Quintessential Poetry: Online Radio, YouTube and Zoom

Don Krieger is a biomedical researcher whose focus is the electric activity within the brain. He is author of the 2020 hybrid collection, "Discovery"  (Cyberwit), the 2022 hybrid chapbook, "When Danger Is Past, Who Remembers?" (Milk and Cake Press), a 2020 Pushcart nominee, and  a 2020 Creative Nonfiction Foundation Science-as-Story Fellow. His work has appeared in American Journal of Nursing, Neurology, Seneca Review, The Asahi Shimbun, The Blue Nib, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,  and others, and has been translated into Farsi, Greek, Italian, German, and Turkish.

After working in education for thirty years as a professor, mentor, public-school teacher, and

librarian, Kim now spends as much time as possible on the reading, writing, and sharing of

poetry.

Kim volunteers weekly for the international, intergenerational, intersectional poetry organization,

Cultivating Voices LIVE Poetry, because she believes in poetic community. She creates the

graphic designs for the group's events, and is privileged to collaborate with founder Sandra

Yannone and fellow poet Don Krieger on program ideas and management.

She earned her BA in English from Goucher College, her MA with Creative Writing Emphasis

from the University of Maryland-College Park, and her PhD in Creative Writing from the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her gratitude overflows for her teachers and mentors --

Elizabeth Spires, Stanley Plumly, Michael Collier, Marcia Southwick, Greg Kuzma, and Hilda

Raz.

Her work appears in many journals, recently in Cider Press Review, The Blue Nib, and Banyan

Review. She is currently seeking a publisher for her full-length manuscript, "The Mayapple

Forest."

Her website can be found here: https://www.kimportsparsons.com/

Sandra Yannone’s poems and book reviews have appeared in numerous print and online journals including Ploughshares, Poetry Ireland Review, Prairie Schooner, Sweet, SWWIM Every Day, Naugatuck River Review, Impossible Archetype, and Lambda Literary Review. Her poem “Requiem for Orlando” appeared in Pulsamos: LGBTQ Poets Respond to the Pulse Nightclub Shooting, a special online edition of Glass: A Journal of Poetry in August, 2016. Salmon Poetry published her debut collection Boats for Women in 2019; her second collection The Glass Studio is forthcoming. She currently hosts Cultivating Voices LIVE Poetry on Facebook via Zoom on Sundays. Visit her at www.sandrayannone.com.

Deelynn Leigh was born in South Boston, Virginia and grew up with her family in Carson City, Nevada. As

a young girl she engulfed her life with athletics and outdoor activities. For relaxation she found her gift

for writing while creating short stories. In grade school she wrote her first haiku poem which ignited her

love for poetry and the ability to utilize words and strategic rhythms to express herself.

Throughout the course of her life, she shared her poetry through spoken word opportunities from

private to public stages and published independent works across various poetic volumes. Deelynn

attended George Mason University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and

English with a concentration in Poetry. Immediately following she obtained her Master of Arts degree in

Religious Education from Liberty University.

Deelynn is very passionate about her faith in God through Jesus Christ and seeks to create poetry that

glorifies God and encourages others. Her purpose in life is to spread the Word of God to all, striving to

do this effectively through her written words. Her poems are a testimony of God’s love, His mercy, and

His grace. One of her most motivated scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you

declares the Lord, plans to make you prosper and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.”

Her latest book is Lift Up: Inspirational Poems & Devotions which can be purchased online at

Amazon.com.

Ahmad Al-Khatat was born in Baghdad, Iraq. His work has appeared in print and online journals globally and has poems translated into several languages. He has been nominated for Best of the Net 2019 and was also nominated for the Pushcart Price 2020. He is the author of some poetry chapbooks and a collection of short stories . He lives in Montreal, Canada.

Zach Beach, MA is an international yoga teacher, best-selling author, poet, love coach, founder of The Heart Center love school, and host of The Learn to Love Podcast. 

He is the author of the Amazon best-seller The Seven Lessons of Love and two poetry collections, his first entitled Drinking Roses on Sunday and his latest collection is 108 Savasana Poems: Blissful Words From the Heart of Yoga.

Zach's writings have appeared on such websites as The Huffington Post, Elephant Journal, and MindBodyGreen, while his poems have been seen in such publications as October Hill Magazine, The Oddville Press, and The CHILLFILTR Review. Learn more at www.zachbeach.com

Susan Abbott paints, draws, writes, does wild and crazy things often with color, sometimes with words. Since March 2021 she has been on a tear of writing villanelles. Prevalent themes in her work are about women (family, friends, historical, mythical, magical, imaginary),love, death, nature, spirituality, social injustices. She is not shy about using humor to bring a sense of poignancy along with a lighter to touch to some difficult topics. Her work has appeared in old feminist rags like “So’s Your Old Lady,” “Sojourner,” and “Perspective.” The coming out correspondence with her mother was included in “Between Ourselves: Letters Between Mothers and Daughters” (Houghton Mifflin, 1984). Her newer work appears in Cholla Needles, When Women Awake: Grief Issue, “Feckless Cunt: A Feminist Anthology (World Split Open Press, 2018); and “Touching Creatures Touching Spirit: Living in a Sentient World” by Judy Grahn, (Red Hen Press, 2021). Her chapbook “Nasty Woman Rise: The Dream and the Curse” (2017) was published by Cholla Needles. She is the illustrator along with poet Cynthia Anderson of the collaborative chapbook “Now Voyager” (Cholla Needles, 2019). A chapbook of her newer poems and art,  “The Every Day Holy of We” is due out from Cholla Needles in 2022.

Abi Taylor is an Artist/Illustrator living and working in North Vancouver BC. She takes inspiration from the places around her and inside her mind. After finishing her degree of Visual Arts at Emily Carr University she would like to make drawings for children's books.

Alden Wallace Mackay has been published in numerous literary magazines across the continent. He hopes one day this might pay the bills.

I am 38 years old and writing since fifteen in Urdu. Lately joined English literary universe as a poet. Before that I was already wotking on a novel. The work goes on. Professionally I works as an Incharge Advances in a bank. Done Masters in Political Science. And perhaps that is enough that is worth of mention. Rest it is a life of an ordinary person.

New York Times bestselling poet Nikki Grimes received the 2020 ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to young adult literature. Her distinguished works include the much-honored books Garvey’s Choice, ALA Notable book Southwest Sunrise, Coretta Scott King Award winner Bronx Masquerade, five Coretta Scott King Author Honor books, Print and Siebert Honor winner Ordinary Hazards, Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor winner One Last Word, its companion Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance, and the New York Times bestseller Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice. She is the creator of the ALA Notable Poetry Book Come Sunday, At Jerusalem’s Gate, and Voices of Christmas, and has been featured in the pages of Image: Journal of Arts and Religion, Today’s Christian Woman, Poetry Magazine, and on the Academy of American Poets series Poem-a-Day, among others. Ms. Grimes lives in Corona, California.