Quintessential Listening: Poetry

Martin Graff is an artist, author, musician, and extreme-chin-beard enthusiast in Arlington, VA who crafts poetic vignettes with matching art on every topic from the stigma of liking scrapple to the meaning of life in a series called The Face Zone: Surreal Daydreams to Trip Your Imagination... Marty’s live spoken-word show adds original piano compositions from his album Trips for Piano to heighten the experience. His affecting commentary, original humor, whimsical artwork, and absorbing piano offer a uniquely engaging respite that cuts through the noise of our information-age lives with concise, essential truths certain to entertain as they set mind in motion. For a decade, Marty's act has been featured at venues across the region, including Capital Fringe Festival, Spit Dat DC's residency at The Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and multiple Busboys & Poets locations. He has been reviewed and interviewed in over thirty print and online publications, and has made radio and TV appearances in support of his three bo

A little about my book My book, Survived By, chronicles my experience coping with my father's terminal cancer diagnosis, his death, and my subsequent grief journey. The poems vary visually, utilizing the ribcage form invented by Athena Liu, concrete poetry,  and white space. A little about me I am a faculty member for the Community Literature Initiative through the Sims Library of Poetry and Strategic Partnership Fellow for The Poetry Lab. I was a finalist for the inaugural Emma Howell Rising Poet Award, was the winner of the 2021 Crow House Press Poetry Competition, and earned the 2021 Peter K. Hixson Memorial award in poetry presented by Writer's Relief. I received the 2020 Milestone Award presented by Wyoming Writers, Inc., and the 2020 Rising Star Award presented by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. I was a 2021 Wyoming Women of Influence nominee in the arts category for amplifying the voices of the LGBTQ and disabled communities through my writing. (If you're curious to know even more, I have my f

I was born Wavyne Diana Benskin in Trinidad and Tobago to Barbadian parents.  I am a graduate of Curepe Junior Secondary and St Augustine Girls High School. A graduate of Mercy College.  A recipient of Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Fellowship. A Scholarship of Community Literature Initiative California. Best Spoken Word Artiste, CHub Magazine London. Global Ambassador Divas of Color. Co host WZYEFM 95.9 in NJ. I love to karaoke.  https://trinidadexpress.com/features/local/words-of-empowerment/article_f2508e1e-ffea-11ec-828c-2f0d6d93a595.html https://trinidadexpress.com/once-upon-a-pandemic/image_8de4a964-ffeb-11ec-9f8b-5bdc58c2d289.html

Ellen Thea is an award winning performance poet, drummer, dancer, and holistic counselor, utilizing tarot, astrology, crystals and energy work. Her life’s journey has taken her from New York City to South Florida to rural Alaska. She has been writing and performing almost her entire life, learning to write and starting dance at age 4 with her first audition (on Broadway) at age 5, writing, directing and performing original sketches by third grade. Growing up in the cultural wonderland of NYC in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, Ellen decided to use words and movement as both her paintbrush and medium. Ellen received a bachelor’s degree (B.S.) in Psychology with an (almost) minor degree in theatre from Union College, Schenectady, NY in 1978. Her master’s degree is from Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida 1996 in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization in medical family therapy. After college, Ellen moved to South Florida where she had her three children (now adults). After suffering a head injury fr

Freddy Niagara Fonseca, Renaissance man, poet, dramatic reader, originally from South America, has authored two poetry books. The first one, a poetry anthology, This Enduring Gift - A Flowering of Fairfield Poetry was published in 2010. His second book, a mystical and humorous poetry collection, The Bomb That Blew Up God And Other Serious Poems featuring his own poems, saw the light ten years later in 2020. Freddy has performed in public numerous times in his own Candlelight Reading Series, presenting multi-faceted World Poetry events of all eras and cultures with the collaboration of musicians, dancers, actors and expressive readers. Quite favorably reviewed in BookLife by Publishers Life, The Bomb That Blew Up God was listed in a Notable Iowa Books column of the Spring 2021 edition of Ottumwa Life. These days you can frequently hear him reciting at various Zoom open mic venues. He lives in Fairfield, Iowa.

Meghan Zipin is an author and mama who shares her time writing with discovering half eaten snacks around the house and ensuring her children stay little for as long as possible. Meghan’s debut poetry collection, First Light (2023, Nymeria Publishing), follows her path from the Boston Marathon bombing to the birth of her third son nine years later. Meghan writes with an intention to make her readers feel something in their body and asks them to look at the world with a tender set of eyes. Meghan received her MBA from Boston College and her Masters in physical therapy from Northeastern University. She now lives on eleven acres in New Hampshire with her husband, three curly haired boys and their dog Oona. https://www.meghanzipin.com https://www.amazon.com/First-Light-Meghan-Zipin/dp/B0BP9VT1C3 https://instagram.com/mismegs82?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= https://www.facebook.com/meghan.zipin?mibextid=LQQJ4d https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-delaney-zipin-51851a35

