The Poetry Box LIVE – APRIL Edition!

Saturday, April 11, 2026 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• Susan Willis Johnson (WA) – author of A Moment’s Breath
• Casey Robb (CA) – author of Morning Glory Moon
• Sharon Black (PA) – author of The Snow Arrow
• Joanne Kennedy Frazer (NC) — author of Well Seasoned

How to Join Zoom Show:

PLEASE NOTE: EVERYONE MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE.

About the Featured Poets:

Casey Robb is a former physical therapist and a retired civil engineer from Texas, living in Northern California near her two adopted daughters. Her early passion for poetry was rekindled in middle age in the California Federation of Chaparral Poets (CFCP). Casey’s poetry has been published in many journals and has won numerous awards, including a best-of-convention trophy and a runner-up trophy at CFCP conventions. Her poems encompass a diverse range of subjects, both light and dark. She also enjoys writing fiction. Her short stories have been published in various journals, and she is currently working on a novel.

You can learn more about Casey’s book HERE

Joanne Kennedy Frazer is a retired peace and justice director and educator for faith-based organizations. Since writing her first poem at age 73, she has been published in over 100 literary venues. Having now achieved 84 years on this planet, she enjoys leisure to delight in its gifts, as well as time to grieve its desecration. She relishes her daily activity of watching a variety of birds on her balcony as they eat, drink, rest, and cock their heads, look at her. She’s fairly certain they sense her gratitude which makes it a mutual admiration society. Her go-to poetry themes are nature, justice, family and aging. Five poems have been turned into a song cycle, Resistance, by composer Steven Luksan, and performed in Seattle and Durham. Her second chapbook, Seasonings (Kelsay Books), was nominated for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. You can follow Frazer on Substack: @poetrybyjoanne.substack.com.  She lives in Raleigh, NC.

You can learn more about Joanne’s book HERE

Sharon Black credits becoming a poet to two girlhood memories from the late 60s. The first was accompanying her physician father on house calls through central Pennsylvania farm country, staring, often bored, out the passenger seat window between patient visits. The second has to do with the long row of empty, gallon-sized glass cider bottles, dusty and draped with spider webs, that lined the north wall of the unfinished basement in her childhood home. Ms. Black’s work appears in over 40 publications over many decades. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her poems have placed in contests, secured best-in-issue accolades, and been selected for anthology/anniversary-issue publications. The Snow Arrow: Selected Poems gathers many of these poems as well as some newer pieces. Since her retirement from librarianship at the University of Pennsylvania, she has added abstract painting (see cover art) and playwriting to her creative pursuits. Her first play, Welcome to the RAA, received a staged reading at Burning Coal Theater in 2021 and she is at work on a second called The Drip in which hypodermic media indoctrination, climate change, cultism, and conceptual art collide to test family relations. She resides in Wallingford, PA with her husband George though they spend a lot of “spirit time” on Rainbow Lake in the Adirondacks.

You can learn more about Sharon’s book HERE

Susan Willis Johnson writes in the mountain town of Roslyn, Washington. She hikes daily with family and friends on trails along the Cle Elum River Valley. Serving as the spokesperson for a Roslyn grassroots citizens’ group, she collaborated to promote sustainable forestry and to protect wildlife habitat. Susan taught in the local schools and was Co-Director of the Central Washington Writing Project. She was named the 2009 Washington State Teacher of the Year. Her chapbook, The Call Home (The Poetry Box), was a finalist in the 2022 Chapbook Contest.

You can learn more about Susan’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (April 11, 2026) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – MARCH Edition!

Saturday, March 14, 2026 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• Debbie Hall (CA) – author of Mixtape: Marginal States
• Angelika Quirk (CA) – author of Chaos & Calm
• Priscilla Bernard Wieden (OR) – author of Solitary Light: Mourning Poems
• Julie Potiker (CA) – author of Gentle Currents: Poems of Pause & Peace

Enjoy a Video of the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

Debbie Hall is a former psychologist whose poetry has appeared in Hawaii Pacific Review, Arlington Literary Journal, Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine, Sunshine/Noir III:  Writing from San Diego and Tijuana, and many other literary journals and anthologies. Her books include What Light I Have (2018, Main Street Rag Books), Falling into the River (2020, The Poetry Box) and In the Jaguar’s House (2022, The Poetry Box), a book of wildlife photography and poems for children. Her essays have appeared on NPR (This I Believe series), in USD Magazine, and the San Diego Union Tribune. She holds an MFA in writing from Pacific University in Oregon and is a poetry editor with Writer’s Resist. Her photography has been published in Orion, The National Humane Review (a 2009 photo contest winner), The San Diego Union Tribune, Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine and in other literary journals.

