Where We Started & Where We’re Going
We founded Haikuists ten years ago by complete accident. In an attempt to meet and interview New York City’s self-starters and entrepreneurs, we brought our vintage typewriters and the FREE HAIKU concept to connect with passers-by on a Brooklyn street corner.
We booked our first event right there on the sidewalk. During our first official event, we booked our second. Soon our third was coming up. At that point, we knew we were onto something promising.
What we found was this: writing free poetry for people brings them immense joy. It's incredible how most people are willing to share a brief view into their world, and wait a few minutes for a complete stranger to encapsulate the moment with a powerful three-lined poem. Their reactions are always priceless–– laughter, tears, hugs––and further inspiration is never far behind: folks celebrate their poems by framing them, displaying them on their wall or mirror, or even having their haiku tattooed!
Fast forward ten years later: we’ve expanded to over thirty major cities, and have a roster of more than 150 poets, each equipped with vintage typewriters and ready to write personalized haiku poetry for guests at events. We’ve had the pleasure of writing at hundreds of events a year, and we can tell you with absolute confidence that haiku is for everyone and any occasion.
Thank you for joining us on this journey!
Meet the Haikuists
Our roster of incredible poets, each with a unique story and a passion for writing. Meet our poets in Los Angeles, New York, and 25 other cities in North America.
Erick Szentmiklosy - Cofounder
Erick is a co-founder of Haikuists who enjoys enabling people to be the best versions of themselves.
Daniel Zaltsman - Cofounder
Originally from the former Soviet Union, and currently based in California, Daniel Zaltsman is one of the co-creators of Haikuists. He works at the intersection of art and tech and believes that everyone inherently has the capacity to create. And that it all starts with starting.
Leah Clancy - Director of Sales
A poet, writer and artist. Since starting with Haikuists in 2016, she's written thousands of free haiku for people all over the world; and now, she's our director of sales too. Leah grew up in Buffalo, NY and is currently based in Los Angeles. Her dog's name is Artichoke.
Chloe Harder - Booking Manager
Born and raised by the sea, Chloe is sunny, savvy and inspired by self-expression. From yoga instructor to sales executive, illustrator to pun-maker, she leaves no stone unturned. Living a life she can’t wait to wake up to.
West
Rebekah Powell - Denver
Rebekah is a #1 award-winning songwriter and certified life coach from Nashville, TN. Over the last decade plus, she has hosted workshops on creativity, mentored writers and artists, and co-facilitated quarterly team-building keynotes for a Fortune 100 company. As a songwriter and coach, she explores the power of storytelling to unlock authentic self-expression and connection.
Tom Carlson - Denver
Tom teaches First Year Writing at Metropolitan State University of Denver, holds graduate degrees of debatable use-value, a BA from The Evergreen State College. He has been published in digital vestiges (Black Sun Lit), The Ballet Review, and peellit (forthcoming). His poems attempt whale syntax, afterlife physics, hosting gods, the body’s mode of thought, and the poetics of poetry’s obsolescence.
Abraham Guevara - Denver
A Southern Colorado-based artist and poet, Abe specializes in 3D and 2D visual art. His artwork and written works advocate for a harmonious coexistence between nature and technology. This concept is brought to life through the use of biological anatomies, calculated lighting techniques, and geometric shapes in his creations.
Nava Starling - Denver
Nava is a poet, mystic dancer, and therapist in Denver, CO. She believes in the magic of small moments. Blending a love of language with a healer’s heart, she crafts haiku that inspire connection, playfulness, and a sparkle of magic.
KL Landin - Las Vegas
KL is a professional artist in painting, drawing and photography. Furthering the practice of fine-art, she's incorporated writing through journal and prose. Based in Las Vegas, NV her work can be seen at regional and local exhibits.
Arella Reyes - Las Vegas
Arella is an agent of creativity based in Las Vegas. Some of her main focuses are poetry, graphic design, and event coordinating! They loves to travel, meet new people, and are an open and friendly addition at any event.
Maddie Durbin - Las Vegas
Maddie is an artist, writer, and dancer living in Las Vegas. Maddie loves people, all things creative and imaginative, being in nature, and hanging out with their cat.