Founder of Poetry X Hunger: Bringing a World of Poetry to the Anti-Hunger Cause, Larew has also published poetry in places including Contemporary American Voices and Best Poetry Online. His most recent collection, Patchy Ways, was published in 2023 by CyberWit Press.  He lives in Maryland, USA. https://www.amazon.com/Books-Hiram-Larew/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AHiram+Larew https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084745897034 https://www.poetryxhunger.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiram-larew-4031b411/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS2HvjjuM-Y

A non-binary poet, Karen Poppy’s debut full-length poetry collection, Diving at the Lip of the Water, is forthcoming in 2023 with Beltway Editions. Her chapbooks Crack Open / Emergency (2020) and Our Own Beautiful Brutality (2021) are both published by Finishing Line Press. Her chapbook, Every Possible Thing, is published by Homestead Lighthouse Press (2020). An attorney licensed in California and Texas, Karen Poppy lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. https://karenpoppy.com/ https://m.facebook.com/KarenPoppyPage/ https://www.amazon.com/Diving-Lip-Water-Karen-Poppy/dp/1957372036

Regina YC Garcia is a Poet, Language Artist, and English Professor from Greenville, NC. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill (BA) and East Carolina University (MAEd) with a Graduate Certificate in Multicultural and Transnational Literature, her work has appeared in a variety of journals,reviews,and anthologies, to include The AutoEthnographer, the South Florida Poetry Journal, Up the Staircase Quarterly, New Note Poetry, The Amistad, The Main Street Rag, The Book of Black, Black and…, and numerous others. Her work has also been featured in a Mid-South Emmy Award winning episode of PBS' Muse featuring "The Black Light Project" (UNC TV), as well as the Sacred Nine Project of Tulane University. She is the author of The Firetalker's Daughter published by Finishing Line Press in March 2023. Firetalker's Daughter https://a.co/d/9SoA1E9 https://www.profesoragina.com https://twitter.com/profesoragina?t=7YMF2ZnGrCjmDr7Q2taAMA&s=09 https://www.facebook.com/regina.y.garcia?mibextid=ZbWKwL https://www.linkedin.com/in

Skaja Evens is a writer and artist living in Southeast Virginia. She edits It Takes All Kinds, a litzine published by Mōtus Audāx Press. She’s been published in Spillwords Press, The Dope Fiend Daily, The Rye Whiskey Review, Medusa's Kitchen, Synchronized Chaos, Blue Pepper, Ink Pantry, Off The Coast, Black Shamrock, and The Crossroads Lit Magazine. She often listens to music, considers the impossible, and enjoys her cats’ antics.

Nayma Chamchoun is a British Moroccan, a self taught writer and poet. Her writing is influenced by her cultural duality. She is interested in female voices in the diaspora community, the challenges they face within both communities and the taboos around mental health within their ancestral communities. She is an active member of british & international poetry community. Her published poetry collection  COVID: THE WORDY WILDS OF A MIND UNDER LOCKDOWN is a cultural fusion poetry collection which explores themes of identity, duality, displacement, loss, race, feminism, culture, family, love and the search for inner peace as experienced alongside the effects of mental health, menopause, the pandemic and world events. https://www.amazon.com/Covid-Wordy-Wilds-Under-Lockdown/dp/1869848314/ref=sr_1_4?qid=1664579796&refinements=p_n_publication_date%3A1250228011&s=books&sr=1-4 https://www.facebook.com/N.Chamchoun https://twitter.com/NChamchoun https://www.instagram.com/n.chamchoun/  

Wyatt Welch grew up on the Interstates after being kidnapped by their father, a troubled veteran of the Vietnam War. A Floridian and long-time Tucsonan, questioning the boundaries of Self and the State has been the work of their recent poetry, alongside other poetic concerns such as living gay/transgender in the United States. Welch earned their MA in Linguistics from the University of Florida and has been published in various journals. Their debut book of poetry, Capitalism Calls Poetry Lazy, was released in 2022 by FlowerSong Press. https://wyattwelch.org/ Amazon.com: Capitalism Calls Poetry Lazy: 9781953447586: Welch, Wyatt: Books https://www.instagram.com/poetrywyattwelch/

Bill Cushing lived in various states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico before moving to California where he resides with his wife and their son. Returning to college after serving in the Navy and working on ships, he was called the “blue collar poet” by his peers at the University of Central Florida. He later earned an MFA from Goddard College. Published in journals and anthologies, online and in print, Bill has four complete collections; his first book, A Former Life, was honored by a Kops-Fetherling International Book Award; Music Speaks won Spectrum’s San Gabriel Valley chapbook award in 2019 and a New York City Book Award in 2021. His last chapbook , . . .this just in. . ., combines selected writings with visual art. Bill’s new book, Just a Little Cage of Bone, was released by Southern Arizona Press in February. Just a Little Cage of Bone: Collected Poems: Cushing, Bill, Gilliland, Paul: 9781960038104: Amazon.com: Books  

