest Book is “With Every Step I Take 2” (Taurean Horn) AVOTCJA P.O. Box 8757 Emeryville, CA 94662-8757 Website: www.Avotcja.org
SHANNON (SK) LOCKHART (she/they/ella/elle) was born in Louisville, KY but spent most of her adulthood working in the field of human rights as a clinical social worker in Chicago, El Salvador, Guatemala and now back in Louisville, KY.
She learned early that sometimes the only way to fight injustice, manage pain, and find hope is to rebel through art that challenges the system, names truths, and demands change. She writes and draws because she cannot heal otherwise. Shannon has published her work in several print anthologies with Writing for Peace, Women’s Spiritual Poetry, and online through Rebelle Society. Her first full collection, “Wild Beauty: Breathing Through the Storm” was self-published in October 2015 and is available on Amazon.
Shannon's public artistic journey began in late 2013 when drawings and poems began to pour out spontaneously, because she could no longer contain them. They became her meditations, her ground zero and her hearth- a time and space to empty/fill herself even as she explored past traumas, captured stories of survivors, and integrated her bilingual world into a visual and spoken narrative.
She currently has a private therapy practice in Louisville, working exclusively with undocumented immigrants, social activists, asylum-seekers, survivors of human trafficking, and other folx who live in the intersection of various cultures and identities that are otherwise erased by dominant culture.
KELLY MARY MACALLISTER moves through the world as a fat, queer, and disabled woman. She lives in a shoebox in the Toronto sky with a little black dog. Her work has appeared in Canthius Magazine, Beyond Words Literary Magazine, The Closed Eye Open, TheDoor is a Jar Magazine and others. She can be found at www.KellyMaryMcAllister.ca
EDITH BLACKBIRD is a queer trilingual writer/poet/performer with a “Declamation Style” from Mexico. Her writing journey began in elementary school participating in local events like “Civil Mondays” writing patriotic poems to recite for government officials. She practiced traditional folklore dance for over ten years, performed in plays and declaimed poetry in public.
In April 2004, she won second place in a statewide poetry contest. In June 2005, she participated in the nationwide poetry contest, “XIII Encuentro Nacional Estudiantil INTERTECMAR” where she won second place. In May 2007, The Sonora University awarded her an honorable mention in their literary regional contest and was published in their anthology Realidad Aleatoria.
Now in the USA, she attends live events sharing her art.
Edith was part of a poetry reading with some local poets in KOOP radio hosted by Greg Ciotti in January 2020.
She has been featured (2018) and published in the Di-vêrsé-city anthology by The Austin Poetry Society in 2020. In October 2020, was featured in the “Lion and Pirate” event facilitated by Malvern Books, in the Waterfront Immersive Arts Festival in 2020 and 2021, and by Pastiche House in 2021 as well.
Edith was published in the SINEW: 10 Years of Poetry in The Brew Anthology. Also published in the Touching Tongues Women’s Erotic Anthology (2021) and in Out Loud: An LGBTQ Literary Art Anthology in 2022 by Read or Green Books. In September 2023, she was featured in the New Mexico Poetry Summit alongside fellow international poets.
Edith co-hosts a monthly virtual event called Lenguas that promotes cultural diversity and art since February 2021.
a pearl in this diamond world … JOSEPHINE LORE has shared her poetry live and in global zoom-rooms. Her words have been put to music, danced, interpreted in ASL, and integrated into visual art. She has three collections: Unity; the Calgary Herald Bestseller The Cowichan Series, and newly released, In My Father’s House. Individual poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies in fifteen countries and five languages. In 2023, her poem “Enough” was selected for a Public Service Announcement for Feed the Children (https://www.accesswire.com/780566/feed-the-children-launches-new-psa-sharing-a-vision-of-hope-inspiring-action-through-poetry-to-help-end-childhood-hunger). Josephine will be travelling in September 2024 to participate in the Read or Green New Mexico Poetry Summit and Expo.
Josephine respectfully acknowledges that she lives and creates on the ancestral and traditional lands of the Piikani, Siksika, Kainai, Tsuut'ina and Nakota peoples.
