Poetry – DiVerse Gaithersburg

Thursday, February 6th, Reading Featuring Clifford Bernier and Khalil Fahie 7:00-8:30 pm

Open Mic following the Featured Readers — feel free to share one poem, one page.

At Casey Community Center, 810 S Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20877

Clifford Bernier’s The Silent Art won the Gival Press Poetry Award. He is also the author of Dark Berries and Earth Suite, each selected by the Montserrat Review as a Best Chapbook. Ocean Suite published in September 2024 and Wetlands is forthcoming. He appears in The Write Blend poetry circle collection among other print and online journals and anthologies. In addition, Mr. Bernier appears on harmonica in the Portuguese Accumulated Dust world music series and is featured on the EP Post-Columbian America. He has been featured in readings in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Buffalo, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the Washington, DC area, including the Library of Congress, the Arts Club of Washington, George Washington University (where he is a member of the Washington Writer’s Collection) and the Bethesda Writer’s Center. He has been a reader for the Washington Prize and a judge for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Poetry Out Loud recitation contest. From 2003-2008 he hosted the Poesis reading series in Arlington, Virginia and performed with the Jazzpoetry band at venues in and around Washington, DC. He has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and a Best of the Net Award. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Khalil Fahie was born in Brooklyn, New York, and his parents are from St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. His dad enjoys reading and came across The Prophet written by Kahlil Gibran. His father decided to name him after Kahlil Gibran because he found his writings to be phenomenal. Khalil’s inspiration to write has been from his wife, family, and the world that surrounds us. Khalil is musically inclined and enjoys playing music with his family. His brother Desmond makes and plays his music and continues to challenge Khalil to excel at what he loves. If you would like to check out his music, please go to the following: Linktr.ee/dfoymusic. Writing poetry allows him to unlock the unseen magic in the world. He will write what he feels and feel what he writes. Khalil feels that a part of happiness is being able to help one another through the journey called life. His goal is to continue to write and inspire those with the desire to be inspired.

Thursday, December 5th, Reading Featuring CL Bledsoe, Barbara DeCesare, and Donald Illich 7:00-8:30 pm

Open Mic following the Featured Readers — feel free to share one poem, one page.

At Casey Community Center, 810 S Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20877

Raised on a rice and catfish farm in eastern Arkansas, CL Bledsoe is the author of more than twenty-five books, including the poetry collections Riceland, Trashcans in Love, Grief Bacon, The Bottle Episode, and Having a Baby to Save a Marriage, as well as his latest novels Goodbye, Mr. Lonely and The Saviors. Bledsoe co-writes the humor blog How to Even, with Michael Gushue. He’s been published in hundreds of journals, newspapers, and websites that you’ve probably never heard of. Bledsoe lives in northern Virginia with his daughter.

Poetry and fiction by Barbara DeCesare have appeared in Grain, Poetry, Alaska Quarterly, and many other journals. Her work has been adapted for song and stage. She is a graduate of the Goddard MFA program, and the author of three poetry collections: Jigsweyesore (Anti-Man), Adrift (Seventh Wave), and Silent Type (Paper Kite Press)

Donald Illich‘s work appears in such journals as Iowa Review, LIT, Nimrod, Passages North, TheSouthern Review, and Rattle. His full-length manuscript, Chance Bodies, was published in 2018 by The Word Works. A full-length poetry collection, Rescue is Elsewhere, was released in 2023 by Red Ogre Review via a Science Fiction; Fantasy Writers Association grant. A new book, Love Poems on Bar Napkins, was released in 2024 by Red Ogre Review.

Thursday, November 7th, Reading Featuring Kathleen O’Toole and Sid Gold 7:00-8:30 pm

Open Mic following the Featured Readers — feel free to share one poem, one page.

At Casey Community Center, 810 S Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20877

Kathleen O’Toole is the author of four poetry collections, most recently This Far (2019 Paraclete Press). Her poems have appeared widely in journals and magazines; awards include the 2020 Connecticut River Review Poetry Prize. She served as Poet Laureate of Takoma Park MD from 2018-2022.

Sid Gold is the author of five books of poetry, including Very Eyes (Poets’ Choice, ’23), which also includes 10 color prints of his paintings. He is a twice recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for Poetry and in 2019 he was voted among Baltimore’s Best Poets in Baltimore Magazine‘s Annual Reader’s Poll. His work appears in three anthologies. He poems have appeared in reviews and journals for 45 years, including publications such as Poet Lore, Southern Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, Gargoyle, Schuylkill Valley Journals, Free State Review and Backbone Mountain Review, among others. A native New Yorker, he has lived in Hyattsville MD for a number of years.

