TalkWithME: Recent Episodes
Marcia Epstein
Emma Smith-Stevens lives & writes in Brooklyn, NY where she’s currently working on a memoir & more. Her writing has appeared in BOMB Magazine, Literary Hub, Hobart, Wigleaf, Subtropics, Conjunctions, & elsewhere. Her novel The Australian was published in 2017 by Dzanc Books. Follow Emma Smith-Stevens on Twitter @ESmithStevens & at http://EmmaSmithStevens.com
John Yamrus is an outstanding human & writer & dog-lover. His home plate is in Pennsylvania. Listen for great poetry & conversation, including about John’s current streak with Concrete Mist Press: Five Dogs, Small Talk, and the to-be-titled poetry collection expected in September 2021. Sorry for the tech challenges in the last 3 minutes of this episode!
BuyTheBooks at www.amazon.com/John-Yamrus/e/B0034PSPT6
Learn more at www.JohnYamrus.com
Matt Borczon is a Poet-Painter-Musician-MartialArtist- Nurse-Husband-Father-USNavySailor from Erie, PA. His newest poetry collection, Today is a Michigan Ghost Town, is from Concrete Mist Press. Follow Matt Borczon & his arts on Facebook.
Eyyup Esen, PhD - aka Shaq Tom, PhD - is a writer, a speaker, a native of Turkey,
and a builder of bridges connecting people of different cultures and faiths.
Follow his writing and speaking at
https://www.facebook.com/I-am-not-Color-Blind-646878992609493
Communicate with him at Eyyupesen@gmail.com
Chicago-based Painter & Musician David Criner joins for conversation about his creative process. And to perform original music, including from his most recent recordings DCKM and Sun Cycle. Follow David & his art at www.DavidCriner.com
From the northeast USA, John Yamrus tells tales about dogs, the prestigious Wakefield Poetry Prize which launched his 50+ year writing career, & more. Learn more & #BuyTheBooks, including the October 2020 release Five Dogs, at www.JohnYamrus.com
Derek Menchan is an absolute delight! A writer, a visual artist, a bassist, a “classically” trained cellist, a singer, and multi-instrumentalist. And a professor of the humanities. He is still riding the crest of a high wave of success from the 2018 release of his self-produced debut album, The Griot Swings the Classics. His highly anticipated follow-up The Incredible will be released October 2020. Catch him if you can at www.DerekMenchan.com and @DerekMenchan on Instagram.
Mark Statman is internationally known, respected, and loved for his poetry and his poetic translations of notable works, including with Pablo Medina, translation of Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York. Mark’s March 2019 poetry collection Exile Home is at the heart of this conversation about “exile” and “home” and poetry. Listen, and then to learn more about Mark, and to buy the books, head to Lavender Ink / Diálogos https://www.lavenderink.org/site/books/mark-statman
Garret C. Tufte was born in 1984 in Winona, Minnesota. He currently resides in Lawrence, which is near Kansas City. Land surveyor by day and one of many characters by night; he spends much of his time writing, carving stone, building contraptions, and playing piano. The Fire Enlightening, his newest book, with poetry and a short play, is from Spartan Press. Buy The Book through your local Indie Bookseller!
Find more at http://www.tuftesvariations.com
Clifford Brooks was born in Athens, Georgia. His first collection of poetry, “The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics” was nominated for a Pulitzer and Georgia Author of the Year. His second poetry collection, “Athena Departs: Gospel of a Man Apart,” was nominated for Georgia Author of the Year. A chapbook of verse, “Exiles of Eden,” serves as a bridge between his two, larger volumes. You can find all his titles at: www.leafgardenpress.com.
Clifford is founder of the Southern Collective Experience which publishes The Blue Mountain Review. He is also the man behind the NPR show, Dante’s Old South.
Learn more at www.southerncollectiveexperience.com
A multi-media artist living near Washington, DC, Jeff Bagato produces poetry and prose as well as electronic music and glitch video. Some of his poetry and visuals have appeared in Chiron Review, Synchronized Chaos, Miscreant, Outlaw Poetry, and Midnight Lane Boutique. Some short fiction has appeared in Gobbet and Horror Sleaze Trash. He has published nineteen books, all available by ordering at your local indie bookseller (or if you must, from the usual online markets) including Savage Magic (poetry) and The Toothpick Fairy (fiction). A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found at http://jeffbagato.com
Crystal Boson writes short, dense poems that lay bare the complicated geographies of the United States and the lives of the Black, queer, and marginalized bodies that dwell within its boundaries. The poems are dark matter, heavy and small, and will rip everything you know apart. She currently writes about, and resides in the midwest.
She is a Cave Canem and Callaloo fellow, and in 2014 was awarded the Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award, which is co-sponsored by Raven Book Store and the Lawrence (KS) Arts Center. She has work published in Blueshift Journal, Pank, Parcel, among other locations. Most recently her work "the bitter map" was selected as the winner of the 2017 Honeysuckle Press Chapbook Contest by Saeed Jones.
Follow Crystal's work, and Buy The Books, at CrystalBoson.com
Christine Howey is an award-winning actor, director, theater critic, transgender activist and performance poet. She was the Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights, Ohio for 2016-2018. Her one-person stage play of poetry about her transgender journey, Exact Change, was turned into a feature film. The film is an official selection of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival in 2018 (Oct. 3-7). Christine has four books of poetry published. She is also a slam poet and competed in the National Poetry Slams in 2013 and 2017. Her newest book is Citizen of Metropolis, from Crisis Chronicles Press, August 2018 Find much more online, and her books at christinehoweypoetry.blogspot.com
Jennie & Brandon & Talk With ME host Marcia share laughter & conversation about Art & Goodness & Fearlessness. Jennie Washburn has a wide range of expertise and experience, and is committed to ongoing learning, personal growth, kindness, and fun! She is an esthetician, the co-host of Soul Salon, and the host of The Goddess Within women's circle, all in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Brandon Eisman / Deja Brooks is a Drag Queen. July 2018, he performed KS Repertory Theatre's "The Legend of Georgia McBride." Brandon stays very busy with Transformations and other events which raise awareness and funds for service organizations; as well as providing Deja's Reading Rainbow story times at Lawrence Public Library. One of Brandon’s goals is to continue to educate and to open minds, to increase support of ALL people.
ME / Marcia Epstein is an advocate for all the arts & a mental health social worker, https://MarciaEpstein.biz
Macey Webb was born in 1981 and adopted by a family in Stilwell, KS, composed of an educator and a jack-of-all-trades. She has inevitably been writing since she has known how, although there was a brief slackening when all her favorite children's literary magazines refused to publish her 12-year-old musings on how enjoyable farm chores can be. In the whirlwind of the last three years, Macey has used poetry to process mental illness, grief, joy, kitties, interconnectedness, and survival. Her involvement with the Percolator Lawrence art space in her home town of Lawrence, KS has led to Macey hosting a variety of wildly unsuccessful Open Mic Words And Poetry events that do little more than annoy local patrons of corporate hotels and restaurants. Truly, she never asked for anything more.
Denise Low, past Poet Laureate of Kansas, is the award-winning author of over 35 books of poetry, memoir, and more. Currently based in Lawrence, KS, she is a 5th generation Kansan with British Isles, German, Delaware (Lenape / Munsee) and other heritages.
Recent books include Ghost Stories of the New West (Kansas Notable Book and The Circle-Best Native American Books); Jackalope (Red Mountain Press); The Turtle’s Beating Heart: One Family’s Story of Lenape Survival (U of NE Press); A Casino Bestiary (Spartan Press); and new release: Shadow Light (Red Mountain Press).
Denise and husband Tom Weso are publishers at Mammoth Publications, specializing in Indigenous American authors. Low provides readings and professional workshops nationally, as well as classes through Baker U. She founded the Creative Writing program at Haskell Indian Nations U, where she taught for 27 years. Low is past board president of the Associated Writers and Writing Programs and she is a contributing editor to the Writer’s Chronicle.
www.DeniseLow.net
April Roller is the co-founder of the innovative, artistic, suicide prevention organization, Cosplay for Hope, based in Missouri. April's life changed on August 4, 2013 when Jeremy, her beloved husband and father of their three children, died by suicide. Jeremy secretly struggled with severe depression and anxiety throughout his 32 years. Yet he also experienced the joys of falling in love with April, and with each of their three young children. In honor of Jeremy, April and their sons became advocates for suicide prevention and mental health awareness. April's advocacy included founding the student chapter of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at U. of Central MO, as well as co-founding Cosplay For Hope.
Learn more at www.facebook.com/pg/CosplayForHope
Lindsey Doolittle is a speaker, children’s book author, artist, and suicide loss survivor. After her late husband, Sgt. Brett Doolittle of the KC, KS PD, ended his life in 2015 she became a suicide prevention advocate through public speaking and art. Her children’s book "Goodnight Mr. Vincent van Gogh" offers a gentle way of explaining a loved one’s suicide without sweeping it under the rug. August & September 2018 in Kansas City. she her traveling art exhibit "Faces After Suicide" debuts. It features ink drawings, suicide prevention resources and letters written by loss survivors.
Learn more at https://abovetherug.com
Jennie & Brandon & Talk With ME host Marcia share laughter & conversation about Art for Opening Minds & Hearts & Creating Goodness. Jennie Washburn has a wide range of expertise and experience, and is committed to ongoing learning, personal growth, kindness, and fun! She is an esthetician, the co-host of Soul Salon, and the host of The Goddess Within women's circle, all in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Brandon Eisman / Deja Brooks is a Drag Queen. July 2018, she is featured in KS Repertory Theatre's "The Legend of Georgia McBride." She stays very busy with Transformations and other events which raise awareness and funds for service organizations; as well as providing Deja's Reading Rainbow story times at Lawrence Public Library. One of Brandon’s goals is to continue to educate and to open minds, to increase support of ALL people.
ME / Marcia Epstein is an advocate for all the arts & a mental health social worker, https://MarciaEpstein.biz
Julio Montalvo Valentin is the author of two chapbooks, Don’t Give up the Ship and Ship Lost. His poetry is published in online journals including Thimble Literary Magazine and Plurality Press. Late 2018 his not-yet titled chapbook on Rice is anticipated from NightBallet Press. No longer an editor and publisher, Julio is busy working on another new project, converting a school bus into a poetry caravan for his upcoming poetry tour. Until then, you just may find him at a mic in Buffalo, NY.
Dramaturg Lusie Cuskey and Drag Queen Brandon Eisman / Deja Brooks excite us about The Summer Of Drag, Summer 2018 at Kansas Repertory Theatre in Lawrence, KS. "La Cage Aux Folles" promises an evening full of lashes, laughter and ultimately love. In "The Legend of Georgia McBride," sometimes learning to be a man requires learning to be a really exquisite woman. The shows are performed alternating nights from July 13 - 29, 2018. Info at http://kutheatre.com/performances
Kay Duganator was born and raised in Topeka, KS. She returned there after a brief tour of the Flint Hills during her time at Emporia State University. After her day job, Kay is free to pursue her arts: poetry, fiction and storytelling. She hosts Topeka's NOTO Story Slam and frequently reads at Topeka's monthly Speak Easy Open Mic. She is also a member of the SFPA: Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association.
Kay was recently nominated for the 9th annual Dubceez Underground Entertainment Awards as Best Female Spoken Word Artist and nominated Best Newcomer in the 2nd Annual Music and More Poetry Awards. Her works can be found in Quivira, The Best of ESU, The Tin Lunchbox, The Blue Mountain Review, and Ichobods Speak Out. Her first chapbook "The Beast Within" was released January 2018. Follow Kay Duganator's art and events on social media.
Nathanael William Stolte is the author of six chapbooks: A Beggars Book of Poems (Last First Press, 2015), Bumblebee Petting Zoo (CWP Collective Press, 2015), Fools’ Song (CWP Collective Press, 2016), Origami Creature (Ghost City Press, 2017), A Beggars Prayer Book (Night Ballet Press, 2017), and Ramshackle American (Analogue Submissions Press, 2018). He was voted best poet in Buffalo (Artvoice, 2016). You'll find him featured in poetry readings in Buffalo and far beyond; and published in many poetry journals
Stolte is the Acquisitions Editor of Cringe-Worth Poets Collective Press www.cwpcollectivepress.com Nathanael and the press will be featured at KC FountainVerse, October 2018. He is a madcap, flower-punk, D.I.Y. Buffalo bred & corn-fed poet. He responds to emails at nathanaelstolte@yahoo.com
Ronda Miller is a Life Coach who works with clients who have lost someone to homicide. Miller is the current State President of Kansas Authors Club (1/01/2018 - 12/31/2019). She has also served as the club’s Poetry Contest Manager (2011-2014); District 2 President (2015 – 2017); and state Vice President (2016 – 2017). When Miller isn’t coaching clients, volunteering time to Kansas Authors Club, or writing poetry, she is busy learning life skills from children with special needs. Ronda's books of poetry include “Going Home: Poems from My Life”, “MoonStain”, and “WaterSigns” (2015 and 2017, published by Meadowlark-Books). Her poems are also included in many anthologies, including in 2018: "Kansas Time-Place: An Anthology of Heartland Poetry"; "Flash Poems: Poetry and Prompts"; and "365 Days Poetry Anthology, Volume 2". Her memoir "Gun Memories", is coming in September 2018.
Find Ronda Miller's readings, workshops, and books at Poet's Page for Ronda Miller on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/146522715536360/
Who is Jason Preu? Poetry, fiction, fake wikipedia entries…Inspired by office culture, the philosophies of dependent origination, Dada, no mind, and rap music, Jason writes to elicit smiles, tickle kundalinis, instigate internal riots, and showcase the strangeness of otherwise pedestrian situations. His recent books include More Poems About Purple Wizards and Neon Bright Exceptionalisms (EMP, 2017) and the illuminated poem To Grow A Hole the Size of Everything (collaboration with Jeanette Powers, EMP, 2017) . In 2016, Jason’s performative collaboration with composer and fellow Charlotte Street Foundation resident, Brian Padavic, was the subject of the feature film The Avocado Among Other Fruits, Live from Prospero's. Jason is also one of the Head Honchos of FountainVerse: KC Small Press Poetry Fest, October 12-14, 2018. Info at www.facebook.com/fountainverse/ and https://www.fountainverse.com/ Catch Jason if you can at https://jasonpreu.com/
Anthony Boynton is a Georgia native and doctoral student of English at the University of Kansas. Boynton's academic work normally focuses on and/or critiques race, gender, and popular culture. Essential to this work is the 4:44 Syllabus, an electronic storehouse that offers sources to unpack Jay-Z's 2017 summer album. The 4:44 Syllabus https://issuu.com/adboyntonii/docs/syllabus_final Boynton's creative work narrates stories of those we often hush, the ones we often need to hear most about the future, about emotion, about pain, and joy.
