Charles S. Carr is author of paradise, pennsylvania, and Haitian Mudpies & Other Poems. He has worked in social and community development services for 45 years. Charles was The Mad Poets Review First Prize Winner for his poem “Waiting To Come North”. Charles was the host of the Moonstone Poetry series at Fergie’s Pub and is now host of Philly Loves Poetry a monthly broadcast on Philly Cam.

Ryan Eckes‘ narrative-driven poetry is “a possible form of history,” a way to document the voices and conditions of urban life. His book, Old News, weaves newspaper articles from the 1920s with his neighbors’ personal accounts of life in South Philadelphia, Valu-Plus continues his examination of Philadelphia, as he imaginatively makes use of corporate language, workplace correspondence, and other non-poetic texts, “in search of free expression and experience,”

Jennifer Hook came to Philadelphia for the grit. Following the death of her husband of thirty-five years, she chose poetry as an entry into the territory of loss and self-reinvention. She is the author of This is How He Left Me and co-host of Moonstone’s fourth Wednesday at Fergie’s. She has read at 100,000 Poets for Change, Poetic Feats of Strength, The Osage Poets, Philadelphia Poetry Day, and Why Are They Called The Poetry Liberation Front?.

Krisann Janowitz has always had a passion for poetry and words (since elementary school– if you count all the song lyrics about bubblegum). Among others, her poems have been published by streetcake magazine, The Avenue, and Z Publishing. Along with her chapbook Home(less): A Sampling of Poems on Home & Homelessness published by Moonstone Press, Krisann is honored to be the host of Moonstone’s New Voices.

Sean Lynch is a leftist poet and editor who lives in South Philly.  His poems have been published in various journals and he is the author of four chapbooks, the latest being On Violence, published in 2019 by Radical Paper Press. On Violence is a diverse assortment of poems that explore the dichotomy between the oppressive violence of the state versus violence that frees oneself from oppression.

Alina Macneal is a Philadelphia-based educator/writer/poet/translator/architect and co-host of the Fourth Wednesday Moonstone poetry series at Fergie’s.  Her poems have appeared in Apiary, Poems for the Writing, The World to Come, and Poetry 24.  In 2015 she was a finalist for the Raynes poetry prize. Since the last presidential election Alina has been translating the 1930’s political poems of the Polish poet, Julian Tuwim.

Aaren Perry is an invited poet at schools, colleges and conferences. Along with his three collections of poetry, his work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, on NPR and TV broadcasts. Bilingual, he has performed his work with musicians, visual artists and dancers at venues from the Fringe, Kimmel, World Café, the top of the Ben Franklin Bridge and the Painted Bride to the Nuyorican Cafe and Bowery Poetry Club.

Larry Robin, Host, Open Reading Follows