Quintessential Poetry

Alexandra was born in the year of the horse of fire, in Greece, where she spent many years living in the wild mountains of the island of Hydra. Later, she attended St. Mary's in Wiltshire and studied European Thought & Literature at Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge. She lived in Paris and New York, before returning to Greece to settle. Her father was a renowned poet and author and had a successful publi...

The Washington, DC-based ensemble of poets known for its messages of inspiration, empowerment, and social consciousness has performed locally and abroad. Collective Voices' international debut was in London, England, in 1998. Founded in 1995, the group’s current members include Sylvia Dianne "Ladi Di" Beverly, Andre "Brenardo" Taylor, and the group’s founder, J. Joy "Sistah Joy" Matthews Alford, w...

Lydia Brown was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. When she was younger, she dreamed of becoming a singer. She grew up with humble beginnings on the southside with her mom and dad. Tragically, at the age of eleven, her father died of leukemia. Her mother was left alone to care for her. They had their ups and downs and struggles, but they loved each other. As a teenager, she reached a point wher...

Kwame Sound Daniels is a black trans, disabled fiber and traditional artist based out of Maryland, USA. Xe are currently pursuing an MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Xir first book, Light Spun, is out with Perennial Press as of August of last year. the pause and the breath was released with Atmosphere Press January 25th of this year. Xe like to learn plant medicine and learn digital art in xir...

Poetic Hummingbird (Pam Hasan) is a passionate, inspirational poet. Writing poetry gives her a sense of self and freedom. Expressing her thoughts through poetry allows her to bleed her emotions on paper and heal from the darkest places that life can take you. Poetic Hummingbird (Pam Hasan) poetically weaves words together to encourage her readers to pause and reflect on their experiences with love...

Donna Spruijt-Metz is a poet, a psychology professor, and a recent MacDowell Fellow. Her first career was as a classical flutist. She lived in the Netherlands for 22 years and translates Dutch poetry to English. Her poetry and translations appear in Copper Nickel, RHINO, Poetry Northwest, the Tahoma Literary Review, the Inflectionist Review, and elsewhere. Her chapbooks are ‘Slippery Surfaces’ (Fi...

Christy Sawyer is an educator and a writer, who lives in Maryland. She was a shy girl who discovered she could use her pen to give voice to her thoughts. As she began to answer the call to pick up the mic, she gathered the strength to tell her story and the stories of the unvoiced. She is excited to publish her first book in 2023: A Delicate Rose with Thorns. A book about the mundane, magnificent,...

Nicholas Michael Ravnikar put the overt in overthinking. He is the originator of the new, obsessive poetic form called the Polish octave. He has self-published two collections of poetry, "Imaginary Friends" in July 2022 and "Three Dirty Sunsets" on December 1, 2022. He challenged himself to release four free full-length poetry collections during the month of January and hopes to keep up a frenzied...

JULIAN MATTHEWS is a writer expressing himself in the pandemic through poetry, short stories and essays. He is published in The American Journal of Poetry, Borderless Journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The New Verse News, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Live Encounters, among others. He is a mixed-race minority from Malaysia. More of his recent work can be found below: https://...

Arshagra is an autodidact raised in his grandfather Arshag’s garden. Arshag, an Armenian genocide survivor, taught him profound attitudes of benevolence: no hate, no enemy, no blame and no vengeance. He spent many years in Boston and Cambridge – urban areas that nourish the voices of emerging poets and encourage free speech as a common language, free of social and cultural dichotomies. His journey...

Fran Abrams’ poems have been published online and in print in Delmarva Review, The American Journal of Poetry, The Raven’s Perch, Gargoyle 74, and other journals, and in over a dozen anthologies. In 2019, she read at Houston (TX) Poetry Fest and at DiVerse Gaithersburg (MD) Poetry Series. In December 2021, she won the Washington Writers Publishing House Winter Poetry Prize. Her autobiographical bo...

Deelynn Leigh was born in South Boston, Virginia, and grew up with her family in Carson City, Nevada. As a young girl, she engulfed her life with athletics and outdoor activities. For relaxation, she found her gift for writing while creating short stories. In grade school, she wrote her first haiku poem, which ignited her love for poetry and the ability to utilize words and strategic rhythms to ex...

Gordon Ferris was born and raised in Finglas, a North West suburb of Dublin. In the early eighties, he moved to Donegal where he has lived ever since. He started writing in 2014 and has had many short stories and poems in publications including Hidden Channel, A New Ulster, The Galway Review, Impspired Magazine, and Lothlorien Poetry Journal. He has also won prizes in the summer 2020  HITA Creativ...