Kennedy Nieves - Las Vegas
Kennedy is a published poet, writer & creative artist, poet, mc & event curator. She uses her art to connect, heal & build community. She has previously featured at various Las Vegas events for Spotlight Poetry, the LYF foundation, Happy Earth Market, & other organizations and in 2022, she curated a weekly Poetry open mic & night market in vegas that is now twice monthly, 2nd Tuesdays on Instagram live and 4th Tuesdays in-person housed in various venue spaces.
Angel Bautista - Las Vegas
Angel wants simply to bring out the best of everything they touch.
Paasha Motamedi - Los Angeles
An Iranian-Indonesian-American artist born on Coronado Island and currently based in Los Angeles. With a diverse background and a multidisciplinary approach, Motamedi's artistic journey has been shaped by his experiences in poetry, cooking, music, and visual arts.
Michelle Nieweg - Los Angeles
Prefers to use her time on earth making things with her hands, offering support to those who need it, and laying in the grass with her cat. She lives in Burbank, CA where she runs a business reading tarot cards and teaching yoga.
Emma Alley - Los Angeles
Emma Alley is a multidisciplinary artist living in Los Angeles. Her body-based creative practice incorporates movement, spoken word, facilitation, and performance.
Simone Sullivan - Los Angeles
Simone is an artist in Los Angeles. She hosts poetry fundraisers for the Downtown Women's Center at Heavy Manners Library and coaches girls basketball through the "Girls Play LA" program. Her favorite writers are Eve Babits, Maya Angelou and Patti Smith.
Zachary Lynch - Los Angeles
A sworn enemy of the dark forces which lay siege upon the human heart, his haiku are the aegis shield which separates the world of the living from maws of the undead. He is your champion; he is your last hope; he is your hearth in an unyielding storm. Godspeed, traveler; make sure to pack a jacket.
Christopher Cegielski - Los Angeles
Christopher Nataanii Cegielski is a commercial, film, and television director.
Angie Lee - Los Angeles
A poet, project manager, and producer who is dedicated to building communities through art and storytelling. She loves to learn about the world through travel, conversations, and stories.
Peter Hornung - Los Angeles
Part Colombian and part American, identity has always been a tricky concept for Peter. Identifying so much with Latin culture, but not looking the part made things confusing for him. He believes this in-between space, once embraced, helps us connect and empathize with all people.
Lejan Joshua Deocariza - Los Angeles
Lejan is a film and commercial production designer based in Los Angeles.
Tom Kubik - Los Angeles
Ohio bred, New York Sate of Mind, California Soul.
Anaïs Binkowski - Portland
Anaïs has been writing poems since they were a child. This poems eventually turned into songs. Now their band NONBINARY GIRLFRIEND has put out their first album, been named Best New Band of PDX 2023, and now has a session out with KEXP.
Alex Arnold - Portland
Alex is a writer, musician, and aspiring polymath based in Portland, OR. An avid outdoorsman, he derives much inspiration from exploring the wilderness in the PNW. When he isn't writing, he can be found performing under his band moniker !mindparade, and operating his record/instrument store Mothership Music.
Kyle Huneau - Portland
Kyle is a passionate songwriter, guitar teacher, and poet. He moved to Portland, OR in 2017 to pursue music and explore the Pacific Northwest. Kyle has a deep love for nature, reading, and bringing joy to others.
Tamara Browning - Portland
Tamara is a recording artist and touring musician currently living in Portland, OR. As a lyricist and multi-instrumentalist, she's written and released 5 albums on Captured Tracks, a record label based in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to songwriting, she makes music videos, screen prints, draws, paints, and creates mixed media and digital art/design.
Iain Watson - Reno
Iain is the director and founder of Reno's Spoken Views Poetry Collective. Watson has performed poetry for over 15 years and have shared stages with Derrick C. Brown, Brandon Leake and Michelle Myers. Iain also has lead poetry workshops for schools in Nevada and California and has written content for the Nevada Humanities.