You can learn more about Debbie’s book HERE

Julie Potiker is a mindfulness expert, author, and—much to her own delight—a debut poet at the age of 65. Her journey to poetry feels like a joyful surprise, arriving after a decade of helping others bring more peace and wellness into their lives through her Mindful Methods for Life programs. A former attorney, Julie is a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher affiliated with UCSD Center for Mindfulness, and founder of the Balanced Mind Meditation Center in La Jolla, California. She trained with leaders in the field, including Kristin Neff, Christopher Germer, and Rick Hanson, and holds certifications in trauma-sensitive mindfulness, grief education, and multiple adaptations of the Mindful Self-Compassion program.

Her first two books—SNAP! From Chaos to Calm and Life Falls Apart, but You Don’t Have To— and are available in print and audiobook format. Julie’s work has been featured in The Oprah Magazine, Costco Connection, AARP, and major news outlets including NBC, CBS, and Fox. Now, she embraces the wonder of sharing her first poetry collection, proof that creativity can bloom at any stage of life. More at MindfulMethodsForLife.com.

You can learn more about Julie’s book HERE

Angelika Quirk was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany. Her poetry is influenced by German culture and the angst of post-World War II experiences. At the age of 18 she immigrated to the United States. She graduated from U.C. Berkely with a BA in German Literature. Her poetry has appeared in various literary magazines including N.Y. Quarterly, California Quarterly, TRANS-LIT2 and Marin Poetry Center’s Anthologies. She was a member of the Marin Poetry Center for six years in charge of the High School Poetry Program. Two of her poetry books, “After Sirens,” “Of Ruins and Rumors,” and her memoir “Kriegskinder” are in the library of the German American Heritage Museum in Wahington D. C. Her poem, “Vom Vergänglichen” recently won the SCALG Lyrik-Preis, 2023.

In a former life, she danced in “Totentanz” at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and was on the record album cover of the “Schlagerparade 1968” (Hit Parade 1968) in Germany. A lover of music, collector of words in English and German, she now writes poems about life and living. Her Leitmotif: to instill emotions and passions from the surreal to the sublime, from chaos to rhythm to rhyme.

You can learn more about Angelika’s book HERE

Priscilla Bernard Wieden is a lifelong Poet and Arts, Education and Environmental advocate. She is celebrated for her active engagement in Portland’s vibrant artistic community and contributions to Caldera, an award-winning year-round program for underserved youth, dedicated to nurturing creative and environmental education. Priscilla serves as Co-chair of the Caldera Board, an organization founded by the Wieden family in 1996 with the belief in the power of creativity. She also currently serves on the Board of Literary Arts and on the board of Trustees for Wieden + Kennedy.

Priscilla has devoted her life to being of service in the healing arts, having founded and run Evergreen Clinic for 35 years, and in the theater arts, having served as Board Chair for Profile Theatre. In 2024, she was a TedX Salon Speaker “Courage emerges from Love” on Mortality after the passing of her husband, Wieden and Kennedy Founder and creator of the eponymous “Just Do It” Nike Tagline, Dan Wieden.

Priscilla is a proud mother, grandmother and gardener. She stays immersed in issues of social justice, the arts, women and children, housing, the environment, and hunger, including past Board service with Urban Gleaners and Ecotrust, keeping Priscilla actively engaged with the world.

You can learn more about Priscilla’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Mar 14, 2026) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – Prizewinners Edition!

Saturday, Feb 7, 2026 @ 1:00 PM (Pacific)

12pm (Alaskan) / 2pm (Mountain) / 3pm (Central) / 4pm (Eastern)

Featuring Winners from our 2025 Chapbook Contest

• John Arthur (NJ) – author of Lucy the Elephant Wins in a Landslide
• Katie Dozier (TX) – author of All That Glitter
• John Wojtowicz (NJ) – author of No Lightsabers in the Kitchen
• George Bilgere (OH) — 2025 Contest Judge, Special Guest

Enjoy a Video from the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

Grand Prize Winner, The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize 2025

John Arthur is a writer and musician from New Jersey. His work has appeared in Rattle, DIAGRAM, Frogpond, Failbetter, trampset, ONE ART, and many other places. He has worked as a valet at a casino, a waiter, a Ferris Wheel operator, a cook, a pizza delivery driver, a fast food delivery driver, a kati roll delivery driver, a landscaper for a week or so, a journalist, an editor, a librarian, a library director, a municipal manager, and for one long, hot day as a guy going door to door asking if you’d like to donate to the Sierra Club. His band is The Deafening Colors.

