We have all had heroes, lovers and liars in our lives. Their names may be different than the ones you call out when you need help, when you are in ecstasy, and when you can't get over them runnin' game. Warning: Names may or may not be changed to protect the innocent and guilty.
Featured ArtistsSeattle's Civic Poet,
Jourdan Imani Keith, is a student of Sonia Sanchez, a poet, essayist, playwright, naturalist and activist. Her writing blends the textures of political, personal and natural landscapes to offer voices from the margins of American lives. A recipient of the 2018 Americans for the Arts award, her TEDx Talk, "Your Body of Water" became the theme for King County's 2016-2018 Poetry on Buses program. Her Orion Magazine essays, “Desegregating Wilderness” and “At Risk,” were selected for the
2015 Best American Science and Nature Writing Anthology She has been awarded fellowships from Hedgebrook, Wildbranch, Santa Fe Science Writing workshop, VONA, and Jack Straw. Seattle Public Library’s first naturalist-in-Residence, Keith is the founder and director of Urban Wilderness Project. She's received awards from University of Washington, Artist Trust, 4Culture and Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture. Her memoir in essays,
Tugging at the Web is forthcoming from University of Washington Press.
Roberto Ascalon teaches poetry across Seattle. Ascalon’s poem
“The Fire This Time, or, How Come Some Brown Boys Get Blazed Right Before Class And Other Questions Without Marks” won the 2013 Rattle Poetry Prize and a Pushcart nomination. He’s been a writing fellow with Kundiman and Jack Straw. His teaching artist residencies have led to several multimedia exhibitions at the
Frye Art Museum, the SAM and MOHAI, one of which, earned him a trip to the White House where he had the honor of shaking hands with President Obama. In 2013 Ascalon helped Seattle revive its beloved Poetry on Buses program. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Western Washington University in 2016. He currently works at The Greater Seattle Bureau of Fearless Ideas.
Monique Franklin (
Verbal Oasis), is an activist, poet, performer, scientist, and mother from Seattle. She has been referred to as “The unofficial poet laureate of South Seattle”, "The
Billie Holiday of Spoken Word" as well as "the Verbal Manifestation of
Nina Simone's Soul". Monique is a 10+ year member of African American Writer's Alliance and has self-published two volumes of poetry entitled “Acoustic Accolades” and “Erotic Annals of a Poet”. She has released two albums of poetry
Acoustic Accolades Volume 1 and
Hot Summer Nights. She is currently working on a one woman show entitled Mama'z Muezz that will open in the Fall of 2020 and co-host and co-produces
Afrodisiac Erotic Poetry Show celebrating the diversity and sexuality of people of color. Learn more about this creative soul at
www.verbaloasis.com.
