Quintessential Poetry: Online Radio, YouTube and Zoom

Kenneth C. Steven grew up in Highland Perthshire in the heart of Scotland, and now lives in Argyll on the country’s west coast; it’s these landscapes that have inspired the lion’s share of both his poetry and prose.

He is best-known as a poet. Fourteen of his collections have been published over the years, and individual poems have appeared in top literary journals across the globe. Much of his poetry is inspired by the wildscape of his native Highland Scotland; much has resulted from his love of the Celtic Christian story whose deepest roots are for him found in the island of Iona off Scotland’s west coast.

He and his partner Kristina and lead Celtic Christian retreats each October on the island of Iona seeking to offer a gentle path through the Celtic Christian story. More about them can be found on the website of the Argyll Hotel on Iona.

Kenneth C. Steven grew up in Highland Perthshire in the heart of Scotland, and now lives in Argyll on the country’s west coast; it’s these landscapes that have inspired the lion’s share of both his poetry and prose.

He is best-known as a poet. Fourteen of his collections have been published over the years, and individual poems have appeared in top literary journals across the globe. Much of his poetry is inspired by the wildscape of his native Highland Scotland; much has resulted from his love of the Celtic Christian story whose deepest roots are for him found in the island of Iona off Scotland’s west coast.

He and his partner Kristina and lead Celtic Christian retreats each October on the island of Iona seeking to offer a gentle path through the Celtic Christian story. More about them can be found on the website of the Argyll Hotel on Iona.

Thandiwe McMillan is a young poet, author, artist and actress from New York City. She’s been writing poetry and short stories since her childhood and her poems were #1 on Teen Ink, during adolescence. She attended Swarthmore College and spent her last semester developing her poetry and writing with Philadelphia Poetry Laureate Trapeta Mayson. After graduating in May 2020 with a B.A in Theater, she joined a fellowship that assisted writers with publishing their first book. Her first poetry and illustration book Flowers In Winter was released in March 2021. This raw and vulnerable compilation explores the self-discovery of a young woman from childhood to present and her experiences with love, loss, and community. Thandiwe’s essays and poetry have been published in Voices, Philadelphia Poets 25 and Under as well as The Phoenix. To connect with Thandiwe, you can follow her on instagram https://www.instagram.com/thandiwe_artist/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thandiweartist

Jacinta V. White is a teaching artist, coach, facilitator, and entrepreneur. She's the founder of The Word Project and the Publishing Editor-in Chief, for the international quarterly, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing. Her most recent collection, Resurrecting the Bones: Born from a Journey through African American Churches & Cemeteries in the Rural South, published in 2019 (Press 53) has received national attention. To find out more about Jacinta and her work, visit JacintaWhite.com.

Katarina Canyon is a BIPOC, Award Winning Poet, Best Selling Author, civil rights activist, essayist, and poet. She grew up in Los Angeles and much of her writing reflects that experience.Her first book of poetry, Changing the Lines, was released in August 2017. This work is a conversation between mother and daughter as they examine what it means to operate within the world as black women.

Katerina Canyon is a 2020 and 2019 Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her stories have been published in The New York Times,The Huffington Post, and Folks. Her poetry has been published in CatheXis Northwest,The Esthetic Apostle, Into the Void, Black Napkin, and Waxing & Waning. From 2000 to 2003, she served as the Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. During that time, she started a poetry festival and ran several poetry readings.

She has a B.A. in English, International Studies and Creative Writing from Saint Louis University and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Katerina moved to Seattle three years ago. She is currently running a civil rights campaign against police brutality. More information can be found at www.vdaycampaign.org. Katerina's latest book, Surviving Home, will be released in October 2021 published by Kelsay Books.Readers can connect with Katerina on Instagram, Twitter, Goodreads, and Facebook.To learn more, go to https://www.poetickat.com/To request a review copy of Surviving Home or an interview with Katerina Canyon, please contact Kelsey at Book Publicity Services at (805) 807-9027 or [email protected]

Gretchen Primack is a poet, educator, and indie bookseller living in New York's Hudson Valley. She has taught and/or administrated  prison education programs since 2006. Primack has authored three poetry collections: Kind (Lantern Publishing); Visiting Days (Willow Books),  which imagines a maximum-security men's NYS prison like the ones where she's taught; and Doris' Red Spaces (Mayapple Press), a more personal collection. Primack also co-authored The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals with Jenny Brown (Penguin Avery). Primack’s poetry publication credits include The Paris Review, Prairie Schooner, Ploughshares, FIELD, Poet Lore, The Massachusetts Review, The Antioch Review, New Orleans Review, Rhino, Tampa Review, Best New Poets, and many other journals and anthologies.

