Quintessential Poetry

Karen Poppy has work published in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. 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. Mor...

ADULT LANGUAGE AND THEMES John Patrick Robbins is the Mad Editor he is also a North Carolina national treasure and part-time supervillain and overweight male exotic dancer. His work has appeared in the greatest magazines and some places he doesn't run like The Dope Fiend Daily, Fearless Poetry Zine, The New York Times, Better Homes And Gardens, Piker Press, Punk Noir Magazine, The Bathroom Wall, a...

Mary Oishi is Albuquerque’s Poet Laureate (2020-2022). She is the author of Spirit Birds They Told Me (West End Press, 2011), and co-author with her daughter, Aja Oishi, of Rock Paper Scissors (Swimming with Elephants, 2018), finalist for the New Mexico Arizona Book Award. Oishi is published in numerous reviews and anthologies in the United States and internationally, in English and in translation...

Valeri Beers is from Bangor, Maine. Her first book was titled  ...details... , published by Thomas Hill Publishing. She has been writing all her life and is inspired to write by listening to music and needing to remember things. Valeri has been published in a  number of literary magazines including Literature Today, Lit House, The Wicked, Poets of Maine, Qutub Minar Review, Dandelion in a Vase of...

In celebration of National Women's History Month, Quintessential Listening: Poetry Online Radio (qlpor.com) presents POINT OF VIEW: WOMEN IN POETRY. Noted poets Alyson Shore Adler, Kathy Barham, Cathleen Cohen, and Christina E. Johnson will read their own work and engage in a discussion related to the role of women in the field of poetry. To read the bios of the poets, please visit https://www.yum...

Jessica Genia [pronounced Genya] Simon's poems have been published in the Atlanta Review, Slipform 2020 Anthology, Moment Magazine, Magnolia: A Journal of Women's Socially Engaged Literature, Vol. II, Edge, Vol. 9, Nature in the Now, Tiny Seed Literary Journal and Super Stoked: An Anthology of Queer Poetry from the Capturing Fire Slam & Summit.  She participates widely in DC area poetry readings a...

International Women's Day 2022 Honoree a pearl in this diamond world ... Josephine LoRe’s words have been read on stage and zoom-rooms, put to music, danced, integrated into art, and published in 11 countries and 4 languages including FreeFall in Canada, Tiny Seed in the US, and journals in Italy, England, Ireland, Germany, and Japan. Josephine has two collections, Unity and the Calgary Herald Bes...

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 express...

Encore Presentation Rojé Augustin is a native New Yorker who grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her first novel, The Unraveling of Bebe Jones, won the 2013 National Indie Excellence Award in African American fiction.  She wrote the novel while a stay-at-home-mom in London and Sydney.  In 2013 Rojé’s script The Weekly was selected for the Australian Writer’s Guild prestigious Pathways Pro...

Aaron R The Poet sponsors multiple poetry contests throughout the year. Chev won the 2022 Winter Edition of the contest. Konscience 101 won 2nd place. Other participants in the contest were Camile. Denine, Indea Hoffman, Miss Kiane, JT Lovegame, Only Keys Will, Sam Oliver, Kyraspeaks, GNRLYLUV (Jess) and Mayangozi and RSenThePoet. Join us for this special program. 

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...

Rojé Augustin is a native New Yorker who grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Her first novel, The Unraveling of Bebe Jones, won the 2013 National Indie Excellence Award in African American fiction.  She wrote the novel while a stay-at-home-mom in London and Sydney.  In 2013 Rojé’s script The Weekly was selected for the Australian Writer’s Guild prestigious Pathways Program.  In May 2020 R...

Diana Howard is a poet and children’s author living along the Missouri River in southeastern South Dakota. She has published two children’s books, Applesauce and Boo Boo La Roo. Her poetry has appeared in several journals and on several websites. She is a member of the South Dakota State Poetry Society and the Poetry Alliance of southwest Florida. Visit her at https://thecottonwoodtree.com/. Winte...