Thursday, June 6th Reading with Kim Roberts, Hailey Leithauser, Chris Thomas, Adrian Gaston Garcia, aka AGG, and Robert L. Giron at Casey Community Center, 7:00-8:30 pm

Join this special reading of five amazing Poets to kick-off National Pride Month!!

Open Mic following the Featured Readers — feel free to share one poem, one page.

Kim Roberts is the author of six books of poems, most recently Corona/Crown, a cross-disciplinary collaboration with photographer Robert Revere (WordTech Editions, 2023). Roberts edited By Broad Potomac’s Shore: Great Poems from the Early Days of our Nation’s Capital (University of Virginia Press, 2020), selected by the East Coast Centers for the Book to represent Washington, DC in the Route 1 Reads program. She is the author of the popular guidebook, A Literary Guide to Washington, DC: Walking in the Footsteps of American Writers from Francis Scott Key to Zora Neale Hurston (University of Virginia Press, 2018). Roberts was a 2023 Pride Writer-in-Residence at the Arts Club of Washington, and was awarded a 2023 Independent Humanities Practitioner Fellowship from Humanities DC. She co-curates DC Pride Poem-a-Day each June with filmmaker Jon Gann. http://www.kimroberts.org

Hailey Leithauser is the author of Swoop (Graywolf 2013), winner of the Poetry Foundation’s Emily Dickinson First Book Award and the Towson Prize for Literature, and Saint Worm (Able Muse Press 2019). Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including 32 Poems, Agni, The Gettysburg Review, The Yale Review and three editions of Best American Poetry. She lives in Silver Spring MD.

Adrian Gaston Garcia, aka AGG, is a queer Latine storyteller whose mission is to share narratives that build community. He hails from the Windy City and has been in the District for the past 12 years. Adrian fuels his creativity via the performing arts, specifically theater, improv, and spoken word poetry. His work is largely based on his experiences and the intersectionality of his identities. It is a shout out to all the queer brown boys who choose joy as their form of resistance. Adrian is the co-host and producer of Los Bookis Podcast, a student at the Studio Acting Conservatory, and a performer with the Washington Improv Theater.

Robert L. Giron’s latest collection of poetry is Songs for the Spirit / Canciones para el Espíritu. He has authored five other collections of poetry and has edited five anthologies. His poetry and fiction have appeared in national and international anthologies. Born in Nebraska, he describes himself as a transplanted Texan, with family roots that go back over four centuries. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his husband Ken. An American of diverse ethnicities and trilingual, he describes himself as “just a man of the world” who can easily fit in with various cultural groups.

Chris Thomas is a Queer Black Non-Binary poet, speaker, and advocate, weaves their dynamic artistic expression with a profound commitment to social change. Recognized as a pioneer of poetry by the National Underground Spoken Word Poetry Award (NUSPA) in 2015, they have mesmerized audiences at
prestigious institutions like Angelina College, Georgetown University, Jefferson University, and Howard University to spaces like Studio 2001 Art Gallery, The Athenaeum, and the Torpedo Art Factory. Through their acclaimed workshop, “Writing to Wellness,” C. empowers individuals to use poetry as a tool for healing while navigating childhood trauma.

Big News–DiVerse Restart-New Host, New Day

Dear Poets and Community Friends,

I’ll give you the punchline first—the DiVerse Gaithersburg Poetry Reading is planning to re-start this winter on a new day and with a new host! Got your attention? Read on…

When the pandemic hit almost two years ago, never in my worst imaginings did I think that the DiVerse Gaithersburg poetry reading would be on pause for this long. As I write this, the Montgomery County libraries are still not open on Sundays and the meeting room at the Quince Orchard Library has not re-opened for use either. It is unclear whether the libraries will start operating on Sundays again, so with the help of Eve Burton, the librarian that we work with at Quince Orchard Library, we are moving the reading to 2nd Saturday afternoons beginning in January, exact time to be determined and information about any restrictions nearer to the date. I am grateful to Eve for all her work to make it possible for us to meet at the library.

And now for the really big news:

Like many people, I had plenty of time when things were shutdown to do some thinking about the work that I do and what I want moving forward. One of the things I realized is that after 50 plus years of organizing and community building of various kinds, I really want to be doing other things with my time. Which led me to start thinking about finding someone to take over hosting DiVerse. After some thought and talking it over with a few people (and thank you to those of you who helped me think it through!), I realized the choice was obvious and luckily the timing was right for her as well. I am thrilled to announce that my good friend and amazing poet Kristin Kowalski Ferragut will be taking over as the host of the DiVerse Gaithersburg poetry reading!