Follow Anthony Boynton at https://medium.com/@ADBoyntonII
Andrew Farkas' "Self-Titled Debut", a collection of fictions, won the Subito Press Prose Contest in 2009. His work has appeared in North American Review, The Cincinnati Review, and The Florida Review, among other places. His story, "The Ballad of Ailin' Alan Smithee," was a Special Mention in Pushcart Prize XXXV, and his essay, "Somewhere Better Than This Place," was a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2013. He holds degrees from Kent State University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Alabama, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a fiction editor at The Collagist and an English professor at Washburn University.
Tessa Gratton is the author of the Blood Journals duology, the Gods of New Asgard series, and books on writing fantasy for teen writers. She lives in Lawrence, KS with her wife, is currently a lead writer on Serial Box Publishing's show Tremontaine, and is the author of the upcoming YA fantasy Strange Grace from McElderry, as well as the adult fantasy The Queens of Innis Lear from Tor. She is the associate director of Madcap Retreats. Visit her at tessagratton.com
Linzi Garcia can be found frolicking through sunflower fields, cemeteries, and bars across the states. She has been featured in "Treading Unique Paths: Young Writers Anthology" (VerbalEyze Press, 2016), "50 Haikus: Issue #12" (Prolific Press, 2017), and on the "Philosophical Idiot" poetry website (November, 2017). Her work will also be featured in the upcoming Blue Hour anthology.
Linzi Garcia's first poetry collection "Thank You" was published by Spartan Press KC in 2018 If you're lucky, you can even find a haiku of hers in the gumball machine at The Raven Book Store in Lawrence, KS or perhaps hidden in a nook in a tree near you.
Linzi currently resides in Lindsborg, KS, with Littleton, CO as her next home base. Wherever she lives, she's dreaming of Lawrence Ferlinghetti and New Orleans. She is always looking for invitations to new places where she can absorb new poetry, perspective, incomparable experiences, and quality whiskey.
Follow the adventures of Linzi Garcia on Facebook @linzi.garcia.5 and Instagram @linzithelion
Jennie Washburn & Talk With ME host Marcia Epstein share their conversation about Spring, Goodness, Community, BadAssery, and Laughter! Jennie has a wide range of expertise and experience, and is committed to ongoing learning, personal growth, kindness, and fun! She is a licensed esthetician, the co-host with Nan Loyd-Leffingwell of Soul Salon, and the host of The Goddess Within women's circle in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Host ME is an advocate for all the arts & a mental health social worker, https://MarciaEpstein.biz
Cei Loofe is a writer, a public speaker and a person of service, currently based in Omaha, NE. He started all these pursuits decades ago in another life time and continues them today. Loofe’s body of written work includes 20 years as a freelance reporter, chapbooks, work in several anthologies, and his own titles: house of bricks...made of straw, keeping alive our dead and from the very first day. Loofe volunteers with the city arts project, Omaha’s Youth Emergency Center, and sits on organizational boards throughout the city.
Although Cei Loofe is very busy living life, you'll occasionally find sightings of him at www.facebook.com/CBairdLoofe/
Robert Hansen is the person behind Poems-For-All, a project that for the last 17 years has been designing and publishing miniature books of poetry that are scattered like seeds out into the world. To date, he has published over 1,500 different little books, no bigger than the size of a business card, featuring poets from all around the world, including Scotland, England, Pakistan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and The Philippines. The series features poems in English, French, German, Catalan, and Gaelic. Instagram: www.instagram.com/scattered.like.seeds Facebook: www.facebook.com/Poems-For-All-7169297601 Official website: www.poems-for-all.com
Simone Savannah was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. and currently resides in Lawrence, KS. She is the author of a new chapbook, Like Kansas (Big Lucks, 2018). She is a 2017 finalist for the Rita Dove Award in Poetry. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Big Lucks, GlitterMob, The Fem, Powder Keg, The Continental Review, and The Pierian. Simone holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Kansas, where her research areas were: 20th century African American women's literature, black feminist criticism, and African American poetry.Learn more about Simone Savannah's poetry on numerous online poetry journals, on Twitter @PerfectVerse22 and at https://www.SimoneSavannah.com/
Brandon Whitehead is a misanthropic and reclusive creature seldom seen in public unless there is free beer. His poetry collection Thieves, Pharaohs and Mexican Daredevils is available for cash-money or decent whiskey. Brandon is a member of the FountainVerse group; he is one of the organizers of this October 12-14, 2018 FountainVerse KC Small Press Poetry Fest which features poets from across North America. Brandon is also the host of The Speakeasy @ Swordfish Tom's Poetry and Spoken Word Review in KC.
The Speakeasy @ Swordfish Tom's https://www.facebook.com/speakeasypoetryatswordfishtoms/ FountainVerse https://www.facebook.com/fountainverse/ and https://www.fountainverse.com/
Listen, be inspired, and laugh as Assistant Director Lusie Cuskey and female lead Sarah VanZwoll describe the production and the personal journeys that led them to major roles in Spring Awakening.
In this pulse-pounded rock musical adapted from the controversial 1891 German play, young men and women struggle to define themselves within a repressive culture. A smash hit on Broadway and winner of 8 Tony Awards. KU's University Theatre April 2018 production of Spring Awakening features a (mostly) student cast as well as an eight-piece, all-student band, and choreography by Michelle Heffner Hayes, Dance Dept Chair. http://KUTheatre.com/Spring-Awakening
Matt Spezia was recently named a Prince of Poetry. He is a national powerhouse of Lyrical Ability, combining his 3-time national award winning Poetry Style, Kansas City Hip Hop, and Thespian Experience. Spezia uses his platform and his art to promote self confidence and betterment, social awareness, and cultural change.
Spezia has worked to directly influence youth in 26 different school districts. He hosts multiple weekly national award winning Radio Shows. Spezia has 2 Albums and a Book published and has appeared in an anthology CD and book. He was recently signed by CX1DJS and E&E Entertainment. His third CD “Babylon” releases June 25.
Currently based in Topeka, Kansas, Matt Spezia regularly hosts Poetry Events and Performs his Poetry across the Midwest and more. All of this while being a proud Washburn University Ichabod. Follow @MattSpezia913 on Twitter and Instagram; plus www.facebook.com/Matt-Spezia-176173993172520/ and http://MattSpeziaMusic.com/
Lexi is the founder of Hope Through Headphones. She is also a music-lover, a person living with mental illness, and a student pursuing a degree in Marketing at Washburn U in Topeka, KS.
Hope Through Headphones is a movement dedicated to providing mental health education and support to students using music to connect and inspire. HTH works with high school and college campuses to create social, welcoming events raising awareness of mental illnesses, how to help yourself, and how to help others. HTH is hosting the first annual Mental Music Scene on Saturday 4/7/2018 in Topeka, KS at Lake Shawnee. Music by 13 artists/groups. Food trucks on site. Plus info tables and speakers about living well with mental illness. Tix available online and at the event. “Stick it to the Stigma!” Follow Lexi's adventures at https://www.facebook.com/HopeTHeadphones/
John Burroughs is a nationally-touring poet and performer from the Cleveland area and the author of over a dozen books including Water Works, Electric Company, Beat Attitude and The Eater of the Absurd. His latest, Loss and Foundering, will be released April 6th by NightBallet Press (nightballet.com). In various past lives, John served as playwright-in-residence for the Ministry of Theatre at Marion Correctional Institution, his blog was ranked #1 on MySpace, he won the first poetry slam he ever competed in, and he co-founded (with Dianne Borsenik) the infamous Lix and Kix Poetry Extravaganza and almost-annual Snoetry: A Winter Wordfest. John has edited numerous volumes, including the Oct Tongue poetry series, Cheap and Easy Magazine and the anti-censorship anthology Fuck Poetry, and he is probably most proud of his work since 2008 as the founding editor of Crisis Chronicles Press.
Follow John Burroughs to www.crisischronicles.com
Monte grew up in a musical family, and began playing guitar and writing songs as a young child. He has served as a teacher, coach, principal, professor, trainer and consultant. He earned Master's and PhD in school leadership. Monte's passion is bringing people together through collaborative songwriting about themes important to them. He does this in work with youth in schools across the country, co-workers in corporations, participants in national and international conferences, and more. On the creative side, he’s co-authored eight books and composed over 200 published songs, including “Check Your Attitude”, featured on the 2012 Grammy Award winning Best Children’s Album, “All About Bullies.” Over one thousand performances, workshops and leadership presentations have left audiences laughing, singing, and applauding across North America, Asia and Europe.
Follow Monte Selby's music and more at www.YouYube.com/user/MonteSelby/ and at www.MonteSelby.com/
Perry and family live in rural Douglas County, KS after adventures that carried him to Vietnam, Mexico, and a variety of states (of mind & of USA). He is a Vietnam veteran, an artist, a worker dedicated to lifting youth out of crisis, a loving husband and more.
Perry is a person of many experiences and a prolific writer of many genres: novels "The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo" and "Hard Love", co-writer of co-wrote two plays in the anthology "Annabelle"; several collections of poetry; and a collection of short stories. Perry's visual art includes sculpture, drawings, paintings, and photography. Perry is a board member of South Mass Art Guild in Lawrence, KS, and Vice President of the Kansas Author’s Club District No. 2. Follow Kansas Authors Club at http://KansasAuthorsClub.weebly.com/ Follow South Mass Art Guild (of Lawrence, KS) at www.facebook.com/pg/southmassart/
September 2018, Perry's novel "The Hero versus Me and Monkey Jo" is scheduled for release by Anamcara Press LLC. Keep looking online for that coming-soon place to follow Artist Perry L. Shepard!
Born in Michigan, John Gary Brown resides half-time in Lawrence, KS and half-time in Creede, CO. He received his MFA from University of Washington in 1970. He has spent time teaching and traveling and is currently working asa professional artist – mostly painting, still photographing, and writing a memoir.
“I believe that mankind’s marks upon the earth are superficial and fleeting, and I try to depict and celebrate what is truly elemental in the landscape — the breathing of life into great watery vistas, seen through shifting, atmospheric veils, or the falling of sun light onto undisturbed dust.”
Through photography, Brown documented late-1960's and 1970's "freaks" (counterculture) of Lawrence, KS. Many of his photos are included in the exhibit "Free State, Free Spirits: Lawrence’s 1960s Counterculture" at the Watkins Museum of History, Lawrence, KS from February 23–June 16, 2018.
More John Gary Brown at www.JohnGaryBrown.com
Jennie Washburn & Talk With ME host Marcia Epstein share their conversation about Life, Love, Death and Laughter! Jennie has a wide range of expertise and experience, and is committed to ongoing learning, personal growth, kindness, and fun! She is a licensed esthetician, the co-host with Nan Loyd-Leffingwell of Soul Salon, and the host of The Goddess Within women's circle in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Host ME is an advocate for all the arts & a mental health social worker, https://MarciaEpstein.biz
David is a dramaturg, actor, PhD student, and more, headed toward teaching dramaturgy. David shares stories of family, appreciation for those who laid the groundwork for being able to marry his husband, Mexican heritage, and more. David was born and raised in KC, KS, and has tried to leave the state numerous times, but always finds himself coming back "home." He is now in the Theatre Department at Kansas University. David has had the privilege of working as a dramaturg for the past five years. The first show he dramaturged was the Rocky Horror Show and he was hooked immediately! Dramaturgy is that comfortable space where David can unleash his inner nerd and celebrate the two things he loves: research and practice.
As dramaturg for "Perfect Arrangement," David’s research and education of the cast and crew enhance their performances. The play by Topher Payne, is an “acerbic comedy of love and marriage” that “explores the challenges of maintaining a queer family during the McCarthy era.” Performances are from Saturday, March 31–Sunday, April 8, 2018. Tickets and info at http://kutheatre.com/perfect-arrangement
MG Salazar is a Native/Latinx poet, artist, business owner and activist living in Kansas City, Missouri. They have published two books: "If You See My Ghosts Like I Do" (Spartan Press) and "Striking the Black Snake: Poems from Standing Rock", written from Oceti Sakowin, North Dakota, at the height of the No DAPL movement. They were recently awarded an Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC to publish their third book, "Tiny Bits of Flesh". Salazar owns the vintage shop "The Skullery Maid", and is dedicated in creating a safer space for people to express themselves through fashion. Salazaris also a founding member of Brown Voices/Brown Pulse and the Resistencia reading series, both which seek to highlight black and brown voices. For more about The Skullery Maid: https://www.facebook.com/theskullerymaid Find more of many things MG Salazar at http://mgsalazar.com/
Rhina was born in the Dominican Republic in 1932, has lived in the U.S.A. since 1939, grew up in NYC, and now lives in Newburyport, MA. She earned a B.A. from Hunter College, where she majored in English and minored in Humanities and Latin, and has a Master of Science in Education from Queens College. Espaillat taught high school English in NYC for several years, most of that in Queens. She was a founding member of the Fresh Meadows Poets, a literary group still active in the borough.
In 1990 Espaillat moved to Newburyport with her late husband, Alfred Moskowitz, a well known and beloved sculptor and teacher (deceased in 2016). For many years she coordinated the Newburyport Art Association's Annual Poetry Contest and organized poetry events of the yearly Newburyport Literary Festival. She is a co-founder and member of the Powow River Poets, and has been instrumental in bringing bilingual poetry readings to the North of Boston area, and bilingual activities shared by area high school students.
Espaillat writes poetry and prose both in English and in her native Spanish, and translates from and into both of her languages. Her work has appeared on many internet sites and magazines, and in over seventy anthologies in both languages. She is a frequent reader and speaker in the Boston area, and conducts workshops, as visiting poet, at colleges and universities on many states. Espaillat has published thirteen collections, and has received many awards throughout her career thus far.