Genevieve is a Spoken Word artist and poet from Bedfordshire in Britain. She has been published in 17 magazines and anthologies. She worked in theatre for 6 years as a director and playwright. Genevieve is working on her first book due to be released next year. (3) Genevieve Ray - Creative | Facebook Genevieve Ray (@genevievefirepoet) • Instagram photos and videos  

S. T. Brant is a Las Vegas high school teacher. His debut collection, Melody in Exile, is out with Atmosphere Press. His work has appeared in numerous journals, including Honest Ulsterman, EcoTheo, Timber, and Rain Taxi. You can reach him on his website at ShaneBrant.com, Twitter: @terriblebinth, or Instagram: @shanelemagne. Amazon.com: Melody in Exile eBook : Brant, S.T.: Books Book Reviews of Me...

Bio: Brian was born a poet. Love of wisdom and adventure. A strong desire from a very young age to bring inspiration into the hearts of all readers of his poetry and all he crosses paths with. Only published on Facebook Poetry Society which is Brian's first created group on Facebook and his online poetry home yet, Brian has also created hundreds of more poetry groups on Facebook to create places w...

John Patrick Robbins is the editor-in-chief of ten magazines, including the Rye Whiskey Review. His work has appeared in Impspired Magazine, Piker Press, It Takes All Kinds Literary Zine, The Dope Fiend Daily, Horror Sleaze Trash, Fixator Press, Lothlorien Journal Of Poetry, Punk Noir Magazine, and Fearless Poetry Zine. His work is often dark, sometimes humorous, and always unfiltered. His current...

Katrenia Busch is a published poet and author. Her work can be found in a number of places, including Police Writers, Westward Quarterly, Literature Today, The Trouvaille Review, Whimsical Poet, Bloom Magazine, The Chamber Magazine among others. Her poem, “Mystery and Wind” won 2nd place in 2022 for a creative writing contest for the League of Innovation Creative Writing. She is an admin on Facebo...

Paul was named Beat Poet Laureate three times  by National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc. Massachusetts 2017 to 2019,   U S National Beat Poet Laureate 2019 - 2020.  New Generation Beat Poet Laureate 2020 - Lifetime Paul is best described as political, deadpan and wryly humorous, delivered in his own style. He has been called “Assassin of Apathy – power of words / humor - on the unthinkable, the uns...

Mary Gilliland is the author of two award-winning collections: The Ruined Walled Castle Garden (2020) and The Devil’s Fools (2022), with poems, anthologized most recently in Rumors Secrets & Lies: Poems on Pregnancy, Abortion & Choice; Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands; and Wild Gods: The Ecstatic in Contemporary Poetry and Prose. She is a past recipient of the Stanley Kunitz Fellowship fr...

Rick Lupert has been involved with poetry in Los Angeles since 1990. He is the recipient of the 2017 Ted Slade Award, and the 2014 Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center Distinguished Service Award, a 3 time Pushcart Prize Nominee, and a Best of the Net nominee. He served as a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets for 2 years, and created Poetry Super Highway. Rick hosted the weekly Cobalt Caf...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Dr. Arif Ahmad is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a Fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society and practices cardiology and electrophysiology in southern Wisconsin. He is a mid-Westerner with pride for where he came from – Pakistan, his faith – Muslim, and most of all, for the county he now calls home – America. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, he has lived in New York City,...

Mary Louise Kiernan is a member of both Calling All Poets and the Woodstock Poetry Society. She was awarded the 2015 Poetry Prize by Tempe Public Library in partnership with Arizona State University. Kiernan’s poetry appears in The New York Times and elsewhere. Most recently, her debut book's closing poem has been translated into Italian for The Salerno Project's anthology of poems penned by a mul...

Millicent Borges Accardi, an NEA fellow, is a Portuguese-American writer. She has four poetry collections, including Only More So (Salmon Poetry, Ireland). Among her awards are poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, CantoMundo, Fulbright, Foundation for Contemporary Arts NYC (Covid grant), Creative Capacity, Fundação Luso-Americana, and Barbara Deming...

  Mbonisi Zikhali is a poet/spoken word artist and storyteller born in Makokoba, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He has loved poetry since he was a child. He won his first poetry certificate when he was 8 years old. His spoken-word/storytelling name is Zomkhonto, which happens to be his bloodline’s totem. He is also a trained journalist, youth mentor, qualified community services worker, grassroots community...