Lucia Herrmann Benitez - San Diego
Lucia is a poet, performer, and educator from Miami, Florida. She writes about the environment, hybridity, and finding home.
Sahina Jerome - San Diego
Meet Sahina, a first-generation Haitian-American poet who's been charming the world of poetry with The Haikuists since 2018. This cat-loving dancer, who is also a high school English teacher, recently traded the concrete jungle of NYC for San Diego's sunsets, carrying her love for all things vintage and mid-century with her. Alongside her fiancé and two cats, Sahina continues to weave her dynamic life experiences into her poetry.
Noah Moss - San Diego
Trial lawyer by day. Writer always. Dog dad. Curious to a fault.
Patrick Cody-Carrese - San Francisco
Patrick has been with Haikuists since 2023, and enjoys connecting with people, however briefly, while writing them an original poem. Patrick is from Oakland, California, and loves to talk about all things Bay Area with folks as well!
Michael Lopez - San Francisco
Michael is poet and nature lover from Topeka, Kansas. In 2004, he moved to San Francisco, California, where he became a restaurant industry professional. Michael holds a BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, and an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco.
Kehinde Badiru - San Francisco
A writer, doing things with the magic of language and stories.
Marley Brandenburg - San Francisco
Irreverently clever, distinctly curious, and a consummate weaver of words; hailing from a family of wordsmiths, Marley has been a poet and lyricist as far back as grammar school. Joining the Haikuists in 2020 at the behest of his sister Alida, one of the earlier poets on the Haikuists’ roster, he has been warming hearts and eliciting smiles (and the occasional tear) at events on both the east and west coasts since.
Samantha Wallen - San Francisco
Samantha is a poet and writing guide who dares to believe poetry restores our connection to the precious, invisible essence at the heart of the living world. She has an M.F.A. from Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Her work recently appeared in The Dark Mountain Project, American Haiku, and House of Haiku.
Maxine Flasher-Düzgüneş - San Francisco
Maxine s a poet-teacher for California Poets in the Schools and founder of Marin County’s first Youth Poet Laureate Program. She is the author of heart-shaped box, a poetry chapbook from Ghost City Press (2022), and through Eileeen, a young-adult novella from VerbalEyze Press (2020). Her video poems appeared in TriQuarterly, Pinky Thinker Press, and Moving Poems.
Tomás Riegos - San Francisco
Tomás was introduced to the haiku form while training with Zen monks outside Kyoto. He fell in love and has become a life-long student of the practice, influencing how he writes for people at events and in his own work.
Jordan Colton - San Francisco
Jordan's fascination with comedy, fantasy, philosophy, human connection, and pondering our place within the Great Infinite, truly lends a hand to the creative process. Every person she meets is an entire collection of experiences waiting to be unearthed. Alchemizing a conversation into a poem uniquely crafted by the depths of their honesty is a gift.
Brian Calvert - San Francisco
The son of two bohemian artists, Brian revels in the opportunities that art provides for self-expression and mutual connection. After dancing for more than a decade, Brian was thrilled to connect with the Haikuists and expand his artistic forums to include poetry.
Mackenzie Madsen - Seattle
Mackenzie is from Spokane, WA and loves the outdoors and huckleberry milkshakes. She has a merit badge for maintaining marital peace while shopping at Ikea and has seen every episode of Gilmore Girls, Golden Girls, and Girls. She dreams of seeing faraway places, learning from fascinating people, and making a green smoothie with produce from Oprah’s organic garden.
Arizona Gibson - Seattle
Arizona Gibson (he/they) is a nonbinary transexual artist, poet, and songwriter from Tacoma, Washington. Their personal work focuses on themes of Queer eroticism, gender maximalism, anti-fascist politic, disability justice, and their own experiences and struggles with mental health. He is a Libra sun, Scorpio moon, Taurus rising.
David Kappele - Seattle
David has been a professional writer and poet since 2012 when he started his blog, The Daily Travesty. He enjoys writing humorous poems on any topic imaginable. David also works as a teacher and professional classical musician
Southwest
Alison Tugwell - Austin
Alison Tugwell is the Producer of Punspoken, the world’s first pun-and-spoken-word poetry show and Amazon #1 Bestselling Author of ‘Word Awakening: Stop Writer’s Block and Start Creating Impact Now.’