CAROLYN ROBINSON is a multi-talented writer, actress, and performing spoken word artist who hails from Baltimore, MD. She believes in keeping the arts alive and to that end started her own performing arts program called All That Drama Productions in 2005. As part of this program, she teaches writing workshops, puppetry, sign language and coaches spoken word performers. Carolyn has published eight books to date and contributes all of her talent and creativity to God. She continues to look for ways to be creative by teaming with other talented performers to unleash the greatness that always happens when you use all the talent that you are born with. She recently was asked "What is poetry to you? and her response was "Poetry is life-written. It's all the experiences and emotions that you experience every single day, written out on the page or spoken out loud." Carolyn lives in Baltimore and is the proud mother of three adult children. She enjoys photography, traveling and anything that involves making something from nothing. You can follow her on IG at LovePoet18 or find her on FaceBook at Carolyn L. Robinson/Author or at All That Drama Productions. She is happy to be a part of the brave women of TESORO who use their voices to change the world. Her email is allthatdrama418@yahoo.com.wn text and edit me. It's easy.
GABRIELLA RUBIN is a poet from Staten Island, NY of Italian and Jewish descent. Gabriella’s core was built through her experiences as a former college and professional basketball player. Her poetry path began just a few years ago in the jungles of Tulum, Mexico at a time where she was searching for who she was apart from basketball. In Tulum, she founded the Haus of Expression to create a poetry club for individuals at all different stages on their journey. She has run 50+ workshops and has hosted 15+ shows. Gabriella successfully founded and ran a show called The Flo Show in Tulum Mexico and currently runs shows in New York. She is a 2x off broadway poet and has performed 70+ in multiple states and countries. The Haus of Expression poetry club was featured in the 2022 and 2023 NYC Poetry Festival.
By day Gabriella is an accountant with a love for business and innovation. By night, poetry courses through her veins like an electric bolt, a force that can not be resisted. God and her family are at the center of her world as she reaches for the stars.
Born in a city of Art,
TABATHA ADAMS' love for word arrived early,filling pages before the development of pens.
Single homes, Bronx street lights and a child ‘s monster have developed a voice
that won't stay silent. Creator of Sunday writes - a select group of pens who encourage, write and often perform together. She strives to continually grow
as a spoken word artist and in the talentof hosting.
Her book Shallow City Of Noise was released July 2023 making her the first author in her family. These poems have been the backdrop to most NY stages, reading on platforms such as Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Basin
of the Arts, Flora Reading, Art at the Sound and other platforms such as the NYC Poetry festival.
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Born Stephanie Jackson, GEMINIFOX refers to herself as the love child of Dr. Seuss and Maya Angelou.Originally from the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia, she currently resides in Tampa Florida. Using her work as a tool that unites others through common experiences, GeminiFox is a keen welder of raw emotion. She speaks in parables and sea water runs through her veins. She says that her goal as an artist is to be a voice for the voiceless, believing that poetry can be found in everything. She uses her poems to foster healing, understanding and create connections. She is the host/curator of Painting with Word (a monthly poetry open mic), a finalist for Best Spoken Word Artist (Best of the Bay 2023) and an active member of the Growhouse Tampa poetry collective. An all around creative, she enjoys designing and sewing clothing for herself and others.
Academically, she is pursuing her associate degree in human service and plans to continue her journey to become a licensed counselor. She plans on utilizing poetry in her therapeutic practice. She is honored and excited to be a part of the Tesoro family.
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AMANDA SHEA
is a two-time Boston Music Award-winning Spoken Word Artist. Shea is an artist, performer, educator, artivist, publicist, host, and curator. She co-founded and curated six iterations of Activating ARTivism, a community festival to amplifyAMANDA SHEA POC through art, activism, and resistance. Her work can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, The Boston Globe, TEDX, TEDXRoxbury, Netflix, Prime Video, BBC News, GBH, and much more. Shea will be releasing her first book, “Pieces of Shea” in the Spring of 2024. Amanda's work examines her personal life experiences, social justice issues, and healing through trauma utilizing art as the tool.