You can learn more about John’s book HERE

Editor’s Choice Winner, The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize 2025

Katie Dozier’s love of poetry first bloomed as a child. She memorized Robert Frost sitting on a tree stump and bathed in Edgar Allan Poe as an adolescent. While studying words at Florida State University, KHD also played with chips and became a professional poker player. She’s passionate about encouraging others to discover and share contemporary poetry, through her X account (@Katie_Dozier), her Substack, and NFTs.  KHD is the author of All That Glitter, Watering Can: a Month of Poems, and the co-author of Hot Pink Moon: a Crown of Haibun and Did You See the Moon Honey. She is the creator of the top-rated podcast The Poetry Space_, the haiku editor for One Art, and an editor at Rattle. Katie lives in The Woodlands, Texas, with her husband Timothy Green, their four children, and way too many books.

You can learn more about Katie’s book HERE

Designer’s Choice Winner, The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize 2025

John Wojtowicz grew up working on his family’s azalea and rhododendron nursery and still lives in the backwoods of what Ginsberg dubbed “nowhere Zen New Jersey” with his wife and two children. Currently, he teaches social work at Rowan College South Jersey. He has been featured on Rowan University’s Writer’s Roundtable on 89.7 WGLS-FM and Painted Bride Quarterly’s Slush Pile Podcast. Several of his poems were selected for Princeton University’s 2021 Unique Minds: Creative Voices exhibition at the Lewis Center for the Arts. When not writing, teaching, or rolling around in the yard, he enjoys monitoring bluebird boxes, volunteering at the Cohanzick Zoo, and flipping horseshoe crabs.

You can learn more about John’s book HERE

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins has called George Bilgere’s work “a welcome breath of fresh, contemporary air in the house of American poetry.” Bilgere has read his poems at the Library of Congress, the 92^nd Street Y in New York, the Chautauqua Institute, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. NPR listeners know him from his many appearances on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac and A Prairie Home Companion. He has received grants and awards from the Pushcart Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright Foundation. He is a recipient of the May Swenson Poetry Award, the Society of Midland Authors Poetry Prize, the Ohioana Poetry Award, and the Cleveland Arts Prize. His work received the Editor’s Choice Award from the New Ohio Review in 2022, and in 2023 he won the Reader’s Choice Award from Rattle. His eighth collection of poetry, Central Air, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in March, 2022. His new book, Cheap Motels of My Youth, won the Rattle Press Chapbook Prize in 2023 and appeared in 2024.

You can learn more about George HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Feb 7, 2026) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – JANUARY Edition!

Saturday, Jan 10, 2026 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• K.D. Vallejo (ID) – author of Energy and Nothingness
• Mike Schneider (PA) – author of Many Hats
• Fred Zirm (MD) – author of Cycling at Sunrise
• Kristin Roedell (WA) – author of Lessons in Buoyancy

Enjoy a Video from the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

K.D. Vallejo is from the Ciudad Juarez/El Paso border community, currently residing in Idaho Falls. He is interested in the aesthetic space where science, philosophy, and language meet. Kevin is a reviewer and member of the editorial team of Consilience, and his work has been featured in Beyond Queer Words, Menagerie 208, The Marbled Sigh, and the technical journals Reports of Progress in Physics, ACS Nano, among others. His previously published collection minus one twelfth can be found now. Kevin daylights as a condensed matter physicist, stacking atoms for a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory.

You can learn more about K.D’s book HERE

Mike Schneider began writing during the Vietnam War when, while serving in the US Air Force, he published an anti-war “underground” newspaper. He has practiced law, worked as a science writer, won awards for magazine writing, and written book reviews and essays on culture for several publications. For essays in the Thomas Merton Center’s New People, he received a 2003-04 Creative Artists Stipend in Arts Commentary from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, his poems appear in many literary journals, anthologies and three chapbooks. He received the 2012 Editors Award from The Florida Review and the 2016 Robert Phillips Prize from Texas Review Press. With a colleague in 2010, he founded East End Poets, a group of Pittsburgh-based writers. In September 2022, the Hungry Hill Writing Group in West Cork, Ireland awarded Schneider’s work second prize in its Poets Meet Politics 2022 International Open. His full-length collection Spring Mills (Ragged Sky) came out in 2023.

