Dasha Kelly Hamilton is a writer, performance artist, curator and facilitator. Ultimately, she’s a creative change agent, leveraging the creative process toward human and social wellness.

Dasha has written for national, regional and local magazines; produced three books of poetry; recorded four spoken word albums; published two novels and an award-winning collection of micro stories; been included in several anthologies; and performed in the last season of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. Her nonprofit, Still Waters Collective, initiated literary arts programming for 20 years, creating platforms for thousands of voices to be honored and heard.  She has taught at colleges, conferences and classrooms and curated fellowships for emerging leaders.

An Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy, Dasha has facilitated community building initiatives in Botswana, Toronto, Mauritius and Beirut. She is a former Artist of the Year and Poet Laureate for the City of Milwaukee and the 2020-2022 Poet Laureate for the State of Wisconsin. Dasha is a national Rubinger Fellow and a National Laureate Fellow with the American Academy of Poets. Touring nationally, her stage production, Makin’ Cake, uniquely engages communities in a forward dialogue on race, class and equity.

Dasha is working on her third novel, a collection of poems with incarcerated writers and a documentary film. 

Jon Goode is a multitalented author, poet, and playwright originally from Richmond, Virginia, but currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia. You may recognize him from his appearances on HBO’s Def Poetry, TVOne’s Verses & Flow, and BET’s Lyric Café. His stage play Khalas was even showcased at the 2013 International Festival of Arts and Ideas.

In 2006, Jon’s exceptional work with Nick @ Nite earned him an Emmy nomination and the Promax Gold for the best copyright in North America. His debut collection of poems and short stories, Conduit, was published in 2015 and has received an impressive 47 five-star reviews on Amazon. For 12 weeks, Conduit held the top spot in its category on Amazon.com and was the best-reviewed book of poetry in 2015/16.

Currently, Jon serves as the host of The Moth StorySLAM in Atlanta, GA, and has also hosted and performed with The Moth both domestically and abroad. It’s no wonder why Jon Goode is highly regarded in the literary and performance worlds.

Talaam Acey is an international spoken word artist who has received accolades from Amiri Baraka, Stevie Wonder, Berry Gordy, and Essence Magazine Editor Emeritus - Susan Taylor. His poetry has been featured in film and television. Acey has won spoken word awards in the US, the UK and Germany, and his work has been associated with Sundance Film Festival prizes.

Roscoe Burnems, also known as Douglas Powell, is an author, spoken-word artist, educator, and Richmond, Virginia’s first poet laureate. He is the author of the collections God, Love, Death and Other Synonyms (310 Brown Street, 2019), Chrysalis Under Fire (The Writer’s Den, LLC, 2018), and Fighting Demons (Prysmatic Dreams Publishing, 2014). In his time as a slam poet, he has been a two-time southern regional team finalist, National Poetry Slam Champion, and Season 1 Screen Time Slam Champion. As a poetry slam coach, he has been a NPS Group Piece finalist and taken VCU’s poetry team to rank 3rd internationally. He is a TEDx speaker and founder of the poetry based art collective The Writer’s Den. In 2021, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.

Boris “Bluz” Rogers has risen through the ranks of spoken word entertainment. He is an Emmy Award winner, honored with a recognition in Excellence in Leadership from the NAACP,  the Director of Creative Engagement for Blumenthal Performing Arts, and is the slam master and coach of SlamCharlotte. The competitive team of poets whom he led to back to back National Poetry Slam victories in 2007 and 2008 and a historic 3rd win in 2018.

He has featured and hosted at the LA Poetry festival as well as the National Poetry slam and the Individual World Poetry Slam . Bluz also served as a delegate and writer at the All-America City awards where he helped Charlotte win the very sought-after award of All-America City.

Channeling human experience into gifts of metaphors and similes, Bluz has published “Articulate Slang” and produced three audio releases. His poetry is universal, dismantling social, economic, and ethnic barriers reaching into the heart of the community where he is an active member. Along with his stage and writing capability Bluz is also an incredible Voice over Talent. Using his words, writing and voice to work with several organizations such as the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, The National Museum of African American Music,  Junior Achievement, Wachovia, CBS Radio, Radio Disney, Raycom Sports, ESPN and SPEED TV, where he wrote and performed several intros for the nationally televised showed NASCAR. Today, Bluz’ voice is a progressive tool used to foster transformation. Nowhere has Bluz’ impact been more apparent than when he performed at the 2010 induction ceremony for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, a symbolic culmination of the city of Charlotte’s passion for winning the bid for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and Bluz’ passion to communicate his human-centric prose to audiences who have yet to enjoy slam poetry as an art form. The Hall of Fame opening and Bluz being, not only the first performer, but also the first African-American performer, is an historic event.

Bluz has shared the stage with many distinguished poets and international recording artists ranging from Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, and Gil Scott Heron to Outkast, John Legend, and Pink Floyd, he devotes his time to his family, his wife and three children.

Erin Elizabeth Smith is the Executive Director for Sundress Publications and the Sundress Academy of the Arts. She is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, most recently DOWN (SFASU 2020), and her work has appeared in Guernica, Ecotone, Crab Orchard, and Mid-American, among others. Smith is a Distinguished Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the Poet Laureate of Oak Ridge, TN.

Ed Mabrey is the greatest poet in the history of Poetry Slam—4 World Championships, 6 Regional Championships, and over 500 wins. An NAACP Image Award Nominee, Ed's been on TV One, as well as ABC, FOX, HBO, CNN. Ed has performed at over 350 colleges.  A Watering Hole graduate fellow, Ed is a Pushcart nominee and was commissioned to craft a speech encompassing the Freedom Award recipients for 2017-2021.