Buddy Wakefield is an internationally renowned, world champion spoken word artist; actor; writer; elated son of a guitar repair woman; wingman of Giant Saint Everything; who pays attention, and practices Vipassana meditation. He follows his excitement! In the spring of 2001, Buddy left his position at a biomedical firm in Gig Harbor, WA, sold or gave away everything he owned, moved to the small town of Honda Civic and set out to live for a living, touring poetry venues. Buddy spent most of his poetry career based in Seattle, WA, and now claims Los Angeles, CA as home. He is an author at Write Bloody Publishing, and is published internationally in dozens of books with work used to win multiple national collegiate debate and forensics competitions. He has performed poetry across North America, Zimbabwe, Scotland, Australia, and more. Buddy delivers raw, rounded, disarming performances of humor and heart. Oh, the places he will go as an actor! Follow the adventures of Buddy Wakefield at https://buddywakefield.com
Jennie Washburn & Talk With ME host Marcia Epstein share their conversation about Art & Mental Health, Making Decisions Wisely, Self-Compassion for Propelling Oneself Forward, and Laughter! Jennie has a wide range of expertise and experience, and is committed to ongoing learning, personal growth, kindness, and fun! She is a licensed esthetician, the co-host with Nan Loyd-Leffingwell of Soul Salon, and the host of The Goddess Within women's circle in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Host ME is an advocate for all the arts & a mental health social worker, https://MarciaEpstein.biz
Alex Johnston lives and works in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate NY where he is also a full time student headed toward his PhD in Western Literature. ‘On Fire and Roses’ is his first full length collection of poetry; pieces from the book have appeared in several online and print publications across the country. His second book, (still untitled) is in the works and scheduled to be released winter 2018-2019. Aside from poetry and academia, Johnston is also a professional violinist and former student of The Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, NY. He now teaches both violin and guitar part-time. Find news from Alex on Lummox Press https://www.lummoxpress.com/lc/alex-johnston/ & on Facebook at @alex.johnston.7777
Creed lives in Lawrence, Kansas where he has very recently worked as a communications manager and researcher for Kansas Progress Institute, a general Laborer, and is now an Early Childhood teacher's assistant at Kansas's only Waldorf School, Prairie Moon. He runs Enduring Puberty Press, an earnestly unprofessional effort specializing in correspondence art. Its magazine is published annually. The mail art is all year round. Creed Shepard’s poems have been published in Smelt Money, Beecher’s, HypocriteReader and others. Rapport Privilege is his fourth chapbook of poems. Find Creed and more at Enduring Puberty Press https://miuseofheterolinea.wordpress.com/ and on Facebook @EnduringPubertyPress
Poet Jen Harris is a professional public speaker, spoken word poet, activist, published author, founder and former host of Kansas City Poetry Slam. Nationally recognized in the aforementioned, she works as an advocate to incorporate spoken word poetry as a form of peer-based mental health therapy.
Harris recently completed a year-long writing residency through Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, moved to Denver, is finalizing two books; Lust & Disdain & Unconfirmed Certainties, was featured at Write About Now, Button Poetry, and presented at TEDxKU on Sept 30, 2017.
Find news of Poet Jen Harris on all social media @poetjenharris and at www.poetjenharris.com
Heather Christie grew up in rural Pennsylvania and, at age seventeen, took off for NYC in hopes of becoming a movie star. Flash forward several decades… a couple degrees (including a MFA in Creative Writing), a bunch of cats, two kids and one husband later, she’s back in Pennsylvania. Heather is a wife, mom, amateur cook, exercise freak, and avid reader. When she’s not doing all that, she’ selling houses, writing books and blogging at www.HeatherChristieBooks.com. Kirkus Reviews calls Heather’s debut novel, What The Valley Knows, “A taut, compelling family tale.” Her work has been published by Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, Mamapedia,The Good Men Project, Grown & Flown, Baltimore Child, Parent.co, Bon Bon Break, Her View From Home, the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, Sammichs and Psych Meds, and The Lighter Side of Real Estate. Heather was a member of the 2017 Listen To Your Mother cast. Say “hello” on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Follow her at www.HeatherChristieBooks.com
Jennie Washburn & Talk With ME host Marcia Epstein share their conversation about Art & Mental Health, Life & Death, Making Decisions Wisely, with, yes, Laughter! Jennie has a wide range of expertise and experience, and is committed to ongoing learning, personal growth, kindness, and fun! She is a licensed esthetician, the co-host with Nan Loyd-Leffingwell of Soul Salon, and the host of The Goddess Within women’s circle in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Host ME is an advocate for all the arts & a mental health social worker, https://MarciaEpstein.biz
Samantha Slupski is a poet and mental health advocate based in the heart of the Midwest. She first stepped on stage in December 2015 at Uptown Arts Bar in Kansas City, Missouri, and stage has been her home ever since. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Poetic Underground, Slam Master of Kansas City Poetry Slam, co-director of Chameleon Arts, a board member for Fountainverse, the Kansas City Small Press Poetry Fest, an ARTS KC grant recipient, and was voted the 2nd best spoken word artist in The Pitch’s Best of 2017. She has been published in multiple online publications, her poetry has been featured on Write About Now Youtube channel, and her first book, “What Sits Between my Veins” was published a year ago through EMP Press. She has been a competitor at Texas Grand Slam 2017 and 2018, attended the 2017 National Poetry Slam, and is attending the Women on the World Poetry Slam in March of 2018. Her Spring 2018 tour starts in March 2018, which spans over seven different cities. She sees the importance of poetry and the beautiful spaces it creates and has dedicated her life to making poetry important for everyone.
Follow Samantha Slupski at http://www.samanthaslupskipoetry.com/
Mish (Eileen) Murphy lives with her husband and three dogs near Tampa, Florida. She takes photos & creates photo arts; writes poetry & book reviews; and teaches literature and English at Polk State College, Lakeland, Florida. Mish graduated with a B.A. from New College, Sarasota, in French and Russian. She has a J.D. degree summa cum laude from Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, Florida. And her M.A. is in Fiction Writing/Teaching of Writing from Columbia College, Chicago. Her recent book reviews are published in Cultural Weekly, BLARB, Tinderbox Journal, Glass, Crab Fat, and Rain Taxi. Find her reviews for Cultural Weekly at https://www.culturalweekly.com/author/eileen_murphy/ Her poetry has been widely published in literary journals including, recently, in Rogue Agent, Tinderbox Journal (nominated for Pushcart Prize), Thirteen Myna Birds, Writing In A Woman’s Voice, Deaf Poet’s Society, The American Journal of Poetry, The Thought Erotic, Yes Poetry, The Open Mouse, and a number of others. Eileen Murphy’s photography has been published in journals such as Peacock Journal, Tiferet Journal, The Indian River Review, and Calyx Journal, and shown in galleries in Florida and New Mexico.
Follow Mish (Eileen) Murphy at https://MishMurphy.com for her blogs about her latest poems, articles, reviews, and photos.
Joseph Shields was born outside Milwaukee, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and later from Loyola University of Chicago. He spent two and a half years in the Peace Corps in Jamaica from 1990-1992 before relocating to Austin, Texas with his wife (also a former PC volunteer). His poems have appeared in a number of different poetry magazines, including Slipstream, Sheila-Na-Gig, Pearl, Chiron Review, among others, and he has a few of chapbooks in print (Wisconsin Daze, No Escape and Other Poems, and W9GRF and the Dance that Never Ends). In spring 1996, Joseph founded Nerve Cowboy Magazine, with a kindred spirit, Jerry Hagins, and 22 years later we are getting ready to release Issue 44. He plays in a band called The Counterfactual, along with three other social scientists (as this is what we do for day jobs). Being involved in art, poetry, and music makes the day job a bit easier to manage.
Counterfactual audio can be heard on Soundcloud or Bandcamp here:
Full set of audio on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/counterfactualatx
A subset of songs are on Bandcamp: http://counterfactual.bandcamp.com
Nerve Cowboy info at: https://www.facebook.com/Nerve-Cowboy-240567569317649/
Since 1970 John Yamrus has published 26 volumes of poetry, 2 novels and one volume of non-fiction. He has also had nearly 2,000 poems published in print magazines around the world. Selections of his poetry have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Swedish, French, Japanese, Italian, Romanian, Albanian, Estonian and Bengali. His poetry is regularly taught in colleges and universities. His newest book, MEMORY LANE, a memoir looking back at his childhood growing up in a Pennsylvania coal mining community, is already a highly-praised addition to his published work. Buy MEMORY LANE and more at Epic Rites Press, www.EpicRites.org
Follow John Yamrus at www.JohnYamrus.com
Jennie Washburn & Talk With ME host Marcia Epstein share their conversation about Gratitude, Planning Goodness, Female Impersonators, the Intersection of Art & Mental Health, Connections, Intentions for 2018, & Love. Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician who hosts The Goddess Within women’s circle in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Jennie also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Host ME is a social worker specializing in suicide prevention, as well as support for trans and gender nonconforming people. Learn more at https://MarciaEpstein.biz
James grew up in Sweetwater, Illinois. He left home at the age of 13 and quickly learned how to survive on the streets under the guidance of thieves, prostitutes, junkies, con men, drug dealers, murderers and other characters. At the age of 14, he began hopping freight trains across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Soon after he joined a gang and began walking the circle of the revolving door we call the system. It was there he was introduced to literature and poetry by his cell mate who also encouraged him to start writing. Upon his release, six years ago, he began to take writing seriously. He attended open mic’s and met other like minded individuals who shared his passion for the written word. His work can be found online and in print in such places as The blood machine, gutter eloquence, five 2 one, Midnight Lane Gallery, Spokane shorties, Railtown Almanac and most recently Brenton Booth’s Asylum Floor. James also has a chapbook “A city under siege” which is no longer in print. If you would like to contact James Decay, you can do so via Facebook.
Johnny Longfellow is the editor of the online poetry sites, BAD ACID LABORATORIES, INC, https://badacidlaboratories.wordpress.com/ and Midnight Lane Boutique https://midnightlanegalleryii.wordpress.com/. His own poetry has appeared in a variety of small press journals, including The Barefoot Muse, The Blue Mountain Review, The Five Two, The Literary Hatchet, The Road Not Taken, The Rotary Dial, and other venues. For over twenty years he has served as a mentor to Newburyport, MA high school students through the Poetry Soup reading program, and has also been a featured poet at The Newburyport Literary Festival, The Powow River Poets’ Reading Series, and The Hyla Brook Poets’ Reading Series, as held at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, NH.
You can find links to some of his published poetry at Heeeeeere’s Johnny . . . Longfellow, That Is https://midnightlanegalleryii.wordpress.com/heeeeeeres-johnny-longfellow-that-is/ and follow him on Twitter @BAD_ACID_LABS.
Julie is a mixed media artist, creative writer, creative activist and veteran arts educator based near Berea, KY. She has decades of experience teaching college level studio art and graphic design, as well as many local, regional and national exhibitions to her credit. She earned BFA and MFA degrees in traditional studio art at Northern Illinois University, but her professional and creative work has always touched upon and explored anything that illustrates her interest in dissolving boundaries and celebrating connections between art and other disciplines. In 2013 her career path changed dramatically when she became a teaching artist, bringing visual art as an engagement and empowerment tool to marginalized individuals including elders, at-risk youth and the homeless via innovative, collaborative, economic empowerment and public art projects that build awareness of and connections between the under-served and their communities. In September 2017, Julie was instrumental in EKU’s Art Vention community art project for healing for people affected by suicide.
Follow Julie Struck at www.facebook.com/ArtSpeakArtForEmpowerment & http://WarriorWoman-Productions.com
Rob Plath has saturated the underground literary.scene with his writing for the past 25 years. He is the author of A Bellyful of Anarchy, There’s A Fist Dunked In Blood Beating In My Chest, Death Is Dead, Hearts For Brains, An Ax For The Frozen Sea, The Skeleton Sutras & In Rot We Trust, Swallowtude & many more. Find much Rob Plath writing thanks to Wolfgang Carstens of Epic Rites Press, and much powerful illustration of Rob’s words thanks to Janne Karlsson of Svensk Apache. Rob continues his literary onslaught with his forthcoming monster poetry collection My Soul Is A Broken Down Valise due out in 2018. Follow Rob Plath at www.RobPlath.com & www.facebook.com/rob.plath.54 & Twitter @rob_plath
Trina is a Certified Yoga instructor, Lifestyle Coach, Sign Language Interpreter, Motivational Speaker, Workshop Leader and Author. In 2010, she started her coaching business: Your Life in Balance. She coaches individuals to live fully awake, aware, and alive using an integrative practice of mindfulness. And, she’s thrilled to announce that her first book, “When The Shoe Doesn’t Fit.” is scheduled for release as e-book in December 2017, in print January 2018.
Follow Trina @TrinaSchartzWhenTheShoeDoesntFit on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram
Timothy Burns moved to Lawrence, KS two years ago after earning a bachelor’s degree from Kansas Wesleyan University in both Theatre and Communications. Tim quickly became very active in the area arts community, including several productions at Theatre Lawrence, most recently Rocky Horror. He spends most of his time in the performance space of The Guild Theatre doing Improv and parody scripted readings. He was also a part of Michael Dieker’s play RUN which premiered in July 2017 and has acted in several KU student film projects. He is currently endeavoring to bring shows in the style of old time radio drama to the Lawrence community. Follow Tim at The Guild Theater – Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/LawrenceGuildTheater/ and LFK Radio Hour https://www.facebook.com/LFK-Radio-Hour-1077050472397608/
J.J. (1976 – ?) has given up the farm life and is currently trapped in the suburbia of Brookville, Ohio. He’s been widely published over the last 22 years, most recently at The Commonline Journal, Misfit Magazine, Horror Sleaze Trash, In Between Hangovers and The Beatnik Cowboy. J.J.’s first full length collection of his poems, Sofisticated White Trash, was published by Interior Noise Press and is available wherever people buy books anymore. You can find J.J. most days on his highly entertaining blog, evil delights at http://evildelights.blogspot.com
Megan is the publisher at Trembling Pillow Press (tremblingpillowpress.com). She also hosts the Blood Jet Poetry Reading Series in New Orleans and is the co-founder of the New Orleans Poetry Festival (nolapoetry.com). She has been most recently published in Jacket Magazine, Callaloo, New Laurel Review, Trickhouse, and the Big Bridge New Orleans Anthology. Her poetry and prose reviews have been published in Tarpaulin Sky, Gently Read Lit, Big Bridge, and Rain Taxi. She has three books: Memorial + Sight Lines (2008), Sound and Basin (2013) and Commitment (2015) published by Lavender Ink. She has two recent chapbooks: Dollbaby (Horseless Press, 2013) and i always wanted to start over (Nous-Zot Press, 2014). Horse Less Press released her Twin Peaks chap, Sleepwalk With Me, in 2016. Her fourth collection, BASIC PROGRAMMING, will be released by Lavender Ink in 2018.