You can learn more about Mike’s book HERE

Kristin Roedell graduated from Whitman College (B.A. English 1984) and the University of Washington Law School (J.D. 1987). She practiced family law for 10 years in the Pacific Northwest. Her poetry has appeared in over seventy journals, magazines and anthologies, including: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Switched on Gutenberg, Crab Creek Review, and Ginosko. She was the winner of the national NAMI Open Minds Quarterly Poetry Contest. Her book Downriver was a finalist in the Quercus Review Press Poetry Contest, and her book Lessons in Buoyancy was a finalist in the Blue Light Poetry Contest (as Crone Poems). She is the author of two chapbooks: Girls with Gardenias (Flutter Press) and Night Circus (Legal Studies Forum), plus a full-length collection: Downriver (Aldrich Press).

You can learn more about Kristin’s book HERE

Outside of directing plays and teaching drama and English, riding and writing have been Fred Zirm’s two main occupations – not at the same time, although he does often think of ideas for poems while on his bicycle. On the cycling side, he has completed several century rides, competed in time trials and road races, solo toured through Greece for a month, and climbed some of most famous ascents from the Tour de France. On the writing side, his work has been published in about a dozen small literary magazines and anthologies, including Still Crazy, cahoodadoodaling (Pushcart Prize nominee), NEAT, Chautauqua, Voices de la Luna, Greek Fire, Poeming Pigeons, and Objects in the Rearview Mirror. His first poetry chapbook, Object Lessons, was published in January 2021 by Main Street Rag and his second, Rescue Dogs, in July 2023 by The Poetry Box. Fred has retired from teaching but not directing (or riding and writing) and lives in Maryland with his wife, Robin, and younger daughter, Sara, who put up with his rather time-consuming hobbies.

You can learn more about Fred’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Jan 10, 2026) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – NOVEMBER Edition!

Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• Laura Ann Reed (WA) – author of Homage to Kafka
• Patricia Cannon (CA) – author of Wild Heart
• Rick Rayburn (CA) – author of Pink Tercets
• Celeste Colasurdo (for Christine) (OR) – author of There Is Always a Volcano Before You

Enjoy a Video from the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

Laura Ann Reed was born in Berkeley, California, earned her B.A. from The University of California, Berkeley which included a year at l’Université Aix-Marseille in France, and lived most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area before relocating to the Pacific Northwest with her husband, Grant Reed, in 2004. She earned a master’s degree in the performing arts and taught dance at the University of California before earning a master’s degree in clinical psychology. Her work has been published in seven anthologies, including Poetry of Presence Volume II and has appeared in a large number of journals in the United States, Great Britain and Ireland. Homage to Kafka is her second chapbook. She is a contributing editor with the Montréal Review. Learn more at: lauraannreed.net

You can learn more about Laura Ann’s book HERE

Patricia Cannon has been a Registered Nurse at UCSF since 2001. Throughout her career, she has gained experience in various areas, including cardiac critical care, neurointensive care, hematology-oncology, and school nursing. Currently, she is focused on research. Outside of her professional life, Patricia is passionate about her faith, photography, and the written word in all its forms.

You can learn more about Patricia’s book HERE

Rick Rayburn has lived most of his life in California, starting in the Los Angeles basin, then moving to Humboldt Bay, before settling in Sacramento. A fourth generation Angelino, Rayburn grew up in Altadena, and went to UCLA in the 1960s, where he met his future wife, Marianne. After two years in the Air Force in Tucson, he worked at the Coastal Commission as a redwood ecologist in Arcata, where he and Marianne had three children. After fifteen years on the North Coast, Rayburn move his family to Sacramento, turning his focus to land preservation as the Natural Resource Manager at California State Parks. For many years he helped direct the Board of Governors of Center for Natural Lands Management and Chaired Big Sur’s Santa Lucia Conservancy. Upon retiring, he began writing, becoming active in the Sacramento literary community. He has published two poetry books, Under the Overstory (2020) and Slack Tide (2023), poems in eight journals, and a Van Gogh royal crown sonnet.