JULIE CORRALES is a first-generation Chicana, an autodidactic chola, political activist, teen-mother, hoochie, feminist, survivor, actively engaged in her own decolonization. Zapoteca by blood, American by her parents’ sweat and tears, she draws on her experiences to advocate for and write about Chicanx issues. As a youth, Julie wrote many melodramatic rhyming love poems, some of which are still in circulation among California inmates. Since then, her essays have been published in the San Diego Union Tribune and La Prensa San Diego, and her poetry has been published in Acentos Review, Anacua Literary Arts Journal, and Azahares Literary Magazine. She works to combat Environmental Racism as a policy advocate with Environmental Health Coalition; and is a founding board member of Tierras Indigenas Community Land Trust. You can find her performing spoken word at various venues throughout San Diego.
Genevieve Ray, also known as Genevievefirepoet, Genevieve is a Spoken Word artist and poet from Bedfordshire. Her work has been published in 27 magazines and anthologies. During her six-year tenure in the theatre, she worked as a director and playwright. Her first play Prison had a sell out run. She is now producer for Renegades by Nina Telegina. Genevieve specialises in combining her theatrical training with her writing experience to create lively and bright performances made to engage audiences. She is passionate about utilising the arts to alter the landscape and include more Global voices. In the last year she was elected Co Chairwoman for Stroud Against Racism, became a board member for The Black Art Hub and has joined Tesoro as a Firesinger.
SIMONA PRILOGAN
After a 30-year career as a healthcare professional, Simona shifted the path to an artistic perspective. She is currently a BA student at the University of Westminster, approaching the Creative Writing and English Literature on a deeper level. Simona is proud to have published three poetry collections along with several collaborations on collective anthologies.
Her poems and short stories are posted online on Spillwords Press NYC, Harness Magazine, Gobblers & Masticadores, Webcultura, eCreator, Belgium Time and Masticadores Romania.
Being a storyteller, a woman, a mother, a Transylvanian, and a Londoner now, she is taking the sight to the personal life experience with a social writing touch. Born in a communist regime, Simona is utterly focusing on the education, while keeping hope at the highest peaks. Through her work, she is trying to bring light, love, and humanity.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Simona-Prilogan/author/B07D2DWW7S
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17814278.Simona_Prilogan Personal blog: https://prilogansimona.art/
NOELIA CERNA is a Latina poet based in Springdale, AR. She was born in Costa Rica and immigrated to the United States at the age of 7 where she received a Bachelor’s degree in English from Westminster College in Missouri. Her poems have been published in audio form in Terse. Journal and in print in the The Revolution [Relaunch], the Girl Gang blog, the Plants and Poetry Journal and The North Meridian Review. Noelia is a book editor for the North Meridian Press and an award winning writing mentor for Pen America’s Prison Writing Mentorship program. Her debut collection Las Piedrecitas is available for pre-order from Black Lawrence Press.
Susana Praver-Pérez
is a Pushcart-nominated, bilingual poet and visual artist. A former Physician Assistant and Associate Medical Director at La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland, California, Susana left medicine in 2021 after four decades of community service, to pursue her passion for poetry and art on a full-time basis
Susana studied Creative Writing at Berkeley City College, Naropa Institute, U.C. Berkeley’s “Poetry for the People”, countless community-based classes, and is an alumna of both Macondo and Las Dos Brujas Writers’ Workshops.
Her first full-length book of poetry Hurricanes, Love Affairs, and Other Disasters received the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature (2022). Her second full-length collection Return Against the Flow, published by Black Lawrence Press in 2024 was chosen by both Ms. Magazine and NYU’s Latinx Project as their top 30+ poetry picks for the year.
