This April, join us for a two-part reading + open mic series in celebration of National Poetry Month.

What is poetry’s role in civic engagement, and in the world at large? A collection of celebrated poets will read poems addressing this issue. Luisa A. Igloria (Poet Laureate of Virginia 2020-22) will host, and offers the poem she wrote for the NY Times Thanksgiving 2020 feature as a starting point. This virtual event will be live on Zoom and a recording will be available on the Muse Facebook page.

Register to attend the live Zoom webinar

There will be an open mic portion following the reading. Participants may read one poem, with a strict 2 minute time limit. Sign up for the open mic here; signups are first come, first served.

Part I features current officers of the Poetry Society of Virginia:

Kathleen P. Decker is a poet, physician, and musician. She is a past president of the National League of American Penwomen, Seattle Branch, and is currently Vice President of the Poetry Society of Virginia, Eastern Region. She has authored several books of poetry including, “Russian Reverie,” “Whispers on Paper,” and “Essence of Woman,” in addition to individual poems published in many haiku publications. She edited and published an online and print international haiku journal called Chiyo’s Corner, and was an editor for the World Haiku Association. She also edited two haiku anthologies; “My Neighbor’s Life” and “On Crimson Wings.”

Catherine Fletcher is a poet and a playwright. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Inflectionist Review, The Hopper, Kissing Dynamite, Hopkins Review, and the concert series Concept Lab. She was a TWP Science and Religion Fellow at Arizona State University from 2016-18. She also served as Director of Poetry Programs at the New York-based organization City Lore and Managing Director of the Los Angeles-based ensemble The Ghost Road Company. She lives in Virginia, USA. 

Bill Glose is a former paratrooper and combat veteran. The author of five poetry collections and hundreds of magazine articles, Glose was named the Daily Press Poet Laureate in 2011 and featured by NPR on The Writer’s Almanac in 2017. His poems have appeared in numerous journals, including The Missouri Review, Rattle, Poet Lore, Narrative Magazine, and The Sun. His website www.BillGlose.com includes a page of helpful information for writers.

Cathy Hailey teaches as an adjunct in Johns Hopkins University’s online MA in Teaching Writing Program and previously taught high school English and Creative Writing in Prince William County, VA. She is northern region vice president of The Poetry Society of Virginia and organizes In the Company of Laureates, a biennial reading of poets laureate held in PWC. Her writing has been published in The New Verse News, Poetry Virginia, The Journal of the Virginia Writing Project, Written in Arlington, The Prince William Poetry Review, Grid Poems, and in anthologies associated with ekphrastic collaborations.

Henry Hart has published four poetry books, the most recent being Familiar Ghosts.  His poems and essays have appeared in journals such as the Southern Review, Yale Review, Sewanee Review, New England Review, Gettysburg Review, Georgia Review, and Kenyon Review. His biography James Dickey: The World as a Lie was runner-up for a Southern Book Critics Circle Award in 2000.  He has also published critical books on Seamus Heaney, Robert Lowell, and Geoffrey Hill.  Wiley-Blackwell published his biography The Life of Robert Frost in 2017.  He has taught at the College of William and Mary since 1986, and was Virginia’s Poet Laureate from 2018 to 2020.

Luisa A. Igloria is the author of Maps for Migrants and Ghosts (Southern Illinois University Press, 2020), The Buddha Wonders if She is Having a Mid-Life Crisis (Phoenicia Publishing, Montreal, 2018), and 12 other books. Luisa was the inaugural recipient of the 2015 Resurgence Poetry Prize (UK) for ecopoetry, and is a Louis I. Jaffe Professor of English and Creative Writing in the MFA Program at Old Dominion University. She also leads workshops for The Muse Writers Center in Norfolk. For over 10 years, she has been writing (at least) a poem a day. In July 2020, she was appointed Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  www.luisaigloria.com   Twitter @ThePoetsLizard

Terry Cox-Joseph is president of the Poetry Society of Virginia. She is a former newspaper reporter and editor, was the coordinator for the annual Christopher Newport University Writers’ Conference and Contest for ten years. She has been published in Northern Virginia Review, Allegro and Chiron Review among others. Her first chapbook, Between Then and Now, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her nonfiction book, Adjustments, was published by Hampton Roads Publishing in 1993. A graduate of Minneapolis College of Art and Design, she displays and sells her watercolors and acrylics at shows, galleries and shops.

Derek Kannemeyer‘s poetry and prose have appeared in scores of publications from Fiction International to Rolling Stone. His recent books include the winning entry in the inaugural chapbook contest offered by the Irish journal Blue Nib, and the 2019 play The Play of Gilgamesh. His poetry collection Mutt Spirituals is forthcoming from San Francisco Bay Press.

Joanna Suzanne Lee earned her MD from the Medical College of Virginia in 2007 and a Master’s in neuroscience from William & Mary in 2010. Focusing on the intersection of healing and creativity, her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Rattle, Fourth River, Driftwood and elsewhere, and has been nominated for both Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes. She is the author of Dissections (2017), a co-editor of the anthology Lingering in the Margins (2019), and founder of the Richmond, Virginia community River City Poets. 

Kindra McDonald is the author of the collections Fossils and In the Meat Years and was the recipient of the 2020 Haunted Waters Press Poetry Award. She received her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and is an Adjunct Professor of Writing and Teaching Artist at The Muse Writers Center. She serves as the Poetry Society of Virginia Southeastern region Vice President and you can find her at www.kindramcdonald.com

Jeri Rogers, Editor and Founder of Artemis Journal, began her journey 44 years ago by creating writing workshops for abused women. From this experience, she created Artemis Journal, initially as a feminist journal, evolving into an all inclusive journal serving thousands of people in Virginia’s Blue Ridge and across the globe. The journal features up-and-coming as well as award-winning artists and writers, and advocates for social justice.

David Anthony Sam lives in Virginia with his wife and life partner, Linda. His poetry has appeared in over 90 publications and his poem, “First and Last,” won the 2018 Rebecca Lard Award. Six of his collections are in print including Final Inventory (20-18) and Dark Fathers (2019). Sam teaches creative writing at Germanna Community College and serves as Regional VP on the Board of the Virginia Poetry Society.