Joan lives in Topeka, KS where she works as a social worker. She has been a featured poet for the monthly Speak Easy Open Mic in Topeka and at readings at the Raven Book Store in Lawrence. She has appeared as an open mic participant at Prospero’s Books in Kansas City and has been a featured poet at the annual Kansas City Poetry Throwdown since its inception. Joan is the author of two chapbooks “This Must Be Jazz” and “Musings in Feminine Blue.” Her poetry collection “Murmurs from Beneath the Merry-Go-Round,” was just released by Spartan Press, book #34 in the Prospero’s POP POETRY Series. Currently, she is working on a manuscript for Asinimali Publications to be released in December 2017.
Jim is a national Poetic-Treasure. He is a writer, a veteran, and a community-activist, based in Lawrence, Kansas since the 1960’s. His friends, colleagues, and influencers include Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, as well as poets across the USA through the decades. Jim is the author of many poetry books & chapbooks including the recent: A Yearbook 1941-2016 (Shirt Pocket Press, 2016); This Here (theenk Books, 2015); and All That: The Collected Chapbooks (ManyPenny Press, 2008). His poetry has also been published in so many print and online journals based in the USA and beyond. Jim has been contributing editor to several journals over the years including Grist, Loose Gravel, Avec, and First Intensity. He edited and published a zine called Smelt Money thru thirteen issues in the 1990’s. He has curated or co-hosted several reading series in Lawrence starting at the Mass St. Co-op, circa 1968; the first poetry open mic-slam’s in Lawrence, KS at The Flamingo (strip club) in the early 1990’s; and the on-going Taproom Poetry Series. Jim is currently helping KU’s Spencer Research Library build their collection on the history of poetry in this region. Follow Jim McCrary wherever you can!
Each month, Jennie joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. Our 11/3 conversation included: Art, Firsts, Vulnerability, Suicide, Grief, Self Care, FINE. Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & hosts The Goddess Within (women’s circle in Lawrence, KS www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Jennie also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie on Facebook & at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Will lives in a kerosene-lit cabin, miles off any paved road, in the northern California foothills. He grew up in Oakland under the shadow of the Beats and attended UC Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement. From 1970 to 1995 Will published over 200 poems infused with the Grand Canyon and mountain forests on the sassy, sexy side of spirituality, filled with a sly humor, condensed form, depth of content, detailing the culture that left the cities in the 1970’s for a more archaic path with a heart. His books include: Passes for Human, Coyote Run, I Hate the Men You Sleep With, The Only Way to Reduce Crime Is to Make Fewer Acts Illegal, Dr. Montoya’s Medicine and The One That Got Away (Six Ft. Swells Press, 2008). He also performs regularly in Europe, where his work is published by http://Engstler-Verlat.de/ His latest collection (in English) is Arrows Go Thru Hearts: Selected Poems: 1970-1995 (Six Ft. Swells Press, 2017).
James H. Duncan is a writer of poems, stories, and more, and is the editor of Hobo Camp Review, https://hobocampreview.blogspot.com/ He is the co-host of the Troy Poetry Mission monthly reading series. His newest poetry collection, We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine, is available from Unknown Press, starting Halloween 2017. Earlier books by James have been published by Epic Rites Press, Hobo Camp Press, and Maverick Duck Press. His work has appeared in Writer’s Digest, Pulp Modern, American Artist, Full of Crow, Drunk Monkeys, and other publications. James currently resides in upstate New York. For more about James H Duncan and his books, visit www.jameshduncan.com
Janne is an insanely productive artist/writer/publisher residing in Linköping, Sweden. Over the years, his often bizarre and surreal work has been published in hundreds of publications around the world. His many books (including collaborations) are available here and there. He is also publisher at the artisanal press Svensk Apache. When he´s not busy trying to live off his art, he also teaches and works odd hours in the psychiatric health care section. Janne has 2 sons aged 20 and 17 and next year will see the wedding between him and his beloved Mikaela.
Follow Janne Karlsson and Svensk Apache at www.svenskapache.se & www.nouw.com/svenskapache
Brenton is a writer of poetry, short stories, novellas, and plays. Home is Sydney, Australia, where he wrestles blue pens and notepads, not crocodiles. Brenton started writing when he was 19 and began sending the literary journals when he was 24. After nearly 10 years of rejections he had his first poem published. Since then he has been published in over 100 international journals and anthologies including 3AM Magazine, Chiron Review, Epic Rites Press, Pski’s Porch, Van Goghs Ear and Nerve Cowboy. He is the author of the full length poetry collection “Punching the Teeth from the Sky” and the chapbook “Drowned as the Fish” which is part of Epic Rites Press “Punk Chapbook Series 2017”. He recently took part in a 550 page anthology celebrating the life of Vincent Van Gogh “Resurrection of a Sunflower” from Pski’s Porch and is editor of the upcoming literary journal “The Asylum Floor” which will feature the work of Wolfgang Carstens, James Decay, Matt Borczon, Catfish McDaris and Janne Karlsson in its inaugural issue.
Follow Brenton Booth at https://brentonbooth.weebly.com/
Brandon has been performing, and competing in, the art of drag since 2004. And he has a passion for building an accepting and caring community, starting with his home-base of Lawrence, KS. Brandon created the fabulous event, Transformations, where community members coached by female impersonators, compete pageant-style as their most beautiful diva selves to raise awareness and funds for local service organizations. #BringOnTheMen is one theme of the 7th annual Transformations which features 10 male competitors.
As a female impersonator, Brandon becomes the beautiful-in-all-the-ways Deja Brooks and is in demand as a special host for fundraising events, story hour for children at the public library, as well as cabaret-style events.
Follow Brandon & Deja at www.facebook.com/Deja-Brooks-443916735641817 and www.TransformationsLawrence.com
Nino is a queer and nonbinary/transgender writer. A multidisciplinary artist, Nino has written fiction, essays, plays, screenplays, comics, radio features, and many rabble-rousing emails. They have also performed as a dancer, actor, and puppeteer. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Nightmare Magazine, Tor.com,Cicada, Fireside Fiction, Liminal Stories, and other fine venues. One time, an angry person on the internet called Nino a verbal terrorist, which was pretty cool. You can find them online at ninocipri.com
Wolfgang Carstens is a Poet, Host of Poets Underground, and Publisher at Epic Rites Press. He is: Crudely Mistaken For Life (2010), The Abyss Gazes Also (2013), Factory Reject (2014), Only The Dead (2015), Enjoy Oblivion (2015), Rented Mule (2015), Savage Love (2016), Trash and ash (2016), Bulletproof (2017), Raising The Dead (2017), and now, Hell and High Water, from Six Ft. Swells Press (October 2017). Wolfgang lives in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada with his wife, five kids, grandson, dog, mortgage and death.
Follow Wolfgang at www.EpicRites.org & www.WolfgangCarstens.com
Todd Cirillo is a Poet, Editor, Co-Founder of Six Ft. Swells Press, Pirate, and Lover of: After Hours Poetry, jukeboxes in seedy bars, the blues, rock & roll, Bukowski, Corso, Kerouac, free cocktails, vinyl records, beer, full moon nights, books, lust, the 10 minutes before getting kicked out of bars, in his hometown of New Orleans, LA and elsewhere.
Follow Todd at http://AfterHoursPoetry.com
Kimberly is an MFA graduate in Creative Writing from New England College, already holding an MA in English Language & Literature from Central Michigan University. A proud Michigan native, she has taught composition and creative writing courses for Central Michigan University and Alma College, and participated in local initiatives to increase awareness concerning sexual assault and domestic violence issues. Her academic and creative writing carefully observes the intersections between motherhood, domesticity, abuse, religion, sexual identity, and sexual trauma; and her poetry has appeared in several literary journals including The 3288 Review, Borderlands: The Texas Poetry Review, Storm Cellar, Temenos, Ruminate Magazineand The Berkeley Poetry Review. In 2018 her first chapbook White Goat Black Sheep will be forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. She currently teaches in Oklahoma.
Follow Kimberly at https://kimberlyann19772.wixsite.com/kimberlyannpriest
Scott was born in Detroit. He now lives in Pittsburgh, where he writes, makes music, and works for a used book store. His poems have appeared in numerous literary periodicals including: Third Coast, Lilliput Review, and Nerve Cowboy. He is the author of three books—Unattended Fire (Six Gallery Press, 2012), The River Underneath the City (Low Ghost Press, 2013), and Muskrat Friday Dinner (White Gorilla Press, 2017).
Deesha is a writer and editor based in Pittsburgh, PA. She is intrinsic to The Bridge Series www.facebook.com/pghbridgeseries started by Kristofer Collins and Jason Baldinger in January 2017. Deesha is the co-author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband. Her writing has appeared in numerous outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bitch, Full Grown People, Apogee Journal, brevity, and Dead Housekeeping. Deesha’s work includes a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2016. At The Rumpus, Deesha inaugurated and curates a monthly interview column called VISIBLE: Women Writers of Color. She is a fellow of the Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction. She is currently working on a novel as a well as a short story collection called The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.
Follow Deesha Philyaw at https://deeshaphilyaw.contently.com/ on social media & on www.littsburgh.com
Mugabi Augustine Ateenyi Olatokumbo Byenkya was born in Nigeria to Ugandan parents and has spent his life living across Africa, Asia and North America. Mugabi is a writer, poet and rapper who has honed his craft through writing workshops, poetry slams, cyphers and open mics across North America and East Africa. Mugabi was longlisted for the Babishai Niwe Poetry Award in 2015, has been featured on The Good Men Project, The Mighty and his writing is used to teach International High School English reading comprehension. His debut novel, Dear Philomena, was published in 2017, and has already been purchased by readers in six of the seven continents. Attention South American readers, find what you are missing!
Follow Mugabi Byenkya on social media, for his 2017-2018 North America tour dates & more.
Each month, Jennie joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. Our 9/15 conversation included: Solitude, Community, Boundaries, Communication, & Kindness to Self & Others. Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & hosts The Goddess Within (women’s circle in Lawrence, KS) www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/ Jennie also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie on Facebook & at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Rick is an artist, writer, poet, voice talent, storyteller, and spoken word performer. His work is whimsical at times, but often painfully real. His writing is best described as a li’l bit Steve Allen, Dr. Seuss, Benny Hill and Dory Previn. Topics may be silly (a wee bit “stand-up-y”) morality plays, often done in different voices and dialects. He has performed in the Kansas City area at Children’s Mercy Hospital, the Uptown Arts Bar, The Writer’s Place, and Prospero’s Book Store. He has been featured on THURSDAY’S SHOWCASE a one-man, 2-hour live show, and ARTSPEAK, both on KKFI, KC’s community radio station. His books and CD’s include “Funny You Should Ask!,” “Talking To Myself, (To You!)” and “Long Story Short…”
www.RickStasi.com
Heath is a native of York, PA and attended Temple University. He is the co-editor of Into the Void Magazine (winner of the 2017 Saboteur Award for Best Magazine) as well as a Best of the Net Nominee. Although he has been writing his entire life, he began submitting his work for publication 3 years ago, at the age of 34. Since then his work has appeared in over 450 journals in 25 countries. His work has also been translated into journals in Albania and Kosovo. Heath edited the anthology “Luminous Echoes” which raised funds for Ireland’s Pieta House, which helps prevent suicide/self-harm. http://www.pieta.ie/ He published 3 chapbooks in 2016. His first full-length book “About Consciousness” was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2017.
Heath lived like a hermit for 12 years, then decided to travel the world, sharing his poetry. He has read in England, Scotland, and many U.S. cities. When not writing, he helps with his local charity Paws Soup Kitchen giving out food for pets in low-income families.
Follow Heath Brougher on Facebook.
Kendall lives and writes in Southern New Jersey. His poetry has been recently published in Edison Literary Review and Yellow Chair Review. He was nominated for Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net collection in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. He is the author of twenty one chapbooks. His most recent chapbook is “We Are All Ghosts.” will be followed soon by the collection “Happiness Is A Death Blow” with poetry by Kendall A. Bell and Charles Joseph, published by Indigent Press.
Kendall A. Bell is the founder and co-editor of the online journal Chantarelle’s Notebook www.chantarellesnotebook.com, publisher/editor of Maverick Duck Press and a music and book reviewer with Five2One Magazine. His chapbooks are available through Maverick Duck Press www.maverickduckpress.com Follow Kendall at www.facebook.com/kabpoetry & www.KendallABell.com
Poets Annette Hope Billings & Diane Silver share and inspire hope through their writing and performances. They also provide “Harvest: A Workshop on Finding and Sustaining Hope” in the Topeka-Lawrence-Kansas City area. Through journaling, discussion, and inspirational readings from their own works, Annette and Diane lead participants through a reconsideration of the concept of hope and the role hope plays in their own lives. The workshop is suitable for people of all writings levels.
Learn more about Annette Hope Billings at Facebook.com/anetfullofhope & http://anetfullofhope.com/
Learn more about Diane Silver and the Harvest workshops at https://hopeandpolitics.wordpress.com/
Scott Thomas Outlar hosts the site 17Numa.wordpress.com where links to his published poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, reviews, and books can be found. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Scott serves as an editor for The Peregrine Muse and Novelmasters. He has been a weekly contributor on the Dissident Voice Sunday Poetry Page for the past three years. His poetry has been translated into Afrikaans, Albanian, Persian, and Italian.