You can learn more about Rick’s book HERE

Christine Colasurdo lived at Spirit Lake before the eruption at Mt. St. Helens. She is the author of Return to Spirit: Life and Landscape at Mount St. Helens, The Golden Gate Parks: a photographic journey, and poetry chapbooks Rain and Cascade Manifesto. She taught writing and calligraphy at Multnomah Art Center in Portland, Oregon. She was a founding member of The Mt. St. Helens Institute. Her poems have appeared in Terrain.org, Windfall, OnEarth, Verseweavers, Medical Literary Messenger, The University of Portland Magazine and Denver Quarterly Review among others. Christine was also a visual artist and calligrapher. She died in 2021 at the age of 59. See more of her work at christinecolasurdo.com.

You can learn more about Christine’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Nov 8, 2025) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – OCTOBER Edition!

Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• D. Walsh Gilbert (CT) – author of no mother but the sky
• WD Frank (WA) – author of Inventions & Variations
• Shawn Pittard (CA) – author of Shelter in Place
• Lynda Skeen (OR) – author of Broken Open

Enjoy a Video from the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

D. Walsh Gilbert is a dual citizen of the United States of America and the Republic of Ireland. Her poetry collections include Ransom, imagine the small bones, Finches in Kilmainham,  Misneach: A Story of Kidnap, Enslavement, and Colonialism, and  From the Altar of the Land (all, Grayson Books), Once the Earth had Two Moons (Cerasus Poetry), [M]AR[Y] (Kelsay Books), Deirdre (Impspired) and Bleat & Prattle (Clare Songbirds Publishing House). Her poems appear widely in poetry journals online and in print. She serves on the board of the Riverwood Poetry Series and as co-editor of the Connecticut River Review published by the Connecticut Poetry Society.

Gilbert lives in Farmington, Connecticut on a former sheep farm at the foot of Talcott Mountain near the watershed of the Farmington River, previously the homelands of the Tunxis and Sukiaugk peoples and near the oldest site of human occupation in Connecticut, dating back 12,500 years. She welcomes turkey, bear, and bobcat as daily visitors from the forest behind her home, writes every day, and visits her family in County Monaghan, Ireland as often as possible.

You can learn more about Debbie’s book HERE

WD Frank is an artist, musician, writer, and occasional professor of history from Yakima, WA. In addition to regional honors for poetry (including the Tom Pier Prize in 2004, 2016, and 2021), his two books on Russian sport and recent contribution to a collection of essays published in Austria received Ullr awards from the International Ski History Association in 2015, 2019, and 2025. His articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, The Journal of Sport History, Ski History Magazine, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, and Suomen Urheiluhistoriallisen Seuran Vuosikirja, Finland’s sport history yearbook. McFarland Publishers released his latest book, Under Mountain Shadows: Kay Kershaw, Lesbian Eco-Warrior of the Pacific Northwest, in 2024. He is currently working on a series of entries for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise, forthcoming from Oxford University Press in 2026.

Since 2006, Frank’s paintings have received numerous honorable mentions and awards at Larson Gallery’s Central Washington Artists’ Exhibition in Yakima and at Boxx Gallery in Tieton, WA. His work is also included in the Central Washington Artist Permanent Collection at the Yakima Valley Museum.

You can learn more about WD’s book HERE

Shawn Pittard is the author of three slender chapbook volumes of poetry: Witness, which was a Finalist in The Poetry Box 2024 chapbook contest; Standing in the River, the winner of Tebot Bach’s 2010 Clockwise Chapbook Competition; and These Rivers from Rattlesnake Press. He’s been a coach for Poetry Out Loud and a California Poet in the Schools, taught recitation and writing in middle schools and high schools, including juvenile hall (yep, they’re good kids), as well as with veterans and the men in Folsom Prison. By day, he labored in the field of environmental protection, planning, and public policy, focusing on energy.

You can learn more about Shawn’s book HERE

Lynda Skeen has been published in a variety of journals, including boats against the current, ONE ART, The Halcyone Literary Review, North American Review, Lucid Stone, The Hyacinth Review, and Anti-Heroin Chic.  She lives in Ashland, Oregon, with her husband and several cats.

You can learn more about Lynda’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Oct 11, 2025) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – SEPTEMBER Edition!

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• John Miller (OR) – author of Andes
• Kashiana Singh (NC) – author of Dualities of Albireo
• Mike Schneider (PA) – author of Many Hats
• Margaret Chula (OR) – author of Clothes To Go Out In

Enjoy a Video from the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

Kashiana Singh is a poet whose work weaves together the essence of place, identity, and introspection. Her chapbook Crushed Anthills (Yavanika Press) embarks on a poetic journey through ten cities, capturing the soul of each in vivid verses. Her second full-length collection, Woman by the Door (Apprentice House Press), released in 2022, explores the complexity of womanhood, while her newest collection, Witching Hour (Glass Lyre Press), debuted in December 2024, delving into themes of transformation in the birthing house of life.