Over the next few months Kristin and I will be making that transition happen. She will be starting to look at programming for the spring and will start sharing that info when she is ready. We will be posting again on the website and facebook page, so keep an eye out for that.

I will remain as a resource person as needed until things are up and running and will no doubt be at many readings happily sitting in the audience.

Since I started organizing poetry readings in Gaithersburg, some 50 poets from a multitude of backgrounds have come to share their work with us, plus countless more at the open mics that followed, including some bravely reading for the first time. While always a work in progress, the diversity of our programming is something that I am proud of.

Since the reading began four years ago, DiVerse has become both a community and a community resource. Regular attendees have gotten to know each other, work on our craft together and become friends. And because we meet at the library, we often attract folks from the community who perhaps have never been to a reading before.

I know that Kristin shares my vision of how important these things are and will bring her own wonderful talent and ideas to continuing the readings. So please join me in welcoming her to this new role and for goodness sake, help her to get the chairs set up (if you’ve been to a DiVerse reading, you know what I mean)!

With gratitude to all of you for making the DiVerse Gaithersburg Poetry Reading a success!

–Lucinda Marshall

Special Program: How The Pandemic Influences Our Work As Poets–May 17th

DiVerse Gaithersburg is delighted to welcome E. Ethelbert Miller and Katherine E. Young for a special online discussion with DiVerse Gaithersburg host Lucinda Marshall about writing poetry during the pandemic on May 17th at 7 pm on Zoom. In order to join us, you will need the log-on information which will be sent out by email. If you are not already on our email list, please email us at diversepoetry@mail.com to receive the log-on particulars.

Writing poetry in a world where everything has changed so suddenly presents both challenge and opportunity and we hope that this discussion will be of interest and use to everyone who is writing in this challenging time. There will be time for Q&A and perhaps time for a few poems to be shared as well.

E. Ethelbert Miller

E. Ethelbert Miller is a writer and literary activist. He is the author of two memoirs and several books of poetry including The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller, a comprehensive collection that represents over 40 years of his work. He is host of the weekly WPFW morning radio show On the Margin with E. Ethelbert Miller and host and producer of The Scholars on UDC-TV. In recent years, Miller has been inducted into the 2015 Washington DC Hall of Fame and awarded the 2016 AWP George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature and the 2016 DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Distinguished Honor. In 2018, he was appointed as an ambassador for the Authors Guild. Miller’s most recent book If God Invented Baseball, published by City Point Press, was awarded the 2019 Literary Award for poetry by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.

Katherine E. Young by Samantha H. Collins — Photo by Samantha H. Collins

Katherine E. Young is the author of Day of the Border Guards, 2014 Miller Williams Arkansas Poetry Prize finalist, and two chapbooks. Her translations of Russian-language poetry and prose have won international awards. She is a 2020 Arlington County individual artist grantee, a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts translation fellow, and from 2016-2018 she served as the inaugural poet laureate of Arlington, Virginia.

April 19th Reading With Diane Wilbon Parks, Naomi Thiers, and Gregory Luce

Please note: Because Easter falls on the 2nd Sunday in April, our April reading will be on the 3rd Sunday this month. We return to 2nd Sundays in May.

Please join us on April 19th, 2-4 pm, when our featured poets will be Naomi Thiers, Gregory Luce, and Diane Wilbon Parks. The reading will be at the Quince Orchard Library (15831 Quince Orchard Rd./Gaithersburg 20878) and is hosted by Lucinda Marshall and will be followed by an Open Mic. Please feel free to bring a poem that you have written to share (one page maximum).

Diane Wilbon Parks - pic 1.jpg Diane Wilbon Parks is a poet, visual artist, and author; Diane has written a Children’s Book and two poetry collections; her most recent, published collection is The Wisdom of Blue Apples. She is completing her third and newest collection of poetry. Diane is one of six PG County Poets whose poetry has been highlighted throughout the DMV. She celebrated the permanent installation of one of her poems and art pieces as a sign at the Patuxent Research Refuge – North Tract. Diane has been a featured poet on Prince George’s CTV’s Awarding Winning Program, Sojourn With Words, and on Pod Casts, as well as, Radio Broadcast Programs. Diane has read for Grace Cavalieri’s “The Poet and The Poem” at the Library of Congress; she holds a degree in Information Systems Management, is an U. S. Air Force Veteran and resides in Maryland.

greg luce.jpg Gregory Luce, is the author of Signs of Small Grace (Pudding House Publications), Drinking Weather (Finishing Line Press), Memory and Desire (Sweatshoppe Publications), and Tile (Finishing Line Press), and has published widely in print and online. He is the 2014 Larry Neal Award winner for adult poetry, given by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In addition to poetry, he writes a monthly column on the arts for Scene4 magazine. He is retired from National Geographic, works as a volunteer writing tutor/mentor for 826DC, and lives in Arlington, VA.