Gerry LaGuardia Leonard writes in poetic prose, storytelling about the state of today’s world. She claims to have always walked the paths of altruism and artistic pursuits. Today, she defines herself as an emerging poet, adding it to her accomplishments as wife, mother, drama student, pottery artist and a fifteen-year career as a Certified Chemical Dependency/Relapse Specialist, instructing in Northern California jails. 

Gerry began writing poetry as a family legacy, then joined Facebook poetry groups. She is a member of the Denver Poetry Society and attends poetry readings around Denver. Her poems have been published in various anthologies, including a peace poem scripted on cloth, for a unique flag exhibition in India. Gerry claims that poetry is perfectly suited for unique artistic presentation, self-publishing an accordion book of poems. After living 35 years in No. California, she now resides in Denver, Colorado, where she was born and raised. 

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World Poetry Day was adopted as 21 March by UNESCO in 1999. It is an invitation to reflect on the power of language and the full development of each person’s creative abilities. It also supports linguistic diversity through poetic expression and offers endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their communities (https://globaldimension.org.uk/). Over the years, it has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in our culture. This year's observance will feature the following celebrated and award winning poets: Don Beukes (Pontivy, France), Heath Brougher York, Pennsylvania), Scott Thomas Outlar (Atlanta, Georgia), Archna Sahni (Toronto, Canada), and Sandra Yannone (Olympia, Washington). To read each poet's biography, please visit World Poetry Day 2021.docx.

Kelly Bradley is a tech writer and Sr. Product Manager in the Washington DC area where she writes stories and creates apps based on data. She wrote her first poem in Second grade, a requiem to her cat, Petey. Her first collection, published by FootHills Publishing, “love, loss and the enormity of it all” addresses themes of grief, joy, love, heartbreak and perseverance. When not working or writing poetry, Kelly writes songs and rap lyrics, dances to electronic dance music and hikes year-round with her dog, winter. She has co-written two songs are out on all the music platforms.

Website: https://www.kellycbradley.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellycbradley/ (@kellycbradley)

Purchase book from publisher: http://www.foothillspublishing.com/2021/bradley.html

Mysti S. Milwee is an International award-winning and published synesthesia artist (paints to music), poetess, writer, screenwriter, book cover art designer, and illustrator from Southside, Alabama. She is the editor and publisher of Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal. She has Native American background and is a Sequoyah-Cherokee translator. Her poetry, writings, and visual art has been published in over 3,000 + publications worldwide and in over 12 countries. She is the “Poet Laureate” of Fire Eagle Ministries, and over 1,000 poems has been written for over 50 ministries and outreach in over 12 countries. Her poetry, writings, and art has been used for academic and ministry studies across the US and abroad. She is the recipient of the 2021 International Cultural Arts & Literature Communications Collaborator Award, 2021 Global Translation Award in Native American Literature, 2020 International Native American Literary Translation Award, 2020 International Key to Success Award, 2020 International Golden Feather Leadership Scholar, 2020 Best Short Story for Documentary, 2020 Best Lyrics for Christian Music (for song “Unsung Hero”), 2020 Best Lyrics for Music Video (for song lyrics “Through the Fire”, 2020 Global Arts & Humanities Award, 2020 Global Arts & Literary CultureAward and was awarded the 2020 Best Screenplay for “The Loner”. She is a “literary and arts mentor” with the International Team with One Million Talent Academy Plus, Assessment for Development.She is the Author of her poetry book “Human Reaction” Inspirational Life Lessons Expressed in the Poetry of a Native American Woman’s Soul, and is available for purchase on Amazon.To view more about the author visit: http://www.mystismilwee.wordpress.com/Visit her online poetry and visual arts journal at: http://www.sequoyahcherokeeriverjournal.wordpress.com/