Jason Brazil - Austin
Jason Brazil is a Texas native with a passion for words and world wisdom. His poetry expresses our universal human needs and desires, which have their root in nature and the seasons. He is the author of Body Constellations, a heart-centered guide to East Asian medicine.
Erin Brophy - Austin
Writer. Re-writer. Thinker. Runner. Eater.
Christina Troy - Austin
A y'all-saying, book-sniffing, boulder-climbing life and human being enthusiast. When she's not proofreading for the government, she finds herself scavenging for new hobbies and endeavors (haiku writing being the most recent) despite her endless list of half-finished projects. Either that or she's making a well-timed SpongeBob reference.
Seth Bodine - Dallas
Seth is a poet living in Texas. He works as a journalist covering business and the economy. When he is isn't writing, he's probably reading a long fantasy book.
Kaley Johnson - Dallas
Kaley is a midwest gal making her way in Texas. She loves a good Brandon Sanderson book, roller blading and fostering kittens.
Eva Regicide - Dallas
Texican Hare, poet, writer, burlesque dancer, photographer and co-director of Los Bastardos Rocky Horror Shadowcast. Enjoys the textures of a quality obscure word and literature denser than she is.
Imani Spence - Houston
Imani is a librarian who has written a book review for every book she's read since 2020. In her free time, she tries to woo her street cats and learn all about her new home in Houston, TX.
Vanessa Golenia - Houston
Vanessa is a writer and current MFA student at the University of Houston. Her work has appeared in Longreads, The Rumpus, Mr Beller's Neighborhood, and bathroom stalls around the world. She currently serves as the Reviews and Interviews editor of Gulf Coast Journal.
Tony Carnavale - Houston
Tony is an improv comedian, an advertising copywriter, and a poet of some renown. ("Some" being the operative word.)
Claire Anderson - Houston
Claire is a poet, art historian, and daytime marketer with writing credits in BarBar Literary Magazine, The Fabulist, Drunk Monkeys, and Odessa Collective, among other places. A bit too eccentric for her own good, her experience and interests span B2B ghostwriting, palm reading, Sylvia Plath, film, and more. You can often find her in a movie theater.
Matthew Feinstein - Phoenix
Matthew Feinstein is a poet originally from Tracy, California. He holds an MFA from Randolph College. His poems have appeared in Poetry Online, HAD, Heavy Feather Review, Inflectionist Review, Kissing Dynamite, and elsewhere.
Zachary Brown - Phoenix
Zachary worked in the film industry until the pandemic, during which he moved corpses for a mortuary. He now lives in Arizona, creating extraordinary nonsense from inside air-controlled spaces.
Kyle Parker - Phoenix
Kyle has been writing and speaking his heart and soul since he had a grasp on the English language. His influences range is evident in every word he utters or jots, and often in that very moment.
Midwest
Kay Kroger - Chicago
Kro is a full-time on-demand typewriter poet, and teaches creative unblocking and typewriter improvisation. They also host events cultivating community expression with their 16 typewriters. Kro authored Prayer Wheel, received their MA in linguistics (thesis in bilingual indigenous performance poetry) in 2016, and received a full scholarship to attend DePaul's Creative Writing MFA program (class of 2025).
Brett Bergstrom - Chicago
Brett is a writer and creative technologist based in Chicago. He completed BSes in English and Economics at UNL in 2016, and received his MSJ in Media Innovation at Northwestern in 2018. He believes in the power of language and momentary experience to touch and transform lives -- and what better way to exercise both than to write haikus for strangers?
Lisa Marie Farver - Chicago
Lisa has written more than 3,000 poems in her career as a professional typewriter poet. Her work has been featured by WGN, FOX, WCIU, NBC, BlockClub Chicago, and other media outlets. Lisa Marie has more than 15 years of experience writing for clients that include big-name brands and sweet strangers she randomly met on the street.
