Sojourner Ahebee writes stories about African diaspora identities and the eternal question of home and belonging. Her poems have been published in The Atlantic, The Academy of American Poets, Muzzle Magazine, For Harriet, Winter Tangerine Review, Apiary Magazine, and elsewhere. In 2013, she served as a National Student Poet, the nation’s highest honor for young poets. Sojourner was invited to the White House by former First Lady Michelle Obama to receive her award. Philadelphia Poet Laureate Yolanda Wisher wrote, “Reporting from the Belly of the Night is a gospel of self-love full of gorgeous pullulating poems. Ahebee wrenches the sting and the sweetness from black womanhood. She evokes historical, cultural, and familial namesakes, sings up the names of daughters and aunties and mamas, makes mountains of them. These are poems we long for and need but don’t always see coming.”

Michelle Myers is an award-winning poet, author, and educator whose work centers storytelling, cultural memory, and voice. A founding member of the Asian American spoken word poetry group Yellow Rage, she was among the first Asian American women featured on Russell Simmons Def Poetry. Her work appears in numerous anthologies including USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Smithsonian Channel. Michelle is an award-winning educator and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated series Drop the Mic, hosts the podcast Mind Your Margins. She received a 2024 Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for her middle-grade novel and was commissioned by the Chinese American Museum to write a poem for its exhibition (Be) Spoken.

Therese Halscheid is author of 5 poetry collections, the most recent Frozen Latitudes. Her poetry and lyric essays have appeared in several magazines, among them Tampa Review, Gettysburg Review, Columbia Journal, Hawai’i Pacific Review. She holds an MA and MFA and teaches for Atlantic Cape College as well as offering workshops for conferences, organizations and other writing venues. For many years she has been a house-sitter, as to write in unusual locations. Her photography chronicles her journey and has been in juried exhibitions.

Karol M. Wasylyshyn is a former journalist at McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Karol completed doctoral studies in clinical psychology and combined her business background and clinical training to provide consulting services to hundreds of senior business executives representing every global sector. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Society of Consulting Psychology, and has served on the boards of, and been honored by, many Philadelphia-based not-for-profit organizations. Widely published and recognized in the field of consulting psychology, she has also published volumes of poetry including Standing on Marbles and Escaping the Corner focused on business leaders. Her work has also appeared in numerous poetry journals. Widowed in 2024, Karol’s forthcoming 2026 collection of her beautifully illustrated poems is entitled, The Grief Poems. Look for her upcoming performance at Fringe Arts in Philadelphia. At Fergie’s she will be reading from Standing on Marbles. For more, visit karolwasylyshyn.com.

Aaren Perry Host – Open Reading Follows