In June 2017 Alien Buddha Press released Poison In Paradise, a collection of poems by Scott Thomas Outlar and photographs by Redd Focks and Jay Miner https://www.createspace.com/7260299
Ronda enjoys wandering the high plateau of northwest Kansas where the Arikaree Breaks whisper late into the sunset and scream into blizzards & thunderstorms. She is District President & State Vice President for Kansas Authors Club. As a life coach, she specializes in working with those who have lost someone to homicide. She also provides care for young children, specializing with those who have special needs. Ronda has poetry in numerous online and hard copy publications as well as at The Smithsonian Institute Archives. Miller’s books of poetry include “Going Home: Poems from My Life, “MoonStain”, and “WaterSigns” (Meadowlark Books, June 2017). “Gun Memories,”, a memoir, is coming soon. Ronda generously shares life experience & expertise through her work & life.
Find Ronda Miller at her Facebook group Poet’s Page for Ronda Miller, elsewhere online, or at one of the many Midwest poetry events where she is featured and/or she is enjoying the poetry of others.
Jan aka Janet Stotts aka Janet Jenkins-Stotts is a late blooming author of both poetry and prose. She published her first novel “The Orchid Garden” in 2015, and the e-book is available on Amazon. Jenkins-Stotts lives in Topeka, Kansas with Stan, her husband, and Romeo, their miniature pinscher. When not at the computer composing, she can usually be found at a bridge table. Or performing her “granny slam” at the first Friday open mic’s of Speak Easy Poets in Topeka.
Each month, Jennie joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. This Month: Saying Yes. Saying No. Being in the moment. Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & a member of Spiritual Entrepreneurs, Pryor Transformation, Shift 2 Degrees, Lawrence Women’s Network, & One Hundred Good Women. She also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie at https://skincarebyjennie.net Find her women’s circle The Goddess Within at www.facebook.com/The-Goddess-Within-252751568549725/
Ron is an autodidactic, former factory and warehouse laborer. He was born in Kendallville, IN, raised in the rural Appalachian Mountains of South Eastern, KY, and attended Morehead State University. He lives in Fort Wayne, IN and spends the harsh Midwestern winters in Atlanta, GA with his eldest child, an Emory University alumnus. Ron has been writing and drawing since childhood, and believes that Art Saves Lives. His poetry has appeared in various publications for decades. The Mother Goose Market from RD Armstrong’s Lummox Press www.LummoxPress.com is his first collection. His chapbook The Hole is included in the Punk Chapbook Series 2017 from Wolfgang Carstens’ Epic Rites Press www.EpicRites.org
Jon Bidwell, aka science fiction author Jon Lee Grafton, is a native Kansan raised in Shawnee. Jon graduated from KU in 1994 with a BA in psychology, a degree that ultimately informed him that he did not want to be a psychologist. Jon chose photography instead, and has worked in both commercial and fine art photography since 1996. He moved to Tucson, AZ in 2013 to take a sabbatical and write a novel. This turned into a science fiction novel, which turned into three science fiction novels, that will now be part of the six-part series, The 18th Shadow. Jon moved back to Kansas City in 2016 to be closer to family, and currently lives in the Rosedale neighborhood with his girlfriend, Tiana, and their cat, Lebowski, “The Dude,” who does indeed abide.
The books: jonleegraftonbooks.com
The photography: https://www.instagram.com/jonbidwell/
The photography: www.zatista.com/store/index/jon-bidwell-photography
Facebook: facebook.com/jonleegraftonbooks
Born and raised in metro New York, Charles Joseph lives and writes deep in the heart of New Jersey. Peppered by a battery of life experiences—good, great, bad, and worse—Charles is the author of NO OUTLET (a novel) that he’s currently shopping to agents and publishers, a number of poetry chapbooks that have been well received, and Chameleon (Omnibus Unum 2012-2016) a collection of poems and stories. His poems, short stories, and creative non-fiction have appeared in various literary journals and online magazines in the United States and abroad, and he is the founding editor of Indigent Press, a micro press that publishes limited-run twelve poem chapbooks for poets with unique voices.
Follow Charles Joseph to www.CharlesJosephLit.com & www.facebook.com/CharlesJosephWrites
Tracey is living proof that a person who has attempted suicide can change, heal, recover and live a life very much worth living. For the past 7 years, Tracey has been working in a community health care agency in southeastern MA as a Certified Peer Specialist. The people she listens to and advocates for are people with substance abuse and mental illness. She also serves as one of the adult helpers at her local teen center. She is a trainer of several suicide prevention and bereavement support programs. And she loves motorcycle riding!
In April 2017 Tracey was awarded 3rd prize in the annual Paul G. Quinnett Lived Experience Writing Contest of the American Association of Suicidology. That month she also released her first book, or written conversation as she calls it, Embracing Imperfection: The Healing Journey of a Suicide Attempt Survivor, available on Amazon.
Follow Tracey Pacheco Medeiros on Twitter @TraceyMedeiros2
Jennifer is a woman who has decided to be happy. She recognizes she has the power to make happiness a reality on a consistent basis. In her book Grow Your Best Life: It’s An Inside Job, she passes that wisdom on to her readers.
Through two careers: Speech Pathology, then Training and Staff Development in the corporate world; Jennifer developed the gardening analogy that is the foundation of Grow Your Best Life. Now that she is no longer in the corporate world, her career is writing. Grow Your Best Life was published in 2017 by Balboa Press, a division of Hay House, and is available at www.balboapress.com/Bookstore as well as major online booksellers.
Enjoy more of Jennifer Johnson’s easy to digest wisdom at Jennifer Johnson Author www.facebook.com/GrowYourBestLife
Dr. Z. Hall is an independent scholar, curator, a poet, and emerging visual artist who lives and works in Kansas City, MO. She conducts research on art and communication. Her published work explores the effects of art on society and society’s influence on art. Her interest in art and microbes collide at the intersection of organic growing and the process of bioavailability of nutrients to the body. Hall is an organic grower who grows much of her own food, preserves what she grows, and composts—closing the loop in the plant, grow, regenerate, and replenish cycle. Hall teaches workshops on food and beverage preservation: freezing, dehydrating, canning, and fermenting.Hall marked her curatorial debut in July and August 2017, with Foundations: Fostering a Better World. Info at http://www.decadeoflight.org/programs/foundations
Since 2014, Hall has curated and produced the event Salon~360, which brings artist, scholars, activists and the general public together in dialogue on society’s most pressing issues; how art interrogates these issues; how art can function to transcend them. Info at www.facebook.com/groups/Salon360
Jeanetta is the 2017-18 Oklahoma State Poet Laureate. Her most recent books are What I Learned at the War, a poetry collection (West End Press, 2016) and Oklahomeland: Essays (Lamar University Press, 2015). Her 2009 poetry collection, Work Is Love Made Visible (West End Press) won an Oklahoma Book Award, a Wrangler Award, and the WILLA Award from Women Writing the West. Dr. Mish is also Director of The Red Earth Creative Writing MFA at Oklahoma City University where she also serves as advisor to Red Earth Review and as a faculty mentor in writing pedagogy, professional writing, and the craft of poetry.
Follow Jeanetta Calhoun Mish at www.TongueTiedWoman.com
Robert “Bob” Walicki constructs poetry, poetic events, community, and plumbing in Pittsburgh, PA. He curates the Versify Poetry Series. His poetry has appeared, or is forthcoming, in a number of journals including Vox Populi and The Kentucky Review. A Pushcart nominee, his most recent chapbook, The Almost Sound of Snow Falling (Night Ballet Press, 2015), was nominated to the 2016 New York Showcase of Books at The Poet’s House in NY.
Follow Robert Walicki’s poetic work at https://www.facebook.com/Robert-Walicki-1961568937400784/ & Versify Reading Series at https://www.facebook.com/getversified/
Each month, the Transformational Jennie Washburn joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. This Month: Celebrate Cultures and Community. Many opportunities are shared! Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & a member of Spiritual Entrepreneurs, Pryor Transformation, Shift 2 Degrees, Lawrence Women’s Network, & One Hundred Good Women. She also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Chris is a professor of sociology at Washburn University. His work explores what it means to be an LGBT+ person in an era of heightened visibility. He has been a contributing author to VItal Voice, Camp KC, and QVegas magazine. He is completing an article on Grindr, and a book project on the electronic dance music subculture.
Follow Chris Conner’s work at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eVwGqiQAAAAJ&hl=en
MsAmanda Love is the big, bright, beautiful, and boozy comedy queen from Lawrence, KS. She has been building her drag career all over Kansas and the surrounding states for the last 5 years. Known for her crazy comedy mixes, naughty parody’s, and colorfully loud costumes, makeup, and hair, MsAmanda will make you laugh, cry, and go home happy.
The weekly “MsAmanda Presents Thirsty Thursday” drag show and dance parties are a weekly open and inclusive LGBTQI night at The Jazzhaus in Downtown Lawrence, KS every Thursday. Each week is represented with a different style and title: 1st Thursday Bangerz Ball, 2nd Thursday (Drag King) Novacayne’s Panty Party, 3rd Thursday $#!+ Show, and Final Thursday Showcase Showdown, where everyone is a winner and performers sign up that evening.
Even if you can’t find MsAmanda Love on FB, you can still find Thirsty Thursday events at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence www.facebook.com/pg/jazzhaus
Jason is a licensed Addiction Counselor and Clinical Social Worker, the artist of Keezograms www.facebook.com/keezograms, and a member of the Guild Theater.
John is the Artistic Director of the Guild Theater. Besides heat vision, his other super power is using his 16 years of improv experience and 33 years of theater experience to bring the best in theatrical instruction, comedy, and entertainment to the people. Past careers include high school teacher, donut maker, hypnotist and newspaper reporter. Find his book “Improv For Everybody”on Amazon. He ashamedly enjoys reality TV, has seen exactly 14 movies in his entire life, and is painfully single, an experience made more painful by his two amazing and loving children. Lawrence, KS has been his home for the past five years, and he can often be seen wandering through natural areas gawking at birds.
The Guild Theater – Lawrence, KS is the home of improv classes, rehearsals, and performances of The Lawrence Improv Guild www.facebook.com/LawrenceGuildTheater
Jeanette curates the generative performance art venue, Uptown Arts Bar, and is the Acquisitions Editor for KC based, indie press EMP Books. She also co-directs the arts non-profit Chameleon Arts with legendary print-maker Hugh Merrill and is Treasurer/grant-writer for KC’s annual small press fest. She is the author of six books of poetry, including her newest release “Don’t Lose Your Head” through EMP in 2017. She is an alumni resident of Osage Arts Community and The Lemon Tree House and can most often be found riverside with her hound dog, Olly Mas.
“Don’t Lose Your Head” is an experimental book of poetry and drawings which revolves around the concept of childhood trauma and its effects on adult life. The genesis of the book was 40-year-old Jeanette’s discovery of the truth of how her father died when she was four years old and follows the trajectory of family secrets, dysfunction and alienation. This work of art is raw, vulnerable and reaches deeply into the often untold shards of what is swept under rugs and kept folded in the back closets of family shame.
Follow Jeanette Powers’ art & adventures on Facebook & on Twitter @jeanettepowers & at www.JeanettePowers.com
Alexis creates art full of beauty, light, darkness, life, death, sex, and personal power. Alexis is the author of How I Lost My Virginity To Michael Cohen and other heart stab poems, (2014), State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies, (2015), and the brand new, erotic, LA-centric collection, Enter Here (2017). She is published in The Best American Poetry 2016, Rattle, Slipstream, Plume, Nashville Review, Diode, Glass, and elsewhere. Her photos are published worldwide. Since 2013 Alexis has been nominated for 11 Pushcart Prizes, 1 Best Small Fiction, and 4 Best of the Net awards. She is Poetry Editor of Cultural Weekly and lives in Los Angeles.
Find Alexis Rhone Fancher’s art & event schedules at www.facebook.com/alexis.fancher & www.AlexisRhoneFancher.com
Mercedes is the author of the chapbook In the Garden of Broken Things (Flutter Press, 2016, available at www.Lulu.com) and winner of the Langston Hughes Creative Writing Award for Poetry. Her writing has appeared in New Orleans Review,Curbside Splendor, Paper Darts, The Chicago Tribune’s Printers Row Journal, The Pinch, Heavy Feather Review, and Whitefish Review among others. She is a recent Glimmer Train “Short Fiction Award” Finalist and has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is currently the Fiction Editor of Beecher’s and curates a collection of works dedicated to the experiences of autism and developmental disabilities through the online literary magazine, Spectrum Extract. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Kansas. Follow her work on Twitter @loose_arrow and at www.MercedesLucero.com
Each month, the Transformational Jennie Washburn joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. This Month: Community Fun & Goodness. Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & a member of Spiritual Entrepreneurs, Pryor Transformation, Shift 2 Degrees, Lawrence Women’s Network, & One Hundred Good Women. She also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie on the stage at Mic Drop for Willow Domestic Violence Center & at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Emmett has tenaciously pursued his passions as a performance artist and youth developer since leaving the military in 2014. Since high school, he has been an avid lyricist and battle rapper, and now performs his original style of Hip Hop in his hometown Des Moines and major cities such as NYC, San Antonio, and St. Louis. He discovered his affinity for working with youth working at a Boys and Girls Club, and currently at Children and Family Urban Movement (CFUM) where he is a program coordinator for a group of young men called the Backyard Boyz. Emmett also is a teaching artist with Harding Middle School where he conducts a weekly writing workshop through a program called Movement 515. He proudly represents a New York based NPO called ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) as a Fellow and founder of the Des Moines ASTEP chapter where he collaborates with other local artists and community members to use the power of the arts to empower youth and provide a platform for self-expression and contributing to society through creativity. And Emmett is the Cultural Agent for the U.S, Department of Arts and Culture – Des Moines, http://usdac.us
Follow Emmett Phillips on Instagram @EPizFree & Twitter @TheRealEPizFree & https://EPizFree.com
Michael is a singer, songwriter, playwright, actor, and distance runner based in Lawrence, KS. He also serves as a support person with the Sexual Trauma & Abuse Care Center there. Michael grew up playing all the sports, but his light really shone when he was performing music or theatre. As soon as he was old enough, he brought his original music into area drag shows. Through his art, Michael shares his story and inspire others to live authentically and joyfully, even with all the challenges.