Ryan Doyle - Chicago
Ryan is a comedian and poet from Chicago. As a poet Ryan is a regular performer at the Uptown Poetry Slam, as well as the resident poet at the WNDR Museum where he writes on demand poetry with his typewriter based on prompts given by guests. As a comedian, Ryan is one half of the sketch comedy duo Dan&Ryan. Together they create and host the monthly variety show Discount Party.
Kaylen Ralph - Chicago
A freelance writer and journalist who covers Chicago arts & culture. By day, she is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the West Town Chamber of Commerce, where she oversees the emergent gallery district’s West Town First Fridays program. She is the founder and moderator of the Ladies Who Lit, a multi-platform, events-focused book club celebrating writing by women. She is working on her first novel.
Seth Kopchu - Cleveland
When he's not working in IT, he's usually creative writing for either video games, or, oddly enough, holiday decorations. He writes across genres, from loose comedy to heavy hitting narrative structures. And now poems too.
Nicholas "Quazzy" Herd - Detroit
Quazzy is an author, educator, and wellness consultant. Since 2014 he has been leading wellness sessions including yoga, meditation, and community circles. In addition to his dedication to wellness, he is a father and a family oriented person.
Emma Marks - Detroit
Emma is a performer turned chef dedicated to enhancing the human experience. Since her time at the Stella Adler Acting conservatory, she has been creating plays, writing prose, and performing comedy. She currently lives in Detroit with her partner (a fellow maker) and their two cats (who don't work).
Michael Skib - Detroit
Michael is a musician, an audio producer, and a jack of all trades content creator! He works in a vast range of musical styles, always seeking to highlight what makes an artist unique - to help them tell their story. He is inspired by the relationships between nature, humanity, and technology: how they intersect, and how we can achieve a sustainable balance between these forces.
Alexandra Valdez - Detroit
A perpetual wanderer, forever fueled by curiosity and a desire to connect the dots in the human tapestry through imaginative writing, creativity, humor and love.
Southeast
Kate Humphrey - Atlanta
Kate Humphrey is a creative writer, poet, and visual artist based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Savannah Guenthner - Atlanta
Savannah is a poet, historian, and film photographer born and raised in the South. She loves picking up hobbies and niche bits of information, bringing her curiosity to every new experience.
Brandon (Brock) Brockington - Atlanta
MR B ROCKSTAR is an entrepreneur specializing in the area of Spoken Word. The Baltimore native and NC A&T graduate is a stage performance expert, author, recording artist, performing artist featured in over 20 states. He can be seen on CBS, PBS, v103 ATL radio, National Black Theater Festival, and R&B Soul Picnic.
K.B. Kincer - Atlanta
K.B. Kincer was awarded both an MFA and a PhD in creative writing from Georgia State University. Her Chapbook, After the Transplant, was a finalist for Georgia Author of the Year in the Chapbook category. She directs and co-hosts melodically challenged, a nationally syndicated weekly radio show devoted to poetry and alternative music.
Lyn Muldrow - Charlotte
A recovering technologist and joyseeker who wields words with wisdom and whimsy. A technical writer unbound by convention with an insatiable wordlust, whose career spans professional writing in most forms.
Sarah Pollock - Charlotte
Sarah is a poet and artist living in North Carolina. She meeting new people, drinking coffee, and learning new skills.
Dylan Tran - D.C.
Dylan is a recent graduate of The Johns Hopkins University, where he studied creative writing. He is an Asian American poet who is interested in the art of compression and finding space for traditional techniques in contemporary work. Outside of writing, Dylan teaches for a Hip-Hop based arts educational nonprofit and works at the National Museum of American History as a curatorial assistant.
Emi Smith - D.C.
Emi's typical poetic style is visceral & earnest still-life haiku. Their non-writing hobbies include creating and listening to music (guitar, keys, singing), playing rugby, rock climbing, biking around DC, and doting on their doofus dog, Ernie.
Christoph Jenkins - D.C.
Christoph is an extraordinary Haikuist and poet who teaches folks around the world how to create a career with their art.
Francesca Leader - D.C.