When she’s not writing, Kashiana lives by the principles of her TEDx talk, “Work as Worship,” bringing mindfulness and reverence into her daily life. She is deeply involved in the literary community, proudly serving as the managing editor for Poets Reading the News and as president of the North Carolina Poetry Society. Outside of her poetry practice, Kashiana is also a vice-president in the healthcare services industry, seamlessly balancing her creative and professional pursuits. Residing in North Carolina, she loves being the family storyteller and bedtime poet for her grandson.

You can learn more about Kashiana’s book HERE

Mike Schneider began writing during the Vietnam War when, while serving in the US Air Force, he published an anti-war “underground” newspaper. He has practiced law, worked as a science writer, won awards for magazine writing, and written book reviews and essays on culture for several publications. For essays in the Thomas Merton Center’s New People, he received a 2003-04 Creative Artists Stipend in Arts Commentary from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, his poems appear in many literary journals, anthologies and three chapbooks. He received the 2012 Editors Award from The Florida Review and the 2016 Robert Phillips Prize from Texas Review Press. With a colleague in 2010, he founded East End Poets, a group of Pittsburgh-based writers. In September 2022, the Hungry Hill Writing Group in West Cork, Ireland awarded Schneider’s work second prize in its Poets Meet Politics 2022 International Open. His full-length collection Spring Mills (Ragged Sky) came out in 2023.

You can learn more about Mike’s book HERE

John Miller’s poetry received category placement in the Oregon Poetry Association’s Fall 2023 contest. His chapbook Olympic was published by The Poetry Box in 2022, with other poetry featured at the Elisabeth Jones Art Center’s Festival of Feelings, and at the 2021 Connecticut Poetry Festival.  His poems have also been published in the anthology Opening the Gate, River Heron Review, Third Wednesday: A Literary & Arts Journal, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, West Trade Review and others.

John is a founder of Portland Ars Poetica, a literary poetry collective whose activities include generative workshops, a book club and performance events.  Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he’s lived in Portland, Oregon since 2012 and has a degree in English from Amherst College.

You can learn more about John’s book HERE

Born in Northfield, Massachusetts, Margaret Chula has traveled overland through Asia, lived in England and Japan, and now makes her home on the Portland skyline. She has published fifteen collections of poetry including, most recently, Weeding the Labyrinth. Her haibun memoir, Firefly Lanterns: Twelve Years in Kyoto, was awarded a 2022 NYC Big Book Award in Multicultural Nonfiction. Maggie has given readings and lead workshops at haiku conferences throughout the United States, as well as in Poland, Ireland, Peru, Canada, and Japan. She has also served as poet laureate for Friends of Chamber Music, president of the Tanka Society of America, and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Japanese Studies at Portland State University. Grants from Oregon Literary Arts and the Regional Arts and Culture Council have supported collaborations with artists, musicians, photographers, and dancers. Kim Stafford says of her work: “She has long been a word shaman connecting the wild world to the human heart.”

You can learn more about Maggie’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Sept 13, 2025) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – May Edition!

Saturday, May 10, 2025 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• Sandra Rendig (CA) – author of Heart & Bones
• Cathy Cain (OR) – author of Love’s Press
• Marjorie Moorhead (NH) – author of Into the Thrum
• Rebecca Bluemel (OR) – author of More Water Than Tears

Enjoy a video from the show:

About the Featured Poets:

Marjorie Moorhead’s poetry books are What I Ask (Kelsay Books 2024) and Every Small Breeze (Kelsay 2023), chapbooks In My Locket, Survival: Tees, Tides, Song, and Survival Part 2: Trees, Birds, Ocean, Bees. Her poems have appeared in Amethyst Review, Tiny Seed Literary, Moist Poetry Journal, Bloodroot Literary, Sheila-Na-Gig, Porter House Review, The Poeming Pigeon, Verse-Virtual, What Rough Beast, A River Sings, The Poet’s Touchstone, and others, as well as sixteen anthologies to date, including The Wonder of Small Things (James Crews, ed.). Marjorie’s work has garnered nomination for Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She lives with her family and writes from the Connecticut River valley at the NH/VT border. Her local poetry group is 4th Friday Poets.

