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