Linda Imbler’s poetry collections include six published paperbacks: Big Questions, Little Sleep, Big Questions, Little Sleep” second edition, Lost and Found, Red Is The Sunrise, and Bus Lights, Travel Sights.  Soma Publishing has published her four e-book collections, The Sea’s Secret Song, Pairings, a hybrid of short fiction and poetry, and That Fifth Element, and Per Quindecim. Her new book, Spi...

Christian J. Collier is a Black, Southern writer, arts organizer, and teaching artist who resides in Chattanooga, TN. A 2015 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellow, he is also the winner of the 2020 ProForma Contest and the 2019-2020 Seven Hills Review Poetry Contest. He is an accomplished artist, public speaker, and educator who has shared the stage with several members of HBO’s Def Poetry cast, legen...

Bill Nevins was born in 1947, grew up near New York City, graduated from Iona College and the University of Connecticut grad. School, lived in New England and Pennsylvania and moved to New Mexico in 1996. He is a life- long peace activist who opposed the Vietnam and Iraq wars and also worked to advance the Irish Peace Process. He is a grandfather and a so-called “gold star” parent whose son died i...

Ashanti Anderson (she/her) is an award-winning writer who advocates for health equity, reproductive justice, disability rights, and criminal justice reform through her poetry, prose, playwriting, and more. A Black disabled queer woman herself, Ashanti’s writing frequently explores the connections between identity and health. Her debut short poetry collection, Black Under, is forthcoming with Black...

Poet, author, editor, translator and artist Sophia Naz has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize; in 2016 for creative nonfiction and in 2018 for poetry.  Her work features  in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Rattle,The Penguin Book of Modern Indian Poets, Berfrois, Singing In The Dark, Meridian, Poetry At Sangam, Poetry International Rotterdam, The Adirondack Review, ...

Jamey Boelhower is a poet and independent author with numerous published works to his name. Not only is Jamey a prolific writer but also he has been an educator for over 20 years. Although his focus is on poetry, Jamey has also made a name for himself with his compelling blogs and popular fictional novel Under the Lights. Jamey’s most recent works include April 2020: A Poetic Time Capsule of Writi...

Heather Corbally Bryant teaches in Writing Program at Wellesley College. She has published an academic book on Elizabeth Bowen, as well as ten books of poetry, the eleventh forthcoming. She is at work on a memoir entitled, Don't Quit Before the Miracle. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Photo credit to Richard Howard

Catfish McDaris has been active in the small press world for 25 years. He shot howitzers 3 years in the army and used to fish and hunt as a boy in New Mexico. Sometimes he goes down to Lake Michigan and feeds seagulls and dreams of mountain horses. He’s working in a wig shop in a high crime area of Milwaukee. Catfish McDaris’ 25 years of published material is in the Special Archives Collection at...

Cathleen Cohen was the 2019 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, PA. A painter and teacher, she founded the We the Poets program at ArtWell, an arts education non-profit in Philadelphia (theartwell.org). Her poems appear in journals such as Apiary, Baltimore Review, Cagibi, East Coast Ink, 6ix, North of Oxford, One Art, Passager, Philadelphia Stories, Rockvale Review and Rogue Agent. Camera Obscura...

Martina McGowan is a physician, poet, writer, public speaker, advocate, and activist in the fight against social, racial, and sexual injustices. She is author of “i am the rage,” a poetic exploration of living inside injustice, February 2021, SourceBooks. 2021 International Book Awards Winner of the Social Change category. Listed by: 1. American Academy of Poets: a. A Poetry Reading List for the 2...

Gad Kaynar-Kissinger is a Professor at the Theatre Arts Department, Tel Aviv University, dramaturg, editor, actor, director and drama translator. He has published eight poetry volumes in Hebrew. His poems were translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Arabic. He bears the ASI Poetry Award from the General Association of Writers in Israel. His English translations were published by Pidgeonhole...

Dr Sam Illingworth is an Associate Professor in Academic Practice at Edinburgh University in the UK, where his work and research involves using poetry to help develop dialogue between different audiences. A published poet and award-winning slam artist, Sam hosts the ‘Poetry of Science’ podcast and is also the founder of Consilience, the world’s first peer-reviewed science & poetry journal. You can...