2025 Laureate readings/performances Schedule

Saturday

10-11:00 Welcome & Laureate Readings/Performances

  1. In Memoriam: Alexandra “Zan” Delaine Hailey (Cathy Hailey & Kathy Smaltz)

  2. Kathy Smaltz

  3. Chad Frame*

  4. Katherine E. Young

  5. Bill Glose* 

  6. Sistah Joy Alford

  7. In Memoriam: Michael Glaser ( Christian Ellis)

  8. Holly Karapetkova*

  9. Thomas Burson

  10. Mattie Quesenberry Smith*

11:00 Workshops Session 1

Angela Dribben

Into the Heart: A Multimedia Creative Workshop

Classroom A, Colgan Hall

“Into the Heart” is an hour-long creative workshop centering on expressions of grief, loss, honoring, and remembering. No matter what we have lost—a loved one, a part of ourselves, a home, a relationship—we are left to craft a way to live with that loss. Although it changes shape, grief does not evaporate, it remains with us. Oftentimes it shapes us. In this workshop we will use Altoid tins as the container for our creative expressions of love, loss, and all the emotions in between. There will be prompts that guide the use of mixed media, found poetry, and original poetry.

John L. Dutton II

Turning Memories into Children’s Books using Personification

Classroom B, Colgan Hall

Children's literature has played an important role in our lives, and they convey important life themes through the pages of a book. In this workshop, we will turn our own memories into a children’s book.

12-1:00 Welcome & Laureate Readings/Performances

  1. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (12:05)

  2. In Memoriam: Claudia Emerson (Angela Dribben)

  3. Kathleen O'Toole

  4. John Dutton

  5. Doran Glass III

  6. Natalie J. Potell

  7. Roscoe Burnems/Douglas Powell*

  8. Mary McElveen

  9. James Paul Wagner (Ishwa)

1:00 PM Workshops Session 2

Roscoe Burnems/Douglas Powell

Breaking Writer’s Block

Classroom A, Colgan Hall

"Breaking Writer’s Block" is an engaging poetry workshop that focuses on planning, crafting framework, and exercises to combat "writer's block”. Poet Laureate Emeritus Douglas Powell/Roscoe Burnems will guide participants through a series of writing prompts and discuss the benefits of creating challenges to spark creativity. Attendees will leave with new tools for their craft and have ideas for future pieces.

Mattie Quesenberry Smith

Inseparable Strands: A Generative Workshop for Writing Poems about Science

Classroom B, Colgan Hall

How do science and poetry relate? Participants in this workshop will explore the romantic yet rocky relationship between science and poetry. Then, they will write a blackout poem from a Scientific American article to experience science’s unfamiliar language through poesy.

Sunday

10-11:00 Welcome & Laureate Readings/Performances

  1. Holly Karapetkova

  2. Wendell Hawken 

  3. Cristi Donoso

  4. Khadijah Ali-Coleman

  5. Chad Frame

  6. In Memoriam: Kelly Cherry (Brianna Cole)

  7. In Memoriam: Alexandra "Zan" Delaine Hailey

  8. Roscoe Burnems/Douglas Powell

  9. Angelique Palmer

  10. Bill Glose

11:00 Workshops Session 1

Roscoe Burnems/Douglas Powell

Breaking Writer’s Block

Classroom A, Colgan Hall

"Breaking Writer’s Block" is an engaging poetry workshop that focuses on planning, crafting framework, and exercises to combat "writer's block”. Poet Laureate Emeritus Douglas Powell/Roscoe Burnems will guide participants through a series of writing prompts and discuss the benefits of creating challenges to spark creativity. Attendees will leave with new tools for their craft and have ideas for future pieces. Saturday’s participants are welcome to return.

Mattie Quesenberry Smith

Voicing Trauma: A Generative Poetry Workshop Inspired by Famous Veterans Who Have Written about Trauma

Classroom B, Colgan Hall

How have veteran poets written about personal setbacks and trauma, and why should this matter to all poets? This generative workshop explores notable veterans’ poems and the strategies these veterans use to express their traumas and setbacks without excluding the reader. Afterwards, participants will author a poem about personal setbacks or trauma in a way that invites people to understand.

12-1:00 Welcome & Laureate Readings/Performances

  1. Joanna Lee

  2. Lacroy “Atlas” Nixon

  3. In Memoriam: Lucille Clifton (Mara Bella Occhuizzo)

  4. In Memoriam: Linda Pastan (Amber Hurd/Saleha Malik)

  5. Rich Follett

  6. Anne Becker

  7. Sasa Aakil

  8. Amasa Maleski

  9. Mattie Quesenberry Smith

1:00 PM Workshops Session 2

Making Poetic Connections: Writing Time and Informal Sharing

Classroom A, Colgan Hall.

Inspired by someone you’ve met, poetry you’ve heard, an indoor or outdoor scene? Step inside Classroom A, and give yourself some writing time and the opportunity to share quietly with others. Art will also be provided for inspiration. Please return the art to the appropriate box or booklet before you leave.

Holly Karapetkova

Gamifying Poetry

Classroom B, Colgan Hall.

Poetry is by its very nature interactive, involving the reader in a meaning-making journey. But how can we make our readers' participation even more deliberate and transparent? In this workshop we'll borrow techniques from games to help us create interactive poetry. Learn different ideas for turning a static poem into an interactive one (some of which involve technology and some of which do not) and participate in a related exercise.