Michael’s original musical, RUN, debuts in July 2017. RUN is a never before seen take on the classic hero’s journey, with colorful comic book settings and characters, as well as plenty of nods and winks to some of your favorites in tights (with or without capes). RUN tells an unforgettable story about a group of regular people learning to survive, create, and fall in love in the aftermath of traumas past and present, and trying to be or become heroes in their own lives.
Follow Michael Timothy Dieker at www.facebook.com/michael.t.dieker & on Twitter @MichaelTDieker
Annette is an African-American, a Kansan, a poet, a playwright, an actress and a nurse, based in Topeka, KS. Since 2015, Annette has immersed herself in the boundless waters of writing and sharing her poetry and prose, and inspiring others. She has written two collections of poetry, and numerous one-act plays and short stories. Known for her performance delivery style, she has been received enthusiastically in many diverse venues.
Those who have experienced Annette’s words on the page or on the stage have dubbed her “The Maya of the Midwest,” a moniker she allows with all due humility and gratitude. To ME, Annette will always be The SuperModel Of Love. Her first book of poems, A Net Full of Hope, garnered the Topeka, KS 2015 ARTSConnect Arty Award for Literature. Her second book, Descants for a Daughter, is a very timely collection of affirmations/meditations.
Follow Annette & Buy Her Books at http://anetfullofhope.com & www.facebook.com/ANetFullOfHope
Brandon is originally from Oklahoma, where there are generally only two accepted ways in which a man may express himself: silence or rage. Brandon studied violin at the U of KS. Yes. Violin. He lives in KC, KS, in a tiny apartment that doesn’t adhere to normal Euclidian geometry. Brandon likes to drink beer, smoke cigarettes and play role-playing games. He is one of the last of the old time film projectionists, plus he has a really cool collection of robot and spaceship toys, which you are not allowed to touch. He spends his nights writing poems and stories while listening to the strange old man that lives above him play the violin. Brandon is the author of Thieves, Pharaohs, and Mexican Daredevils (Spartan Press, 2015) and is featured in several poetry collections. His is one of the organizers of the KC Small Press Poetry Fest, formerly the KC Poetry Throwdown. Learn more at
www.facebook.com/KCPoetryThrowdown/ Find him performing at select poetry events across the country, and in “Project 4000.”
Buy Brandon’s Books by emailing KingInYellow.BW@gmail.com
Kat is a native of Pennsylvania. She is the former poetry editor of Lake Effect and the former managing editor of Lit.cat. Her work appears in The Cincinnati Review, Up The Staircase Quarterly, Rat’s Ass Review, and Menacing Hedge, among others, and in 2016, she was one of five finalists for Erie County (PA) Poet Laureate. In 2017, Kat received a BFA in Creative Writing from Penn State Behrend in Erie, PA. She has since returned to her hometown in the Philadelphia area to finish her first manuscript.
Follow Kat on Twitter @GiordKat
Taurean LaCharles is a native of Lawrence, KS and a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied classical theatre. As an androgynous gay African-American male, Taurean has known discrimination throughout his life. Taurean and host Marcia Epstein engage in a lively conversation about Being Your Authentic You & Getting Out To Build Community.
B. is a New Jersey native who has been writing since he was a kid. He started writing poetry in 2013 after he finally found some good poetry to read. B. is the author of the poetry collection Zeller’s Alley (White Gorilla Press, 2016). Starting in 2014, his work has been published by Hobart, BOAAT Press, FLAPPERHOUSE, Words Dance, and other venues. Every other Sunday, he hosts a reading series in Catasauqua, PA, called I Hate Poetry. When he is not writing, reading, hosting, or breathing in dust at his warehouse job, he is usually hanging out with his cats.
You can find him on the web at www.facebook.com/B.DiehlPoetry & at www.MyNameIsB.net
Iris is a gifted writer, teller of tales, and teacher. Her passion is helping people, including herself, heal. One of the ways she does this is by leading expressive writing groups. Iris offers these in a variety of settings ranging from the county jail, to a residential treatment program, to the Lawrence (KS) Public Library., to her dining room! She is a nationally certified journaling and poetry therapist through the International Federation of Biblio-Poetry Therapy. Iris is grateful to serve as a professor for online courses through Washburn University & elsewhere. She lives and gardens just a block from the banks of the Kaw River. Oh, and she has some poems published here and there. Her newest book, Write To The Source ~ A Journaling Guide For Recovery is available at Raven Book Store in Lawrence, KS. She can be reached at IrisGarden9@gmail.com and soon at her author’s page on Facebook.
Ryan is a Canadian-born author residing in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada with his other half, bears, and mounds of snow half the year. His work can be found both in print and online in such places as: Evergreen Review, The New York Quarterly, Word Riot, Your One Phone Call, In Between Hangovers, Red Fez, and Horror Sleaze Trash. Ryan’s work is included in the anthology Resurrection of a Sunflower, which celebrates Vincent Van Gogh. Follow him on Facebook and through http://RyanQuinnFlanagan.yolasite.com/
Johnnie is a self-published Poet, Spoken Word Artist, Zinester, Videographer/Photographer, and generally an Artist-Type. He is a transplant from the Sonoran desert, where he spent much of his writing time overlooking desert mountains and watching saguaros grow. The desert is where much of his childhood trauma was healed. Johnnie has a new-found passion for storytelling and is bringing it to Topeka, KS. He is fostering relationships with other poets and artists from Topeka, Lawrence, Kansas City, and beyond.
As for culinary arts, the Kitchen Shaman blog was born in 2005 to showcase Johnnie’s talent, experience, and extensive food knowledge.
www.kitchenshaman.com
Johnnie has four poetry books and two zines for sale through his artist website. “Catharsis” is the collection dealing with trauma, healing and moving beyond. www.artisticnomads.com/diecast-poetry
Follow Johnnie on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jmgale and on other social media @johnnagale
Each month, Jennie joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. This month: Flowers, Kansas Day Trips, New Experiences, Connections and Kindness
Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & a member of Spiritual Entrepreneurs, Pryor Transformation, Shift 2 Degrees, Lawrence Women’s Network, & One Hundred Good Women. She also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala, and on June 24 at Mic Drop for Willow Domestic Violence Center at Liberty Hall in Lawrence. Find Jennie at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Scott is a poet, short story writer, chaos enthusiast, and champion monkey wrench thrower, living in Oregon. He is an award winning spoken word artist and creator of “The Acoustic Tongue Sessions,” which weaves together spoken word poetry and acoustic music. It has been performed from NYC to Chicago. He has also opened for numerous bands nationwide.
His poetry can be found at Red Fez Magazine, Carcinogenic Poetry, Midnight Lane Boutique, Flash Fiction Magazine, Mad Swirl, The Five-Two, Dead Snakes and Horror, Sleaze, Trash, for starters. His chapbook “Bumrush The Fantasy,” was published by Flying Wrench Press in 2014. Scot’s poetry is also in anthologies by Lummox Press and Svensk Apache Press. In May 2017, Moran Press released his first full length poetry collection, “Crumbling Utopian Pipedream.” www.moranpress.com/store/p35/Crumbling_Utopian_Pipedream.html
Watch for a Scott Wozniak & Janne Karlsson project to be released later in 2017. Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottEWozniak
A native New Orleanian, Ralph Adamo is a poet, papa, and a professor at Xavier University of Louisiana. He is also editor of Xavier Review http://www.xula.edu/english/publications/review.html . Ralph has published seven collections of poetry, most recently Ever: Poems 2000-2014. He received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in Creative Writing in 2003, a Louisiana Division of the Arts Individual Artist Grant in 1998, and the first Marble Faun award in poetry from the Faulkner Society in 1997. Recent reviews of his work can be found in The Hollins Critic (April 2015), Rain Taxi (August 2015) and in Today’s Book of Poetry. In 2006, the Open Society Institute awarded him a Katrina Media Fellowship to pursue investigative journalism on the state of public education in the city. Before coming to Xavier, where he has encountered amazing students and brilliant colleagues, he taught creative writing at Tulane, LSU and Loyola (where he also edited New Orleans Review for five years), as well as journalism at UNO. He and his wife Kay have two children, Jack and Lily. Find Ralph Adamo on Facebook and at http://www.lavenderink.org/content/authors/276
Amy, Josh, & ME talk about supporting our Transgender & Gender NonConforming Friends-Family-CoWorkers-Neighbors
Amy Hammer, LSCSW is a crafty seamstress, dog-lover, gardener, & is the therapist who
provides Transforming Our Lives, at BNCMHC https://bertnash.org/new-therapy-group-offers-support-system/ Josh Reese, LSCSW is a bow-tie wearing husband, dad, & weight lifter who supports & supervises therapists at BNCMHC who provide outpatient therapy to adults. Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center serves the Douglas County, KS community https://bertnash.org/
Additional resources for & about trans folks:
Resources for and about Transgender People
Lawrence Free Poetry team members Amelia Peters, Rowan Plinsky, Harper Schoenfeld, plus coach Andrew Martin joined ME for conversation and original poetry. LFP is the Slam Poetry Team of Lawrence (KS) Free State High School.
The team began during the 2014-15 school year, changes each year as students graduate or move on, and has consistently placed in the top 4 teams at the Louder Than A Bomb annual youth poetry festival http://youngchicagoauthors.org/louder-than-a-bomb. LTAB feeds into Brave New Voices. Lawrence Free Poetry qualified for Brave New Voices in San Francisco July 19-22, 2017. BNV http://youthspeaks.org/bravenewvoices/festival/ is the largest spoken word event in the world and is comprised of teams from all over the globe. In addition, some of the teams may be featured on HBO’s Brave New Voices program http://www.hbo.com/russell-simmons-presents-brave-new-voices
Support Lawrence Free Poetry’s trip to Brave New Voices through faculty sponsor Andrew Martin at AMartin@usd497.org or at www.GoFundMe.com/send-lawrence-free-poetry-to-bnv Follow Lawrence Free Poetry at https://www.instagram.com/lawrencefreepoetry/ & https://Twitter.com/LFreePoetry
Barbara is founder & Director of the Kansas Riverkings Museum in Lawrence, KS. She also acts as Administrator for the Wakarusa River Valley Heritage Museum & teaches college classes. Ms. Higgins-Dover has conducted many research projects, published books based on that research, designed music and historical curriculum for young learners. Higgins-Dover is a life long Lawrencian, granddaughter of a Kansas Riverking.
The Kansas Riverkings Museum opened in 2015 in Abe & Jakes Landing on the banks of the Kansas River. The museum tells the story of the Kansas River commercial fishing industry in the Lawrence area from 1870-1970. As Director of the museum, Higgins-Dover & a talented group of young professionals created the documentary “When Kings Reigned.” The film tells the story of the lives of these men and the legal battles they faced. View the film trailer at www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIEMoV-tBfw and the film at screenings Summer 2017. Also, the Kansas Riverkings Museum is partnering with KU Spencer Art Museum for the Living River Festival on July 22, 2017.
For more info, follow www.facebook.com/KansasRiverkings/
Scott is a Best of the Net and three-time Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in hundreds of literary venues, both in the United States and internationally. Scott is a member of the Southern Collective Experience, appearing regularly in many of the group’s events such as: Dante’s Old South radio program with NPR/WUTC out of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Visions of Verse poetry reading in Jasper, Georgia; and Collective Sessions open mic held at Good Acting Studio in Marietta, Georgia. Scott also serves as an editor for Walking Is Still Honest Press, The Blue Mountain Review, The Peregrine Muse, and Novelmasters. His latest full-length poetry collection, Happy Hour Hallelujah, was released in 2016 through CTU Publishing. Follow Scott Thomas Outlar on Twitter @17numa & on Facebook at www.facebook.com/17numa & at https://17numa.wordpress.com/
Each month, the Transformational Jennie Washburn joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. SelfCare, Fun, Expressing Expectations, Getting Involved in Community, & Goodness. This month our message is Have Fun In Community! Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & a member of Spiritual Entrepreneurs, Pryor Transformation, Shift 2 Degrees, Lawrence Women’s Network, & One Hundred Good Women. She also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie at Mic Drop for Willow Domestic Violence Center, & at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Stacey Freedenthal has worked in the field of suicide prevention since 1994, when she first volunteered at a suicide prevention hotline. She is now an associate professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, where she teaches courses on mental health assessment, counseling, and suicide risk assessment and intervention. Her website, speakingofsuicide.com, receives 70,000 visitors a month. Her book, Helping the Suicidal Person: Tips and Techniques for Professionals, will be published Fall 2017 by Routledge. Follow Stacey at www.StaceyFreedenthal.com & www.SpeakingOfSuicide.com
In Lawrence, KS, Sunrise Project connects people of all ages & backgrounds to good food, community & the environment. 4 core programs: Lawrence Fruit Tree Project, SunRISE Youth Activists, Food Rocket, & Healthy Sprouts farm to preschool. Programming is expanding with the move into the former Sunrise Garden Center which creates a safe, fun and inclusive neighborhood center for shared community learning. More info at www.sunriseprojectks.org
Emily Hampton, ED & co-founder, has provided organizational leadership for Sunrise Project for 2 years. Previously, Hampton served as Development & Communications Manager at Communities In Schools of Mid-America; Lead Coordinator for the Farm to Preschool program in Douglas Co; Vice Chair & member of the Douglas Co Food Policy Council. She isChair-Elect for the Healthy Kids Workgroup of LiveWell Lawrence.
Melissa Freiburger, Director of Programs, has experience coordinating & directing health initiatives. Previous roles include Farm to Preschool Educator & Technical Assistance Specialist for the CDC’s National Early Care and Education Learning Collaborative Project. Freiburger is a member of Healthy Food For All, of LiveWell Lawrence; co-chair of Cordley Elem School’s Farm to School committee; and is founder & Site Leader for Hollaback Lawrence.