Francesca is a self-taught writer and artist originally from Western Montana. In another life, she earned her Master's degree in Modern Japanese Literature from the Ohio State University in 2006. Her writing has appeared in Five South, J Journal, Wigleaf, Milk Candy Review, HAD, Stanchion, Literary Mama, Bending Genres, Drunk Monkeys, Door Is a Jar, and elsewhere.
Emily Mothersbaugh - D.C.
Emily currently lives in the DMV area working in tech sales. She loves sharing her work (mostly paintings and writings) with others and enjoys creating for anyone with an idea!
Kelly Xio - D.C.
Kelly loves peonies and the smell of rice when it has finished cooking.
Shinae Galli - D.C.
Shinae believes that the more time you can spend in a state of awe, the more meaningful and magical life becomes. She has kept a daily gratitude journal for over 5 years. Some of her favorite mediums besides writing are dance, photography, and solo walks in nature.
Jaden Wilson - Miami
Jaden is a writer and poet who discovered a love for language at age 12. With two journalism degrees and a dedication to storytelling, Jaden’s work blends poetic insight with journalistic precision to create resonant, impactful narratives.
Sara Gomez - Miami
Sarah's story is just like yours. She was born on Earth. Fed by hand. Grown in sunlight. Indulgent by nature. Forced to work. & always writing. She's interested in imagination and designing transportive art experiences on and off the internet.
Rebecca Da Silva - Miami
A perfect day starts with a walk and ends with a talk. Leave everything in between up to serendipity.
Rachel Whorton - Nashville
Rachel is a performer, director, writer, and arts educator who has collaborated with theater artists and musicians across the country and around the globe for almost 20 years. She holds a PhD in Educational Theater from NYU, where she was an adjunct instructor and music director for mainstage productions.
Sage Heqwabti - Tampa
As an artist, Sage likes to view life, nature, moments as his canvas. Having expressed his perspective through a variety of mediums, the language of poetry has become one of his favorites.
Susan Font - Raleigh
Transporter of feelings through poetry and music. Appreciator and participant in the arts.
Northeast
DJ Leary - Baltimore
DJ (he/him) is a traveling poet and fiction writer. Occasionally, you can find him sitting on a street corner composing impromptu poems for strangers. He owns three typewriters and one cat named Jack.
Jalynn Harris - Baltimore
Jalynn is a writer and educator from Baltimore, MD
Jack Fleischer - Boston
When not neck deep in haiku, Jack writes about (and runs) underground supper clubs, pop-up dinners, and other food-related experiences themed around chaos cuisine, food history, and the end of humanity.
Rachel DIndy - Boston
Rachel is a poet and dramatists based in Massachusetts. She holds and MFA in Playwriting from Goddard College and her work has been recognized for its humor and humanity. She is madly in love with the world and hopes to reflect this in all of her art.
Alison Mandible - Boston
Alison is an occasional writer and instruction artist. She either always lies or always tells the truth, but you may only ask her one question.
Aaron Lelito - Buffalo
Aaron is a visual artist and writer from Buffalo, NY. His poetry chapbook, The Half Turn, was published in 2023, and he released a collaborative notebook/art collection titled If We: Connections Through Creative Process in 2024. In addition to being Editor in Chief of Wild Roof Journal, he is a freelance editor, certified meditation teacher, and English educator.
Christina Stock - Buffalo
Christina is a writer, musician, and poet based in Buffalo, NY. To cope with life's constant chaos, she aims for levity and whimsy—invoking the power of play and laughter on the page, on stage, and in her day-to-day life!
Carson Jordan - NYC
Carson Jordan is a poet living in Brooklyn. Her first chapbook, GOOD FOR HER, came out in 2022 with Dirt Child Press.
Megan Mandrachio - NYC
Megan Mandrachio is a Salvadoran American story-teller typing on a yellow-typewriter in Brooklyn, New York.
Chloe Wong - NYC
Chloe is currently studying acupuncture and herbal medicine. Their love of poetry and the visual arts as a way to practice care has led them to further explore the intricacies and beauty of holistic medicine.
Kamila Smith-Washington - NYC
Kamila is a singer-songwriter, sound healer and certified Yoga Instructor. In 2019 she opened her virtual doors to her energy services at www.kamilahadiya.com. She loves horses, swimming and caring for nature.