Susana divides her time between Oakland, California and San Juan, Puerto Rico and writes through the lens formed in the liminal space between languages, cultures, and geographies.
website: susanapraverperez.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/susana.praverperez/
IG: la.doctora.susana
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HALIMA OLUFEMI was born in Jackson, MS and raised in a small community called Presidential Hills. Growing up, she was surrounded by strong and dutiful women, who ultimately shaped her perspective on being a servant in the community. She received a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Psychology from Mississippi State University. Her journey as an organizer began with the late Attorney and Mayor Chokwe Lumumba working as a legal assistant and volunteering with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement around People’s Assemblies. She has also worked on and led various local campaigns throughout her career. Halima currently works at the People’s Advocacy Institute, a resource and training incubator for transformative justice in the south, as the Director of Program Operations and People Management. PAI works to end mass incarceration, invest in communities, and encourage community led governance. From the perspective of an organizer in the deep south, Halima’s poetry acknowledges the invaluable sacrifice of our ancestors, centers Black feminist thought and attempts to serve as a voice for the oppressed.
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Born and raised in North Carolina, WHISPER POET was fortunate enough to attend a girls’ boarding school that not only tamed her drawl, but opened her eyes to the incredible diversity of cultures in our world.
“I’ve always had a love of learning and understanding other cultures, and one of the great strengths of poetry and a reason I love it is its ability to express culture in a powerful and recognizable way.”
Whisper began writing prose and poetry seriously after her marriage ended. Fully formed poems of heartbreak and confusion began unearthing themselves through her pen, and within the space of a few months she had filled an entire composition book. Workshops and open mics led her to meet and become friends with members of Guerilla Poets, and from there, to become a member of the Instagram online poetry community. From creating and leading workshops on mental health, to hosting her shows, The Heart Of The Artist and Rise N Rhyme, Whisper is always dreaming up something new. She loves cooking for friends, cracking inappropriate jokes, techno music and studying metaphysics. She actively engages with Guerilla Poets for the good of the community and focuses on spreading love and light wherever possible.
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LAURA LILIA created pieces of poetry, essays, art, and voice-recorded memos that turned into the collections in her first debut poetry book “Becoming Forever Changing Leaves.” Her poetry has become a blueprint for how she was able to make sense of her unique experiences and redirect her back into her walk of faith. Laura is a Community Health Worker in the medical field by day, attending school in the evenings, an active advocate for Suicide Prevention and Awareness with Poppy’s Run for Life, and is a continuously curious fan of experiencing life through art, fitness, and being in the world to inspire others... as others inspire her.
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ERICKA MONIQUE MARSH was born in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, September 14, 1965.
Her last residence in Brooklyn was in the East New York part, near Linden Boulevard.
She left New York in the summer of 1979, to move to Asheboro North Carolina. She left North Carolina in 1988 to go into the United States Air Force. She did one term, but had two duty stations during that time, one at Hurlburt Field, Florida and one in Europe at Zaragosa Airbase (Spain).
She spent 6 1/2 years in Europe affording her the opportunity of living in three countries: Spain, Germany, and Belgium. During the time at Hurlburt Field, Florida, she met and married the father of her of her four children in 1990, from whom she is now divorced. From that union, three women and one young man were born. Also, during that time of marriage, she had the opportunity to live in Colorado Springs, Colorado for four years as well as Maryland for one year, and then Greenville, South Carolina (since 2002).
She started writing poetry more frequently right after the pandemic. So she is still a babe in this.
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Finally stepping out the shadows ANGEL KIM s a Poet, Storyteller, Voice Actress, Mentor, & Small Business Owner of two businesses, AK Kreations & Angel’s Bling Corner. She’s a new author of ‘Taste Of Southern Seoul’. She’s the Curator for the Clubhouse space Love & Lyrics where’s she’s featured many poets providing space for poets & other artist to come share their talents, stories, & hearts.
Born in Seoul Korea, she’s Texas raised & realized at an early age she loved writing stories. She’s been writing since, yet her journey in poetry only started in 2020 around COVID. She’s a part of the Honey Dripper Poetry Collective & called the heart whisper due to her ability to pull at your heartstrings. Finally finding her voice, her goal is to empower, uplift, & inspire others to tell their stories by telling hers.