Damian is sometimes a poet, sometimes a writer, and most times a mad man. He is the host of Keyport, NJ’s the Poetry in the Port reading series. Damian and Ezhno Martin just released the poetry collection, The Former Lives of Saints through EMP Press https://empbooks.com/home/books/ Listeners: around 18 minutes into the show Damian reads ” I Knew Superman” which includes images of his dear grandfather’s death by suicide. Follow Damian for his blogs, poems, performances & more at www.twitter.com/damianrucci/ & www.facebook.com/dfrucci/ & www.damianrucci.net/
Wolfgang Carstens is the author of numerous poetry collections and publisher at Epic Rites Press. He is organizer and host of Poets Underground, a poetry show that celebrates and showcases the best and brightest authors currently working the marrow of contemporary poetry www.youtube.com/channel/UCjJ58uQGzVqXjOyIlOTRpMQ/ Wolfgang lives in Canada with his wife, five kids, grandson, dog, mortgage and death. His poetry is printed on the backs of unpaid bills. More info at www.WolfgangCarstens.com & www.facebook.com/TheBloodMachine & at www.EpicRites.org
K.W. “Kevin” Peery is the author of 3 collections of poetry: Tales of a Receding Hairline, Purgatory & Wicked Rhythm. He is a regular contributor in Veterans Voices and the Australia Times Poetry Magazine.
Kevin writes about his personal life experiences. Grappling with morality and mortality, the unvarnished truth is breathtakingly obvious. His unapologetic vulnerability is neatly embedded within each work. He has an innate ability to dig up his past and offer it to the reader as if they were sitting across the table having a conversation with him.
Credited as a lyricist and producer, Kevin’s work appears on more than a dozen studio albums over the past decade. He is most well known as a founding member of the Marshall/Peery Project. This collaboration produced four critically acclaimed studio albums from 2005 to present. The Marshall/Peery Project frequently appear on the Roots Music Report and Americana Charts. Their songs are in regular rotation in the U.S., Germany, Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Much more music and poetry to come! So follow K.W. Peery on Twitter @KWPeery & at K.W. Peery – Lyrics & Poetry on Facebook www.facebook.com/KW-Peery-Lyrics-Poetry-522754801227864
Christine is a senior at Kansas U, and serves as President of the KU chapter of Active Minds, a national mental health advocacy group. After struggling with an eating disorder, depression, anxiety, and PTSD, she found a passion for mental health advocacy & got involved in Active Minds. She is a psychology major, graduating in May 2017, who plans to work with youth in residential treatment for mental health challenges. Later, she will pursue graduate training in Marriage and Family Therapy, to help families, including children affected by abuse and/or violence.
Alyse & ME talk about Alyse’s writing & about the 4th Annual Poetry Fair in Lawrence, KS on April 15, 2017! The fair includes readings, networking & books to buy. Info at https://lawrenceartscenter.org/event/poetry-fair-2017/
Alyse Bensel’s poems have most recently appeared in The Adroit Journal, New South, Quarterly West, Tinderbox, The Collapsar, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, and elsewhere. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks: Not of Their Own Making (dancing girl press, 2014) and Shift (Plan B Press). She serves as the Book Reviews Editor at The Los Angeles Review, a literary journal from Red Hen Press. Alyse is also a PhD candidate in Literary Studies & Creative Writing at the U of Kansas, where she is a 2017-2018 Richard & Jeannette Sias Fellow in the Humanities, and will be in residence at the Hall Center for the Humanities Fall 2017. Follow Alyse at twitter.com/leaseandleaves & http://www.alysebensel.com/
Cliff made a career out of telling the truth, but not outright. His first book of poetry, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, first published by Gosslee Books, was nominated for a Pulitzer and Georgia Author of the Year. In April 2017, his second collection of verse, Athena Departs: Gospel of a Man Apart, plus a re-release of The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, both hit the shelves thanks to Backlash Press www.backlashpress.com In 2018, his epic poem, The Salvation of Cowboy Blue Crawford, will be available with special editions that include a CD of original songs and readings from the book.
Cliff’s biggest achievement in recent years has been the creation of The Southern Collective Experience. The SCE is a cooperative of professional artists who have the right-and-left-brain ability to keep a business in the black, meet deadlines, and still be pure artists. Four times a year, the SCE publishes a journal of culture, The Blue Mountain Review, and more often hosts open mic/lectures in a variety of places. NPR releases their radio show, Dante’s Old South, every month with a fifth Sunday.
Follow Charles Clifford Brooks III on Twitter, Facebook, www.SouthernCollectiveExperience.com & www.CliffBrooks.com
Just listen! For Mark’s stories and poetry. For his respect and love for humanity. Be inspired!
Mark comes from a large family with 3 languages: Spanish, Yiddish, & also English. He studied with Poet & Professor Kenneth Koch who introduced Mark to the love of poetry & to the love of his life, Katherine Koch, Kenneth’s daughter. After many years living & parenting & teaching & writing in Brooklyn, Mark & Katherine moved to Mexico. His poetry collections include That Train Again (Lavender Ink, 2015), A Map of the Winds (Lavender Ink, 2013) and Tourist at a Miracle (Hanging Loose, 2010). Other books include Black Tulips: The Selected Poems of José María Hinojosa (University of New Orleans Press, 2012), the first English language translation of the significant poet of Spain’s Generation of 1927, and, with Pablo Medina, a translation of of Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York (Grove 2008), His next translation collection, Never Made in America; Selected Poetry of Martín Barea Mattos, will appear with Lavender Ink/diálogos in April 2017. A former Associate Professor of Literary Studies at Eugene Lang College, The New School, he currently lives in Oaxaca, Mexico. Follow Mark Statman at twitter.com/statmanm & http://markstatman.com/
Katie grew up in Lawrence, KS & lives there now. Between then & now she has lived, worked, & studied in Chicago, CO, Seattle, NY, & Taos. She has an MA from the U of CO in Education Foundations, Policy & Practice. More important, she has a passion for helping people of all ages and backgrounds learn & grow, including through arts and creativity. She has worked with youth in foster care, people experiencing homelessness, & immigrants. Currently Katie’s life is rich with family, friends, and her work guiding The Lawrence Laboratory, where diverse teachers from the community teach topics they are passionate about. 60-90 minute classes are hands-on or discussion-based to engage diverse adult learners. Follow Katie & The Lawrence Laboratory at www.facebook.com/The-Lawrence-Laboratory-1713296055603635 & www.thelawrencelab.com
Tiffany is a poet and photographer living in Vancouver, WA. She is frequently found at poetry readings there & across the river in Portland, OR. But she loves family & NYC most of all. Tiffany’s work has appeared in Ghost Town Poetry, Volume Two (Printed Matter Vancouver, 2014); in the windows of local businesses for Poetry in the Shops in Vancouver, WA; The Poeming Pigeon A Journal of Poetry and Prose: Doobie or Not Doobie (The Poetry Box, 2016); and on C-Tran buses from January – June 2015 for Poetry Moves. Her first full length book of poetry & short prose “Meet Me Where I Left You” was recently released by Printed Matter Vancouver. Buy the book at http://www.createspace.com/6452675
Daniel is a Laotian-Thai-American, a dancer, a former US Marine, a videographer & much more. He loves singing in the shower, playing video games, teaching dance, and eating pineapple, but NOT on his pizza. Daniel has been dancing contemporary hip hop much of his life. During his 4 years of professional training at KU, his favorite dance has become ballet. In May 2017 Daniel will be awarded his BA in Dance from Kansas University. Next, he heads to family in Salina, KS and then to Sacramento, CA to pursue film and dance as his new career. Follow Daniel & Dxpert Image at https://www.facebook.com/dxpertimage/ & https://www.instagram.com/dxpert_image/
Casey tantalizes you with some readings from his new book, The Spoils. And through conversation with host Marcia Epstein about: The Midwest, Stories, Men, Books, Fathers & Sons, & PS: Writing Well Is Work.
Casey Pycior (pitcher) was born and raised in Kansas City. He earned his MFA in fiction writing at Wichita State University & his PhD in creative writing at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He was awarded the Charles Johnson Fiction Prize at Crab Orchard Review. His stories have appeared in numerous journals, including Beloit Fiction Journal, Midwestern Gothic, Harpur Palate, Yalobusha Review, and Wigleaf. His debut short story collection, The Spoils, was just released by Switchgrass Books. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his wife & son. Follow Casey onTwitter @CaseyPycior and learn even more at www.CaseyPycior.com
Ronda enjoys wandering the high plateau of northwest Kansas where the Arikaree Breaks whisper late into the sunset and scream into blizzards and thunderstorms. She is District President and State Vice President for Kansas Authors Club. As a life coach, she specializes in working with those who have lost someone to homicide. She also provides care for young children, specializing with those who have special needs. Ronda has poetry in numerous online and hard copy publications as well as at The Smithsonian Institute Archives. Miller’s books of poetry include “Going Home: Poems from My Life, “MoonStain”, and soon to be released, “WaterSigns” (Meadowlark Books, June 2017). Find Ronda Miller online or at one of the many Midwest poetry events where she is featured and/or she is enjoying the poetry of others.
Each month, the Transformational Jennie Washburn joins Talk With ME host, Marcia Epstein, for real life conversation. SelfCare, Fun, Expressing Expectations, Getting Involved in Community, & Goodness. Jennie is a Licensed Esthetician & a member of Spiritual Entrepreneurs, Pryor Transformation, Shift 2 Degrees, Lawrence Women’s Network, & One Hundred Good Women. She also enjoys being onstage, including as a two-time contestant in Transformations, a charity gala. Find Jennie at the annual 100 Good Women Clothing Exchange, hopefully at Mic Drop for Willow Domestic Violence Center, & at https://skincarebyjennie.net
Photos, journals, and poetry ARE memories, for people who have experienced brain trauma or other memory disorders.. Writer Julie Unruh is one of those people. Julie and partner Oliver A. Hall co-founded Global Green Publications, producing books and films. March 2017 they released the book “Silence,” with poetry & photography by Julie, plus additional photos by Oliver. Julie is also the author of “Vegetable Garden: A True Story,” an illustrated story of Julie’s recovery since her brain injury sustained in a car crash while on a family trip. Julie Unruh’s books are available by contacting her through www.facebook.com/julie.unruh.7
Matt lives in upstate New York with his wife and daughter. A collection of his poems, The Ship Is Sinking, is available from Epic Rites Press. His fiction and poetry have appeared in a variety of places, both print and online. Yep, that about covers it. Well, to clarify… “upstate New York,” it’s the Albany area. And unrelated to writing: he gardens, occasionally makes a batch of homebrew, & he’s been known to mow the lawn with a scythe. So listen, laugh, & hear some awesome poetry. Then follow Matt at twitter.com/MattGalletta Find out more at www.MattGalletta.com
Misti is the author of Bullshit Rodeo, on Epic Rites Press, and several other novels & poetry collections. Misti’s most recent chapbook is No Guns No Knives No Disco Biscuits, creative nonfiction flash published in 2016 by DevilHouse Press. Misti resides in rural Texas with her ex-husband and their son. Signed copies of Misti’s books and her original art are available via PayPal Roxixmas@gmail.com Follow her art blog at http://dondeestaeldiscochupacabra.blogspot.com
Dennis Etzel, Jr. lives with Carrie and the boys in Topeka, Kansas where he teaches English at Washburn University. He has an MFA from The University of Kansas, &an MA & Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies from KS State U. He has two chapbooks, The Sum of Two Mothers (ELJ Publications 2013) and My Graphic Novel (Kattywompus Press 2015), a poetic memoir My Secret Wars of 1984 (BlazeVOX 2015), and Fast-Food Sonnets (Coal City Review Press 2016). His work has appeared in Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, BlazeVOX, Fact-Simile, 1913: a journal of poetic forms, 3:AM, Tarpaulin Sky, DIAGRAM, and others. He is a TALK Scholar for the Kansas Humanities Council and leads poetry workshops in various Kansas spaces. Please feel free to connect with him at dennisetzeljr.com www.DennisEtzelJr.com & http://DennisEtzelJr.blogspot.com
Julio is the author of two chapbooks, Don’t Give up the Ship & Ship Lost. He is an editor and founder of CWP Collective Press < www.cwp-press.com >, which also runs a Podcast called The Process http://www.thinktwiceradio.com/cringers/cringers.html He is a Blogger for Plurality Press http://www.pluralitypress.com/julio-valentin Julio is also an editor for Mutata Re, Erie Community College literary journal. He has been a featured reader from New Jersey to New Mexico and many a town in between. Julio has two forthcoming chapbooks in 2017, Ships and Giggles and Craigslist Diaries. He was recently published in an anthology called Recession in Neverland, The Le Mot Juste, and is currently revitalizing Buffalo State College's original literary magazine, Portrait. Julio is also a reluctant heart who’ll be reading at the April 2017 Kansas City Throw-down. Follow Julio's adventures at www.facebook.com/CringeWorthyPoetsCollective
Diane Silver is a writer, political activist, & spiritual seeker who speaks about hope & an atheist’s faith to a variety of audiences. She has served as communications director for a candidate for Congress, a press secretary in a gubernatorial campaign, championed equality for LGBTQ people in bright red Kansas, & helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for two Midwestern universities. Her writings have appeared in Ms., Salon.com, The Progressive, & many other venues.
Diane talks about her new book Your Daily Shot of Hope: Meditations for an Age of Despair, exploring the lived reality of hope, an emotion that both powers & heals. Hope provides us with the fuel we need to transform ourselves and our world, but in these unsettling times, hope can be difficult to find. Diane discusses a path to hope that is one part mindfulness, one part humor, and one part affirmation and audacity. As far as Diane is concerned, real hope provides room to grieve and acknowledges pain. Real hope recognizes challenges even as it thumbs its nose at the conventional wisdom that claims we can’t succeed.