Naomi Thiers (2).jpg Naomi Thiers is the author of three poetry collections: Only The Raw Hands Are Heaven (WWPH), In Yolo County, and She Was a Cathedral (both Finishing Line Press.) Her poems and fiction have been published in Virginia Quarterly Review , Poet Lore, Colorado Review, Sojourners, and many others. She is a former editor of Phoebe, and works as an editor for Educational Leadership magazine.

New MoCo Poetry Events Hub

Want to go to a poetry event in Montgomery County, MD but don’t know who is reading or presenting where when? Check out the new MoCo Poetry Events page on Facebook, which will post listings for events throughout the county. Huge kudos to Gaithersburg poet Kristin Kowalski Ferragut for this great idea and for doing the hard work to make it happen!

Field Trip–Kensington Day Of The Book

DiVerse Gaithersburg is delighted to be participating in Kensington Day Of The Book’s poetry program, All The Imagination Can Hold, on April 26th, 2020. Many thanks to Kensington Day Of The Book Poet Laureate, Nancy Naomi Carlson, for including us. The DiVerse Gaithersburg roster will include poets who have been featured at our readings–Teri Ellen Cross Davis, Marlena Chertock, Kristin Kowalski Ferragut, and host Lucinda Marshall. Come join us for a day of poetry and literature!

March 8th Reading With Susan Sonde, Melanie Figg, and Sistah Joy Alford

Reminder–March 8th is the first day of Daylight Savings, reset those clocks unless you want to miss the first hour of DiVerse!

Please join us on March 8th, 2-4 pm, when our featured poets will be Susan Sonde, Sistah Joy Alford, and Melanie Figg. The reading will be at the Quince Orchard Library (15831 Quince Orchard Rd./Gaithersburg 20878) and is hosted by Lucinda Marshall and will be followed by an Open Mic. Please feel free to bring a poem that you have written to share (one page maximum).

Susan Sonde s an award winning poet and short story writer. Her debut collection: In the Longboats with Others won the Capricorn Book Award and was published by New Rivers Press. The Arsonist, her fifth collection was released in 2019 from Main Street Rag and her sixth collection, Evenings at the Table of an Intoxicant was a finalist in the New Rivers New Voices 2019 contest. The Last Insomniac, a chapbook, now working its way to a full collection, was a 2019 finalist in The James Tate Award. Grants and awards include, a National Endowment Award in poetry. grants in fiction and poetry from The Maryland State Arts Council, and the Gordon Barber Memorial Award from The Poetry Society of America. Her collection The Chalk Line was a finalist in The National Poetry Series. Individual poems have appeared in Barrow Street, The North American Review, The Southern Humanities Review, The Mississippi Review, American Letters and Commentary, Bomb, New Letters, Southern Poetry Review, and many others.

Sistah Joy Matthews Alford is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George’s County, Maryland as well as the Poet Laureate of Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Fort Washington. She is an author, arts advocate, as well as the producer and host of award-winning poetry-based cable television show, Sojourn with Words. She is an alum of the late Washington, DC Poet Laureate’s “Poets in Progress” series and the Mariposa Writers Retreat and the founder of the socially-conscious poetry ensemble, Collective Voices. Sistah Joy is the author of three books, Lord I’m Dancin’ As Fast As I Can (2000); From Pain to Empowerment, The Fabric of My Being (2009); and This Garden Called Life (2011).She is a Charter Board Member of C.A.A.P.A. (Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, Inc.) and a Lifetime Member of the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center.

Melanie Figg is the author of the award-winning debut poetry collection, Trace, as well as a chapbook. She has won grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The McKnight and Jerome Foundations, the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and other. Her poems, essays, and reviews have been published in dozens of literary journals, including The Iowa Review, Nimrod, Conduit, and Iron Horse Literary Review. Melanie curates Literary Art Tours in DC galleries (a Washington Post Editor’s Pick) and teaches writing at the Writer’s Center and privately. As a certified professional coach, she offers women’s writing retreats and works one-on-one with writers and others.