MARIANNE TEFFT
is a poet and voice-over reader who “daylights” as a Montessori teacher in Toronto, Ont. Her poems and short stories have appeared online, in print and on air in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. She reads regularly at online open mics, including Nuyorican Poets Café, Inspired Poets Corner, Open Minds Open Mic and Bottoms Up, and performs at live venues in Toronto and Sint Maarten, where she lived for more than 20 years. She is the author of the poetry collections Full Moon Fire: Spoken Songs of Love and Moonchild: Poems for Moon Lovers, and had been featured in MacQueen’s Quinterly, Lothlorien, Syncopation, Panoplyzine, Verse-Virtual, Open Arts, Anti-Heroin Chic, Exist Otherwise, Gnashing Teeth, MockingOwl Roost, Up! and Mayari Lit ,and online sites Damien Donnelly’s Eat the Storms, Michael Ingram’s Quintessential Listening and CIUT-FM’s monthly HOWL broadcast.
Victory is a writer, painter, graphic designer and poet originally from Texas.
She's been performing her poetry on stage for over 20 years and has been a member of several slam teams that competed at the annual National Poetry Slam. In 2004 she graced the finals stage as a member of the Dallas Slam Team that took 3rd place at the National Poetry Slam in St. Louis, MO against over 80 teams.
She has performed at poetry festivals from Dallas, TX to Albuquerque, NM to as far away as Ireland. Her work can also be found in several poetry anthologies, including “Not Dead Yet: An Anthology of Survivor Poetry” and "The 2014 Blue Max Review". In 2021 she was a featured guest on the Inner Moonlight poetry podcast.
In 2022, Victory relocated to New Mexico. She came seeking fresh inspiration and new road trips. She continues to write, paint and perform.
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SHELLY "BADASSIA" BARNETT began her poetry writing at 9 years young, emulating the whimsy of Ogden Nash, Dr. Suess and Lewis Carroll. It was then she was introduced to an electric typewriter and onion skin paper. Rhymes with texture combined with twisting and turning reality into fantasy became her style. College years took her writing through the real world of love, lies and loss with metaphors of disco balls and traffic accidents. Life took her towards the art world, supporting artists with strong messages about current affairs and off the wall imagery that gave viewers temporary escapes.
She considers herself a Bi-Poetic Possibilitarian, creating poems about the beauty of nature that surrounds her in the wild SW corner of New Mexico as well as speaking her mind against injustices of the world and healing trauma with words. She has been included in first Silver City Anthology of Summer 2023 and her first book publication project, Upward Spiral, an anthology by 4 Silver City women, was launched in November of 2023. She is currently working on her first solo book, with a goal of May 2025 publication.
Ms. Badassia also hosts 3 monthly Open Mic events in Silver City, NM and is the co-creator of Silver City Poetic Outlaws. The group was created to provide brave spaces for Open Mic with Open Minds and has been growing in diversity and numbers in its first year. She also enriches young students in poetry at the local Montessori school as well as encouraging emerging writers to share their potent offerings with the community. Her participation in the 2024 NM Poetry Summit has stoked her inner fires to epic proportions and created connections that promise new adventures.
She recently purchased a 1965 Smith Corona electric typewriter and was given a stack of onion skin paper from her dear origami artist friend. All is possible.
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Photography:Andrew Torn
MARTHA BLACKLOCK
now I’ll be a nunk
gender indifferent nun-monk
chaste, poor, and what else?
I grew up white on Lenape land Now I’m old in the high desert where the Apache peoples lived, died, and endure. Mimbres shards still to be found, those clay poems. I’m still white, but now I know it. Seventy years ago I wanted to be a poet, but it didn’t happen. Wrote some stories. Preached up a storm. Got paid to screen people for commitment; my lover said I liked that job because it made me think I was sane. Something led me to a Stacy workshop in my little town. She said you have seven minutes to write a poem. Next night I sang one, in public. And now what else?
Krista Joslin-Gay
has been writing poetry most of her life but began taking the craft seriously 15 years ago. She has dabbled in slam poetry and hosting poetry workshops for young writers. Mostly Krista uses poetry as a tool to process the world, to play, and to connect. Her favorite form of poetry is spoken word poetry. She strongly believes poetry is meant to be shared.