Your Daily Shot of Hope: Meditations for an Age of Despair is available from Diane & at Amazon. Follow Diane Silver at www.HopeAndPolitics.com & www.DianeSilver.net
Jillian is Co-Producer, with Emily Holloman, of the dance performance, Elementum Show on March 10-11, 2017 at Kansas University. Jillian is currently a student of Dance at KU, heading toward a career as a Choreographer. She has studied both dance & tumbling since the age of 5; and has many years experience teaching these arts. The Elementum Show is a set of dances celebrating what is important in different people’s lives, in honor & memory of loved ones who have died of suicide, or who are struggling. The messages: you are not alone, it is ok to feel, it is ok to move on, and it is ok to focus on the positives, even as one who is grieving. Learn more at www.facebook.com/ElementumShow
Taurean is a native of Lawrence, KS and a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied classical theatre. As an androgynous gay African-American male, Taurean has known discrimination throughout his life. Taurean and host Marcia Epstein engage in a lively conversation about Activism in Oscars Speeches & Films; Danger from Gender & Other Stereotypes; #LoveWins. Follow Taurean at www.facebook.com/Taurean.LaCharles
Matt rambles around the Pacific Northwest, except when he’s ramblin’ around New Orleans. He is co-founder of Six Ft. Swells Press, which specializes in After Hours poetry. He has been published in numerous collections & his own books of poetry including The Coast Is Clear (Six Ft. Swells Press) & Get Well Soon (Epic Rites Press). He has read at events in CA, WA, OR, WA, & Louisiana. Matt favors the short poem, as most of his writing is done on cocktail napkins while exploring bars & taverns across the country looking for music, love, lust, heartbreak, whiskey, beer, & that perfect jukebox. Photos & paintings by Matt at
www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByAmott Follow Matt’s writing at Six Ft. Swells Press on Facebook or https://AfterHoursPoetry.com
About Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards, KS Weather Is…, Transformations 2017, One Hundred Good Women, Death Is…, & more. All with love & laughter!
One Hundred Good Women Accessories Exchange – 2/26
Sunday the 26th 1-4pm at Eagles Lodge #309, 1803 W. 6th
www.facebook.com/events/1747736208888948/
Find Jennie & friends-family out & about for: music, burger specials, camping, any event with Brandon Eisman &/or Loretta Martin, & other goodness.
Or, yes, at the work she loves! https://SkinCareByJennie.net/
Jay is a 33 year broadcast radio & television veteran on-air personality, voice-over artist & station manager. Jay moved to Lawrence in 2011 to be the General Manager of KLWN & its related stations. He founded LawrenceHits.com in 2013 as a community based Oldies radio station that focuses on growing the profits of locally owned & operated Lawrence businesses. He now also owns stations in Cleveland, Chicago, LA & Yuma, Arizona. Jay believes “As it is good in the community, so it is good with you and me.” Follow Jay’s adventures through http://www.LawrenceHits.com
Wachs discusses his relocation back to Lawrence, establishing Lawrence Kansas as the permanent corporate headquarters for Wachs Media and his plans for HITS locally as well as an update on the company.
For more information contact Jay at 785-764-8380 or jay@lawrencehits.com
Since 1970 John Yamrus has published 25 volumes of poetry and 2 novels. He exploded onto the national poetry scene after winning the prestigious Wakefield Poetry Prize. He has had more than 1,800 poems published in print magazines around the world. Selections of his poetry have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, Swedish, French, Japanese, Italian, Romanian, Albanian and Bengali. His poetry is taught in a number of colleges and universities. I ADMIT NOTHING from Epic Rites Press is his newest book. John’s advice to poets: read, write, read, edit, read, send for publications, read, and most of all, persist. Follow John, and buy the books, at http://www.johnyamrus.com
Huascar has lived artfully in Topeka, Kansas since 2001. His hometown was San Antonio, TX but he does not miss things that do not fit in his ticket pocket. Huascar’s work encompasses deep imagery and metaphor. His time is well spent performing theater, singing and writing. He is a member of Topeka’s Speak Easy Poetry Group and the Red Tail Collective in Lawrence. His first published poem appeared in HomeWords: A Project of former Kansas Poet Laureate Wyatt Townley. Huascar’s words can be found in Reverberated Echoes: A Kansas City Reader (Asinimali Publications) and Prompts! : A Spontaneous Anthology by the poets of Poetic Underground (39 West Press). How to Hang the Moon, his first published collection of work was published by Spartan Press in February 2017 as part of their POP! Poetry series. Follow Huascar at http://www.facebook.com/huascar.medina
In life and in writing, Raphael highlights the beauty in people and places; beauty that might otherwise be missed. He has received a Pushcart nomination and is a recipient of the Stanley Hanks Award. His poetry appears in Likestarlings, U City Review, Vending Machine Press, Split Lip, and other publications. He is co-editor at U City Review. Raphael resides in Washington, MO where the river keeps its secrets. He periodically reads in St. Louis and heads west to read at the April 2017 Kansas City Poetry Throwdown. Follow Raphael at http://www.facebook.com/raphael.maurice.3192
Jessica says her life is an open book these days. She is a Writer of Words, a Live-er of Life, a Lover of Friends-Family. She adores Macey Webb, reading, music and nature. And is a self-described “dirty hippie.” Jess is also a person receiving treatment for cancer. She is an artist of words, print-making, and more, who founded Ladyfire, a monthly gathering for female (cis & trans) artists of all media. Follow and support Jess’ adventures via https://www.gofundme.com/throat-punch-melanoma-with-jess and http://www.facebook.com/jessica.elise.75
Bree is a poet, memoirist, visual artist and upstart living in the farmland of Pleasureville, KY, by way of Cleveland, OH. Her Green Panda Press has put out hand-made anthologies, chapbooks and ephemera since 2001. In 2015 she began Least Bittern Books which turns out paperbacks by poets with strong, singular voices, such as Charles Potts, John Swain and Victor Clevenger. Bree received a 2016 Artist Enrichment Grant for from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Her latest poetry collection “I Am Also Invasive” is by Birds and Bones Press. Her work has also been published by Ecstatic Peace, Night Ballet, Temple Books and Crisis Chronicles. Follow Bree at http://www.theartistbree.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/poetBreeart/
Jameson is a writer by trade, a writer by profession. From his Kansas City home base, he travels a lot in an effort to keep the Muse happy and entertained, finding the small hideaways most intriguing. He is a Roving Correspondent for Poetrybay http://www.facebook.com/poetrybay.1152611418123138 and the Co-Curator for the April 2017 KC Poetry Throwdown http://www.spartanpresskc.com/throwdown His work has been published in numerous literary journals and magazines and his solo work “legends of doe hoe” was released by Spartan Press in Feb 2017. Follow Jameson at http://www.facebook.com/dharmabum1945 and https://jamesonbayles.wordpress.com
Ashley is the 2016 winner of the Paul G. Quinnett Lived Experience Writing Prize. She an essayist & mental health advocate specializing in suicide prevention & obsessive-compulsive disorder education. On Twitter @OCDwrangler On Instagram OCDwrangler Her personal blog documenting her experience as a self-proclaimed “OCD wrangler” is http://TheBraveOnes.org/
Dese’Rae is the 2015 winner of the Quinnett Prize. She is an award-winning artist, suicide awareness activist, & public speaker. After struggles with self-injury, a suicide attempt, losing friends to suicide, & an abusive relationship, Dese’Rae was inspired to create Live Through This, a collection of portraits & true stories of 180 suicide attempt survivors. LTT has received extensive media coverage, including features in the NYT, Associated Press, & more. Dese’Rae speaks at universities, conferences, & events nationwide. http://lLiveThroughThis.org/
Submissions for the 2017 Quinnett Prize are accepted online through February 27. More info & past prize winning essays are at http://www.suicidology.org/writing-contest
Rudy is a public speaker, writer, and vlogger who shares his story of living with bipolar. He travels the country to work with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Project Semicolon, This is My Brave, and Active Minds. Interviewed for the Fall 2016 edition of BP Magazine. Creates video content for HealthyPlace.com. Featured on “The S Word” (documentary) blog. Rudy has proudly lived in San Pedro, CA his entire life. Follow him on Twitter @RudyCaseres and on Facebook www.facebook.com/rudycaseres
Harriet is one of America’s most respected relationship experts, and the author of numerous scholarly articles and popular books, including the New York Times bestseller The Dance of Anger, which has sold several million copies. Newest book, WHY WON’T YOU APOLOGIZE?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts, shows us how much the apology matters and why we so often muck it up. Harriet provides a unique perspective on what the good apology requires and how we can restore compromised and broken relationships. More at www.HarrietLerner.com
Jenny is a poet who teaches at the U of Central MO. She is Co-editor of Pleiades www.PleiadesMag.com/ Her poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, Poetry International, North American Review, Copper Nickel, Best New Poets, and other publications. Her debut poetry collection, Marvels of the Invisible, won the 2014 Berkshire Prize and is now available through Tupelo Press www.tupelopress.org/product/marvels-of-the-invisible/ More about Jenny at www.JennyMolberg.com
Scott is a poet who loves solo bicycling & motorcycling trips. He enjoys all the parts of publishing a journal & other people’s books through Main Street Rag Publishing Company. MSRP is the biggest publisher of poetry in NC. His poetry has appeared in such places as The Asheville Poetry Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, Southern Poetry Review, and Sundog and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He also received an Emerging Artists Grant from the NC Arts & Science Council in 2001 which was used to publish his first book of poetry, Auditioning for Heaven. Other books include Balancing on Two Wheels (2003), STEEL WOMB Revisited (2005), and most recently, Hard to Love (2012). In 2006, he was the recipient of the Irene Blair Honeycutt Legacy Award. In 2010 the Poetry Council of NC awarded him a Certificate of Dedication. His cover design work has won two PICA Awards along with several Indie Press nominations. Follow his adventures at www.facebook.com/MScott.Douglass and http://MainStreetRag.com/
John is a white American male who is not complacent! Currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where the garbage can smell like roses if you wish on it hard enough. Author of poetry: The Noose Doesn’t Get Any Looser After You Punch Out (Six Gallery Press 2008), Glass City (Low Ghost Press, 2010), In The Year of Everything Dying (Camel Saloon, 2012), Starting with the Last Name Grochalski (Coleridge Street Books, 2014); and novels: The Librarian (Six Gallery Press 2013), and Wine Clerk (Six Gallery Press 2016). Writers & more are urged to email John at WineDrunkSideWalk@gmail.com to be included in the blog reflecting the Trump days, http://WineDrunkSideWalk.blogspot.com/
Daniel is a poet of the April 2017 Kansas City Poetry Throwdown. He shares openly & with dark humor about real life, mental health challenges & all. His poetry collections “Like a Fish” & “The One Where I Ruin Your Childhood” are from www.SundressPublications.com His work has appeared in New World Writing, The Los Angeles Review, The Chiron Review, The Mas Tequila Review, Night Train, Juked, Nerve Cowboy, & more. He’s the co-editor of “Trailerpark Quarterly” and the host of the podcast “Sanesplaining” http://Sanesplain.com
Matt performs slam poetry across the country, because “Words are the expression of the spiritual.” Part of The P.O.E.T. Movement, Matt co-hosts several live-streamed P.O.E.T. Radio shows. Matt lives in Topeka, KS while completing a business degree at Washburn University. He hosts “The Faces by Mayfield Poetry Series” monthly in Topeka. His poetry collection from Spartan Press will be released May 2017. For info on P.O.E.T. Radio and more, www.IAmPoet.org or MattSpezia.Spezia@gmail.com
Author of four chapbooks: A Beggars Book of Poems, Bumblebee Petting Zoo, Fools’ Song & Unformed Creature, with more in-progress. His poems have appeared in Ghost City Review, Guide to Kulture Creative Journal, Five-to-One Magazine #thesideshow, Rusty Truck Zine, Poems-For-All, The Buffalo News & Plurality Press. Acquisitions Editor for CWPCollective Press. Voted best poet in Buffalo by Artvoices’ “Best of Buffalo” in 2016. A madcap, punk-rock, D.I.Y. Buffalo bred & corn-fed poet. Follow Cringe-Worthy Poets Collective at www.facebook.com/CringeWorthyPoetsCollective
Taurean LaCharles is a native of Lawrence, KS and a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied classical theatre. As an androgynous gay African-American male, Taurean has known discrimination throughout his life. Taurean and host Marcia Epstein engage in a lively conversation about Performance Arts in Lawrence, KS. And about Racism in Arts in the USA. Follow Taurean at www.facebook.com/Taurean.LaCharles
Crista grew up in Iowa. BFA in Painting and Creative Writing from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2015. Visual work has been show at the Dodge Painting Gallery, Blue Djin Gallery, Vacant Farm, Green Lady Gallery, ArtsBar, Night Blooms Darkroom and Bookstore, H&R Block ArtSpace, and LUMA Westbau museum in Zürich, Switzerland. Poetry has been published in Sprung Formal, KCAI’s Compendium, Not Sorry Zine, and Retrograde Craft. First book of poetry, Fleeting, Sacred on Spartan Press in 2015. Her practice—paralleled in both visual and written works—is an exploration of the body and the mind’s relationship to environment, trauma, time, and phantasmagoria. More Crista at https://www.instagram.com/bansheelaundry/ and https://www.instagram.com/cristasiglin/
Ezhno doesn’t believe in pronouns! And is a long-time member of the Poetic Underground in Kansas City, with roots at Prospero’s Books and the Uptown Arts Bar. Ezhno’s collection Beautiful & Abominable is by Spartan Press. Ezhno is the founder of EMP, a growing empire specializing in publishing poetry. #Beer by Ezhno was their inaugural project. In 2017, EMP releases books by Samantha Slupski and others. www.facebook.com/EMPzine
Mark is and has been a FORCE in the Midwest-and-More Music and Poetry scenes for years. As a teacher at the university and high school levels, he challenges minds to expand. Expose yourself to his books, CD’s, performances. More about his current band at
http://www.godzillionaireband.com/
Annette is an African-American Kansas poet, playwright, actress and nurse, who now offers by sharing her poetry and prose. She has written two collections of poetry, one-act plays and numerous short stories.
Her book of poems, A Net Full of Hope, garnered the Topeka, Kansas, 2015 ARTSConnect Arty Award for Literature.
More information can be found at: http://anetfullofhope.com/
“Descants for a Daughter, a collection of affirmations/meditations, reads like a blessing for all daughters, for all humanity. It inspires us to recognize our own worth, to resist the forces that threaten to diminish us as we move along life’s path, and to remind the people we love to do the same. It is a collection to be returned to many times.”
Buy here: https://www.amazon.ca/Descants-Daughter-Annette-Billings-ebook/dp/B01MQQAYO0
