Inner Moonlight

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 9/9/26, we featured writer Princess McDowell!

Princess McDowell (she/they) is a multi-faceted writer and editor from Dallas, Texas. Their career spans over 20 years in journalism, performance poetry, and copywriting to both tell their unique story as a black queer storyteller and craft stories for global and local organizations. She is a two-time Pink Door literary fellow, a national and international touring poet, and as a teaching artist has run workshops and collaborated with youth literary groups across the country, producing a book of COVID-related writings with high school students in 2020. Princess has been a part of Rebellious Magazine since its relaunch in 2016; she currently serves as managing editor. Learn more at www.princessmcdowell.com.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 8/12/26, we featured poet April Sojourner Truth Walker!

April Sojourner Truth Walker, PMP is a Dallas native who studied at Emory University in Atlanta and Hollins University in Virginia. Before starting her writing coaching company – A Little More Truth, LLC – in April of 2020, she worked for seven years as a Senior Project Manager at AT&T.

April is currently an Adjunct Professor at Dallas College and UNT Dallas. Previously she was an Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma City Community College, teaching a myriad of classes in the Humanities. A perfect day for April is one spent in nature with her camera, a cup of tea and nowhere to be.

Her current manuscript, Fire Psalm, grapples with how the history of the black community in Dallas is covered up by the city’s constant need to revitalize its image. She is also working on a manuscript exploring the role of women in Christianity, Judaism and Islam and how these historically man-made roles manifest in women’s lives today. she works as a ghostwriter, writing tutor, and developmental editor.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 7/8/26, we featured poet Caitlyn Alario!

Caitlyn Alario is the author of SAPPHICS, a chapbook published by Bottlecap Press. She received a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of North Texas and an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has appeared in Vallum, Third Coast, Bluestem Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in North Texas, where she works as a ghostwriter, writing tutor, and developmental editor.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all. We are proud to present this episode featuring our special event from 6/10/2026, the second annual Pride Open Mic featuring work by favorite queer Dallas poets and our queer heroes! Poets in this episode:

1. Lauren Brazeal Garza

2. D. Cawthon

3. Yuliya Dyrdyra

4. Jean Galante

5. Shelby Griffin

6. Lon Roberts

7. Victor Koehn

8. Addis Garza

9. Brian Duran-Fuentes

10. Lauren Kalstad

11. Jennifer Elise Wang

12. Lisa Huffaker

13. Logen Cure

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 5/13/26, we featured poet, essayist, and novelist Kendra Allen!

Kendra Allen was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She’s the author of the memoir Fruit Punch, the poetry collection The Collection Plate, and the essay collection When You Learn the Alphabet, which won the 2018 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction. She received an M.F.A. from the University of Alabama, and among other things she loves driving, pauses, and hands. Repetition is her favorite literary device. Some of her other works can be found on, or in, The Paris Review, Oxford American, The Rumpus, High Times, and more.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. The in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all. This very special episode contains Inner Moonlight's Eighth Anniversary celebration from 4/8/2026, featuring encore performances from writers featured in the past year plus some Inner Moonlight favorites. We are so proud to present this episode!

1. LyriK Hunter

2. VP Crowe

3. Lon Roberts

4. Brian Duran-Fuentes

5. Eva Regicide

6. Katie Fisher

7. Samantha Strong Murphey

8. M.A. Nicholson

9. Logen Cure

⁠⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

We are proud to present this bonus episode of the Inner Moonlight podcast featuring our event for the Wild Detectives Twelfth Anniversary celebration on 4/5/26. We collaborated with storytelling event Talking Dirty After Dark for a super fun show we called Dirty Moonlight. You'll hear some of our favorite poets previously featured on Inner Moonlight alongside storytellers selected by Talking Dirty curator Raymond Butler. This show also includes a performance by Inner Moonlight curator Logen Cure. Happy anniversary to the Wild Detectives! Cheers to many more!

Performers in this episode:

1. Shawn Lee (storyteller)

2. Hannah Smith (poet)

3. Chris Brown (storyteller)

4. Alex Temblador (poet)

5. Devin Kodges (storyteller)

6. Mag Gabbert (poet)

7. Kay Brown (storyteller)

8. Logen Cure (poet, Inner Moonlight curator)

9. Raymond Butler (storyteller, Talking Dirty After Dark curator)

⁠www.thewilddetectives.com⁠

⁠www.talkingdirtyevents.com⁠

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 3/11/26, we featured poet Jess Smith!

Jess Smith is the author of Lady Smith (University of Akron Press, 2025). She is an Associate Professor of Practice at Texas Tech University, where she also directs the MFA in creative writing. See more at www.jesselizabethsmith.com.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 2/11/26, we featured Inner Moonlight favorite Samantha Strong Murphey!

Samantha Strong Murphey (she/her) has an MFA in Poetry from NYU and has been supported by Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and Vermont Studio Center. She’s taught creative writing at UT-Dallas, been a submission reader for Dallas-based literary magazine Sine Qua Non, and interned for her hometown global powerhouse publisher Deep Vellum Books. (Can you tell she loves Dallas?) Her work has been published by Rattle and the Crab Creek Review and is forthcoming the North American Review. She was a finalist for Ninth Letter’s Regeneration Prize and Gulf Coast’s Barthelme Prize. Before poetry, Sam worked as a journalist and has a rich and lengthy unwritten resume as a caregiver to her three human children, a dashing rescue cat, and a very earnest rescue dog. Sam grew up split between Cincinnati, Ohio and Fayetteville, Arkansas, but has, for the last decade, resided in Oak Cliff, the coolest neighborhood in … you guessed it … Dallas. She believes in sharp cheese, gun reform, and karaoke for all.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 1/14/26, we featured Inner Moonlight favorite Kepler Goodwin!

Kepler Goodwin is a queer North Texas poet who enjoys spending time with friends, their dog, and deep introspective pauses that occasionally lead to poems. They have one published poem with Eber and Wein, and are so excited to feature for Inner Moonlight.

⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com