David Judah Oliver is an accomplished Poet and Author of two Published Books of original Poetry. He is the Co-Host and Founder of LionLike MindState Poetry and Art Series at the Pomona Fairplex. As an Entrepreneur, he Owned and Operated the now Legendary Machine Pomona Art Gallery in the Pomona Arts Colony, 2011-2014.    He is       an   Art Consultant for the Ontario Montclair School District  2012 to  Present. David Judah 1 has taught Poetry at every level of Education spanning Kindergarten to College and University Workshops, even beyond bars and barriers as an Art Instructor for the Prison Education Program, He is…the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Pomona!

CORNELIUS EADY is the author of eight books of poetry, including Hardheaded Weather: New and Selected Poems (Putnam, April 2008). His second book, Victims of the Latest Dance Craze, won the Lamont Prize from the Academy of American Poets in 1985; in 2001 Brutal Imagination was a finalist for the National Book Award. His work in theater includes the libretto for an opera, “Running Man,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1999. His play, “Brutal Imagination,” won Newsday’s Oppenheimer award in 2002.

In 1996 Eady co-founded, with writer Toi Derricotte, the Cave Canem summer workshop/retreat for African American poets. More than a decade later, Cave Canem is a thriving national network of black poets, as well as an institution offering regional workshops, readings, a first book prize, and the summer retreat.

Shane Manier is a Creative Coach, Artist, Live Event Painter, Tedx and Key Note Speaker, Trauma Informed Care Instructor, Poetry Mentor and National Spoken Word Poet based in the Charlotte Metro Region of NC. She is the founder of The National Poetry Month Summit, an online summit that connects and supports poets across the US, and the founder of Guerilla Poets, a nonprofit art collective with branches in the US and UK.

As a poet and artist, she has been featured at many shows and venues all across the US while completing many outreach programs as an activist and is a published author with three books, two spoken word albums and has poems published in numerous anthologies.

She is currently the Spoken Word and Arts Teaching Instructor for The Harvey B. Gantt Center, Henderson High School and Playing for Others as well as Center for Faith in the Arts Visual Artist in Residence.  In 2011 she was the youngest poet to ever be inducted in the Poetry Council of North Carolina, has served on board of CCAG Arts Collective of Cornelius North Carolina in 2017, and was honored as a finalist for Poet Laureate of Charlotte NC in 2022. She has been recognized as a National Poet performing with Respect Da Mic Slam Team from 2017-2020, and Secret City Slam in 2022.

Given the name KaNikki, being interpreted as “great writer” at birth, KaNikki is living up to her name. KaNikki Jakarta is the First Black Poet Laureate of Alexandria, Virginia. With three decades of writing and performing and over twenty-five years on the poetry scene, she has opened for Jill Scott, Raheem DeVaughn, and Lyfe Jennings.

Ms. Jakarta has been interviewed and featured in newspapers and magazines to include Alexandria Times, Alexandria Gazette, Patch, and Northern Virginia Magazines. She’s been featured on podcasts, radio stations and TV stations to include WUSA9, Comcast and NBC.

Her poems have been featured on the trolleys and buses in Alexandria, Virginia. She has toured the US and the UK and as a result, KaNikki’s spoken word performances, hosting talents, and facilitating skills are sought after by fans all over the country.

KaNikki Jakarta is the First African American Poet Laureate of Alexandria, Virginia. She is an Award Winning Performance Poet; author of three novels, two poetry collections, a memoir and a short story, poetry collection entitled ALABAMA GIRL, VIRGINIA WOMAN.

www.kanikkij.com

Henry L. Jones is an award-winning African American artist, writer and performance artist whose work deals with the struggles of cultural and social issues. From those struggles, he discovered a healing power from his ability to create artwork. His art delves into the forces, which shape things whether social causes, spiritual connections, or community affairs. In his art, he blends experiences and images with references to African heritage and culture. His paintings are an exploration of the family ties and historical memories of the Black community. This is where he obtains his inspiration to create his art.  Henry is the Inaugural Poet Laureate of Hendersonville, TN.

Christian J. Collier is a Black, Southern writer, arts organizer, and teaching artist who resides in Chattanooga, TN. He is the author of the chapbook The Gleaming of the Blade from Bull City Press. His works have appeared or are forthcoming in North American Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Atlanta Review, and elsewhere. A 2015 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellow, he is also the winner of the 2020 ProForma Contest and the 2019-2020 Seven Hills Review Poetry Contest.

Dr. Marilyn Kallet was the 2nd Poet Laureate for Knoxville, TN, serving from June 2018 - June 2020.  She is the author of 19 books, including Even When We Sleep, 2022 and How Our Bodies Learned, 2018, poetry from Black Widow Press. She has translated Paul Eluard’s Last Love Poems and Benjamin Péret’s The Big Game, among others. Dr. Kallet is Professor Emerita at the University of Tennessee, where she taught for 37 years. She also hosted poetry workshops and residencies for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Auvillar, France, from 2009-2018. She has performed her poems across the United States as well as in France and Poland, as a guest of the U.S. Embassy’s “America Presents” program. Her poetry appeared recently in Still: The Journal of Appalachia, Plume and 101 Jewish Poems for the Third Millennium, among others. She is the author of two children’s books, Jack the Healing Cat and One For Each Night: Chanukah Tales and Recipes, Celtic Cat Publishing.  

Christopher Massenburg, better known as Dasan Ahanu, is a public speaker, organizer, curator, educator, poet, spoken word artist, educator, songwriter, and emcee, and loyal Hip Hop head born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is co-founder and managing director of Black Poetry Theatre, a Durham based theatre company that creates and produces original poetry and spoken word based productions. As an active participant in poetry slam, Dasan has competed regionally and nationally as a founding member and coach of Durham, NC’s own Bull City Slam Team. In 2010 and 2014, Ahanu led the Bull City Slam Team in winning the Southern Fried Southeastern Regional Poetry Slam, the largest regional poetry slam in the country. He also led the team to a 3rd place finish at the 2010 National Poetry Slam and a 2nd place finish in Group Piece Finals at the 2012 National Poetry Slam.

Dasan is also an alumni Nasir Jones Fellowship with the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. He scholarly work is focused on art interventions, creative expression, Hip Hop and popular culture. Currently, Dasan is a visiting professor at UNC-Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill and a consultant working with organizations on art-based strategies.

This podcast is a platform created to inspire artists to persevere through the trials that come with being a creative.  Tune in to each episode as Rhea "RheaSunshine" Carmon speaks with poets and artists about what drives them to succeed and their creative process.New episodes of Beyond the Spark Podcast will be available every 1st and 3rd Saturday.