Join us for Live Poetry at Barnes and Noble!

Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach is the author of three poetry collections: 40 WEEKS, Don’t Touch the Bones, winner of the 2019 Idaho Poetry Prize, and The Many Names for Mother, winner the Wick Poetry Prize and finalist for the Jewish Book Award. She is currently working on a poetry collection as well as a book of linked lyric essays, both of which grapple with raising a neurodiverse child with a disabled partner under the shadow of the war in Ukraine, Julia’s birthplace. Her poems have appeared in POETRY, Ploughshares, American Poetry Review, The Nation, and AGNI, among others. She is an Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing at Denison University. Michelle Myers is an award-winning poet and educator. Appearing on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam as a founding member of Yellow Rage, Michelle harnesses her experiences as a biracial Korean American woman to create work that raises awareness and builds community. Her writing has been published in Apiary, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Title Magazine, Brevity, and USA Today. Michelle received a 2024 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, awards from the Leeway Foundation, Loft Literary Center, Asian Arts Initiative, Japanese American National Museum, and Dodge Poetry Program. Michelle’s CCPTV show Drop the Mic has been nominated for six Emmys.  Michelle’s poetry was featured in Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now as well as My Life: Growing Up Asian in America. Michelle’s TEDx Talk Let Hearts Love. Let Hearts Live (TEDx YouTube Channel, December 2023) and she hosts a podcast called Mind Your Margins, which is produced by her daughter, Myong. Kimmika L.H. Williams-Witherspoon has been a force in the spoken word/poetry scene for decades. This new release (You Gotta Have Game) from Boyer College of Music and Dance is Williams-Witherspoon at her best. The poet tells us: “I am the crack of morning, Light in the shadow of dark” – In this beautiful collection of poetic text with instrumental accompaniment Williams-Witherspoon brings us through the struggle of life, always the light in the shadow of dark. No matter how hard the journey, no matter the roadblocks placed, Williams-Witherspoon offers hope in endurance. The poem” By g emil reutter. “Life is a journey—not just a trip with destinations and an expiration date! Traveling is an action AND a process. These are the pieces that fill my heart and remind me to greet each day glad to be alive.” —Kimmika L. H. Williams-Witherspoon