Desiree Batiste is a newly emerging published poet and author. She has been writing poetry since she was 9 years old, when she was first published in a small locally distributed newspaper for children. She had one of her poems published in Poetry.com's "Best Poems and Poets of 2003" compilation. Her goal is to become a full-time author, focusing on the genres of poetry, psychological thriller fiction and the finalization of her autobiography. She also hopes to take a story she wrote when she was a child, and refine it into a children's book that they would be delighted to read. She was inspired to start writing poetry regularly just before a dark time in her life, and continued to write and create poems throughout that time and forward through the last 27 years. She has survived child abuse, a suicide attempt, multiple domestic violence relationships and the passing of her father...and walked away from all of it stronger. She was told by many professors in college that she was destined to be a writer and had

Catherine Vaughan is a British Poet based in England and the author of the poetry book Bohemian Love. She has performed poetry at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literary Festival and Brooklyn Poets. Catherine has also read for online poetry events such as Cobalt Poets in LA, New York Public Library, and Lime Square Poets in Ireland. Lovers in Paris, her next poetry book, will be released later this year. Catherine is also working on a novel called Welcome to Wonderland. https://www.amazon.com/Bohemian-Love-Catherine-Vaughan/dp/0993408923

Fareh Malik is a BIPOC artist from Hamilton, Ontario, as well as a seasoned spoken word poet and established author. Fareh was named the 2022 RBC PEN Canada New Voices Award winner. He was also the winner of Hamilton Art’s Shirley Elford Prize, The 2022 October Project Poetry Award, and MH Canada's 2020 Poetry Contest. Fareh's debut book Streams That Lead Somewhere was published in 2022 with Mawenzi House Publishers. Fareh was named a finalist for the 2021 Best of the Net anthology, and was honoured with the 2021 Garden Project grant to explore interdisciplinary work. His individual works have been published by literary presses all around the world. Fareh’s work has been described as critical, yet sanguine; poetry that often explores the intersection of racialization and mental illness, while maintaining a silver lining on its horizon. He loves to tell the story of his struggle, and of his community around him, in the hope that others can find inspiration and companionship in it. Fareh is currently a poet and

David Leo Sirois is a Canadian-American poet published 142 times, in 24 countries. His work has been translated into 12 languages (Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, French, German, Czech, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Chinese, Turkish, & Doric). He hosts Spoken World Online, the Zoom continuation of SpokenWord Paris. His first collection is called Humbledoves (poems to pigeons & plants). He won Third Prize in Winning Writers' Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest. Sirois is a member of the Academy of American Poets, & the Writers International Capital Foundation, & has been honored for his “contribution to world literature” by The Fertile Brains, a renowned literary group in India. His poetry has appeared in journals such as The Bombay Review, The Poetry Village, One Hand Clapping, Indian Periodical, The Sunday Tribune Online, THE BASTILLE, the Madras Courier, & Terre à Cièl (which also published his translations from the French). David is often featured at global events, such as the Panorama International

Words from Chayyim Eliezer Ben Israel: Born in Austin Tx. Raised in Los Angeles California, I had the taste to entertain at a very young age. Obtained writing and theatrical passion following my mother Elsie Katie Spruill. Began writing poetry in my early teens. Found a perfect match with poetry and music. https://amazon.com/hebruise https://instagram.com/clearmental https://facebook.com/clearmentalmusic

ANASTASIA LINDSEY is a timeless soul and author who participates in inter-dimensional traveling and building beautiful poems to capture the hearts of souls around the world in the most loving and supportive ways possible. Sensitive in nature and sweet in soul – she brings a powerful sense of calmness to her work, and most importantly to her words. She has spent most of her life traveling the endless twists and turns of her imagination to create beautiful poems. Anastasia has been writing since grade school and has always used empathy, pain, and—most importantly—love as her muse to write poems that help others heal. She specializes in highlighting one’s broken pieces to make something unique and comforting within oneself – and most importantly helps others to view themselves as a work of art. This humble writer was born and raised in a small town of Illinois where she currently resides in a beautiful, cozy little house on a patch of land with the love of her life, Dakota. Although an author, she is also the o

From Whence We Came: Women in Poetry is presented by Quintessential Listening: Poetry Online Radio (www.qlpor.com) in honor of National Women's History Month. This event will feature readings by Valeri Beers, Linda Imbler, Gerry Leonard LaGuardia, and Linda Olson Graham and a discussion of the role of women in poetry. The From Whence We Came phrase is from remarks made by John F. Kennedy at the Dinner for America's Cup Crews on September 14 1962.     Poet Biographies https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/67595793/qlpor-presents-from-whence-we-came-women-in-poetry