Website: MarjorieWritesPoetry.wordpress.com/places-you-can-see-my-work/

You can learn more about Marjorie’s book HERE

Sandra Rendig was born and grew up in the 1950’s in the small town of Sonora, California, a rural land of hills, trees, and creeks.  The natural world remains a strong influence in her writing.  Her parents, children of Italian immigrants, have significantly influenced her writing.  Many of her poems honor their self-reliance and strong work ethic.  She often writes about the beauty and emotional impact of the changing seasons.  Now that she is 78 years old, several of the poems reflect the passing of her own seasons.

After a 30 year career teaching young children (preschool – 4^th grade), she has been writing poetry for self-exploration, joy and solace.

You can learn more about Sandra’s book HERE

Poet and artist Cathy Cain is the author of Lamplight, The Weight of Clouds, A Shape of Sky, and Bee Dance, published by The Poetry Box press; and a chapbook, Empty Space Places You, published by Finishing Line Press.

Cain’s honors include the Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry, the Paulann Petersen Award for Poetry from Willamette Writers, a Pushcart nomination, a PEN/Voelcker nomination, and a First Place and other citations from the Oregon Poetry Association. Her poetry has appeared in Reed Magazine, The Poeming Pigeon, Verseweavers, VoiceCatcher, and in /pãn| dé | mïk/ 2020: An Anthology of Pandemic Poems.

The mother of two fine sons, Cain taught in the public schools for over thirty-two years. She lives with her husband near Portland, Oregon.

You can learn more about Cathy’s book HERE

Rebecca Lynn Bluemel is a Gateless® certified facilitator, group leader, and writing coach. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her two adorable gingers, leads a current series of generative writing workshops online, and owns and operates her own pet sitting business, Home Sweet Home Pet Care LLC. Her book, Excoriation, and chapbook, Womanhood and Other Scars, were previously published by The Poetry Box.  Her poetry has appeared in The Poeming Pigeon, Feminine Collective, Cirque, Tiny Seed, and many others.

You can learn more about Rebecca’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (May 10, 2025) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – March Edition!

Saturday, March 8, 2025 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring:

• Carolyn Martin (OR) – author of Splitting Open the World
• David Belmont (NY) – author of Ob-la-di Ob-la-da
• LeAnn Bjerken (MN) – author of Ordinary Omens
• Luna Moore Latorre (CA) – author of Chrysalis

Enjoy a Video from the Show:

About the Featured Poets:

From Roman Catholic Sister of Mercy and English teacher in New Jersey to international management trainer; from author of business books to poetry collections; from work addict to devotee of the Spanish proverb, “It is beautiful to do nothing and rest afterwards,” Carolyn Martin is blissfully retired––and resting––in Clackamas, Oregon.

A lover of gardening and snorkeling, feral cats and backyard birds, Martin embraces poetry as her way of interacting with the world­­––in images, rhythms, sounds, and intensities of language. That is why she’s settled into the joyful task of translating experience into as few words as possible.

Her aesthetic is found in Galway Kinnell’s statement, “To me, poetry is somebody standing up…and saying, with as little concealment as possible, what it is for him or her to be on earth at this moment.” With little concealment, her poems grapple with this challenge.

Martin’s poems have appeared in more than 200 publications throughout North America, Australia, and the UK. The Poetry Box released her second collection, The Way a Woman Knows, in 2015; a chapbook, Nothing More to Lose, in 2020; and her fifth collection, The Catalog of Small Contentments, in 2021.

You can learn more about Carolyn’s book HERE

David Belmont is a mixed media artist and community organizer. He writes poetry, memoir and short fiction. World Gone Zoom: Notes from the American Epicenter, his debut poetry collection, was published by The Poetry Box in May 2021. Other writing has appeared in The Poeming Pigeon, Wildflower Muse and FishFood Magazine. David has been a professional musician for over 50 years, producing 26 albums of his own work. His CD WindWater Excursions spent 8 months on the New Age Voice Top 100 Airplay List (2000-2001)and was in heavy rotation on the syndicated radio program Echoes. He is vice president of Musicians for Musicians, a musicians’ rights organization based in NYC, and a member of the band SoSaLa (spoken word, dobro). David is on the faculty of the East Side Institute, an international center that promotes alternative and radically humanizing approaches to psychology, education and community building. He lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with visual artist Kim Svoboda and their labradoodle Penelope.