Michael Baruch - NYC
Michael Baruch is a poet and investment banker living in Brooklyn, New York. He holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia University.
Parker Sera - NYC
Parker is a poet, actor, performer and teaching artist from the Midwest, currently based on Philadelphia! She loves lakes, horses, and writing about lakes and horses. More @parker.sera / parkersera.com
Nick Warholak - NYC
NJ born and raised, always exploring music, writing and design in one way or another. If you want to add a melody to your haiku, come find Nick.
Ezra Zhang - NYC
Ezra Zhang is a queer Chinese American writer based in Brooklyn. A Best New Poets and Pushcart Prize nominee, they have attended workshops with Tin House, Cave Canem, DreamYard, and The Adroit Journal. They are an MFA candidate at New York University and received their BA in English at the University of Pennsylvania. Read their work in Ninth Letter, Redivider, Salt Hill Journal, and other journals.
Savon Bartley - NYC
Savon is a black American neo blues poet, playwright, and storyteller from North Chicago, IL who documents the scope and sweep of black life in America in brief bursts of blues poetics. By washing his words with the music of modern language he strives to blur the line between poetry and song while considering the themes of race, culture, love, mental health, and masculinity.
Connor McInnerny - NYC
Writer, dj, and red headed stranger. Media wunderkind, social strategist, and erstwhile journalist.
Anabel Inoa - NYC
Anabel is a proud Bronx native. Her Dominican roots and upbringing have set the tone for how she perceives the world and is reflected in her writing. Her goal is to celebrate all of the beauty life offers, while embracing the less-than-pleasurable moments as well. When she's not working as a school psychologist, Anabel enjoys time with family and soaking in all of the little things that spark joy!
Caroline Preziosi - NYC
Caroline is a poet and artist living between Chicago, Baltimore, and Callicoon, NY.
Olivia Fertig - NYC
Olivia was born and raised in Colorado where she began to fall in love with writing. While studying at the University of Colorado Boulder, she grew fond of writing fiction short stories and learning the intricacies of poetry. Olivia also studied dance and astronomy at CU, and is studying for her master's in Dance Therapy at Sarah Lawrence College.
Sara Kaplan-Cunningham - NYC
Sara’s poems appear in DIALOGIST, The Cincinnati Review, Fugue, Washington Square Review, Redivider, and elsewhere. She is currently an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of Houston. She loves warm brownie sundaes.
Kate Seward - NYC
Poet, copywriter, creative director and single mom. She believes she’s here to entertain people and make them feel less alone, and that poetry is the way to do it.
Max Stossel - NYC
Max is an award winning poet & filmmaker named by Forbes as one of the best storytellers of the year.
Caroline Hayes - Philadelphia
Caroline is a writer and to-be psychologist living between LA and Philadelphia.
Pony P. - Philadelphia
Pony P. is an artist and poet based in Philadelphia. Their work is a testament to interconnectivity and empathy, cultivated through the gestural potential of material and ritual. Their practice is largely informed by dreamwork, western esotericism, and art education.
Sophia DuRose - Philadelphia
Sophia likes puns and pugs. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021, and is now an MFA Candidate at Temple University, studying poetry. She works as Assistant to the Faculty Director of the Kelly Writers House, coordinating the Fellows Seminar and their online book groups. She works as a Teaching Assistant for the (free!) massive open online classroom, ModPo.
Olga Mikolaivna - Philadelphia
Born in Kyiv, Olga works in the (intersectional/textual) liminal space of photography, word, translation, and installation. She is interested in memory, dream spaces, absences, concrete, inheritance, (dis)place, and the construction of language. She is getting her MFA in creative writing at UCSD, and her debut chapbook cities as fathers is out with Tilted House.
Molly Gorelick - Philadelphia
Molly is a Philadelphia-based writer pursuing an MFA in Poetry from Temple University.
Europe
Polina Kuperman - UK
Polina is a cooking fanatic, a lover of a good dance, and always up for meeting new people. She likes to think that she brings her unique energy to everything she does.