Tag: writing

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.

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.