You can learn more about David’s book HERE

Originally from Minnesota, LeAnn Bjerken holds an MFA in creative writing from Eastern Washington University. A former journalist, freelance writer and mermaid performer, she has temporarily traded her fins for legs in order to better keep up with her daughter. Her poetry has appeared in Miracle Magazine, The Pacific Northwest Inlander, Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living Magazine, and online publications including Devilfish Review, The Artistic Muse, The Lake, Fox Adoption Magazine, and Plants & Poetry Journal. When not out seeking inspiration, she can be found at home snuggling with her husband Steve, daughter Eowyn, and cat Tikki.

You can learn more about LeAnn’s book HERE

Luna Moore Latorre is a writer of fiction and poetry living in Southern California. Chrysalis is her first published book. Her second book, a novel, is soon to be published by Library Tales (and distributed by Simon & Schuster) in July 2025. Luna’s other work can be found in Literally Stories, Eunoia Review, Yellow Arrow, and other places. When she is not writing, she loves reading, dancing, hiking, and being with her cat, Da Vinci.

You can learn more about Luna’s book HERE

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Mar 8, 2025) appeared first on The Poetry Box.

The Poetry Box LIVE – February Edition!

Saturday, Feb 08, 2025 @ 4:00 PM (Pacific)

3pm (Alaskan) / 5pm (Mountain) / 6pm (Central) / 7pm (Eastern)

Featuring our 2024 Chapbook Prize Winners and Guest Judge:

• Flavian Mark Lupinetti – author of The Pronunciation Part  
• Laura Foley – author of Ice Cream for Lunch: A Grandparents Handbook
• Allison Thorpe – author of A Girl, a Slipper, and Yesterday’s Rainbow
• Donna Hilbert – Contest Judge & Special Guest

Enjoy the video from the show:

About the Featured Poets:

Flavian Mark Lupinetti, a Pushcart nominated poet, fiction writer, and cardiac surgeon, received his MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He received first place awards in the 2023 Social Justice Poetry Contest sponsored by Sport Literate and the 2014 Betsy Sholl Poetry Award sponsored by Words and Images. His creative writing has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Cutthroat, december, Redivider, ZYZZYVA, and other publications, and his contributions to the scientific literature include more than 90 peer-reviewed papers, research studies, and monographs. A native of West Virginia, Mark now lives in New Mexico.

You can learn more about Mark’s chapbook HERE

Laura Foley is the author of ten previous poetry books, most recently, Sledding the Valley of the Shadow. Her book Why I Never Finished My Dissertation received a starred Kirkus Review and an Eric Hoffer Award. She has won a Narrative Magazine Poetry Prize, The Common Good Books Poetry Prize, Atlanta Review’s Grand Prize and others. Her work has been included in many journals including: Alaska Quarterly, Valparaiso, Poetry Society London, Atlanta Review, Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. She lives on the steep banks of the Connecticut River in New Hampshire, and romps with the grandchildren as often as possible.

You can learn more about Laura’s chapbook HERE

Sylvia Ahrens (writing as Allison Thorpe) grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan. After adventuring around the country, she and her husband settled at the end of a lovely dirt road in Kentucky where they built their own home of natural stone and wood, raised a family and an organic garden, and reveled in bird song for almost four decades. Along the way, she earned degrees in English Literature, Creative Writing, and Women’s Studies. Her books include six collections of poetry and a series of cozy mysteries.

Inspirations include the growly screams of Janis Joplin, the enduring courage of Aung San Suu Kyi, the complex melodies of Bela Fleck, and the beautiful finality of the Oxford Comma. She works as a writing mentor at The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, loves lilacs, yearns to be a poker star, and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

You can learn more about Allison’s chapbook HERE

Donna Hilbert’s latest book is Threnody, from Moon Tide Press, 2022. Earlier books include Gravity: New & Selected Poems, Tebot Bach, 2018. She is a monthly contributing writer to Verse-Virtual. Work has appeared in Braided Way, Cultural Daily, Chiron Review, Gyroscope, Sheila-Na-Gig, Rattle, Zocalo Public Square, ONE ART, The Los Angeles Times, and numerous anthologies including The Poetry of Presence volumes I & II, The Path to Kindness, The Wonder of Small Things, I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing, and featured on Writers on Writing, The Writer’s Almanac, and Lyric Life. She writes and leads private workshops in Southern California, where she makes her home.

You can learn more about Donna at https://www.donnahilbert.com/

The post The Poetry Box LIVE (Feb 8, 2025) appeared first on The Poetry Box.