From March 2024.
Nova Martin...is a prolific poet who has written over 5,000 poems, spanning 25 years. She is a proud transwoman, lesbian, feminist, druidess, and trans and queer rights activist. A 13th generation Texan, Nova recently migrated to Bellingham, Washington to escape bigotry. She's developing a non-profit to help other trans people do the same. This December, Nova is publishing Angel Land, a collection of her poetry celebrating woman-to-woman love and eroticism.
David-Matthew Barnes at the June 2023 LTYS.
From June 2023.
David-Matthew Barnes...is the bestselling author of sixteen novels, three collections of poetry, seven short stories, and more than seventy stage plays that have been performed in three languages in twelve countries. He writes in multiple genres, primarily young adult, romance, thriller, and horror. He often writes gothic and contemporary romance novels as Wren Valerian. As a film producer, he has helped bring forty films to the screen including many independent films, horror movies, and international films. He has been selected for three Sundance Collab screenwriting workshops and named a finalist for the Sundance Institute YouTube New Voices Lab. A graduate of the Professional Program in Screenwriting at UCLA, he is a member of Contemporary Romance Writers (CRW), Disney's D23, International Thriller Writers (ITW), Rainbow Romance Writers, among others. He lives in Sacramento, California.
Frankie Hernandez at the June 2023 LTYS
From June 2023.
Frankie Hernandez...is a poet, daughter, mother, award-winning film and television producer, and owner of the ISLA VISTA Channel. She is mother to daughters Delilah and Luna. Frankie’s collection of poems and short stories, The Other Side of Pretty - East L.A. and Malibu, reveals life in East L.A. in Catholic school among gang culture, chola fashion, disco parties and rock music. It also looks at life in Malibu where she moved with her youngest daughter, became a Buddhist, and healed from loss and grief.
From Aug. 2023.
Cyn Jones...(all pronouns but prefers they/them) is a queer and non-binary poet who has been writing poems for thirty years but only speaking them out loud for about a decade. They first began sharing poems in the slam poetry scene in Philadelphia and at the national level. These days they try to live in less high pressure spaces. Cyn is currently working on a debut poetry collection (fall '24)! When they aren’t writing or performing, they can be found frolicking in nature, staring at clouds, or coloring their hair.
36 Chambers Of Poetry...aka Carlos Mason, hails from Philadelphia, PA and has been writing since the 4th grade. His spoken word has allowed him to perform in locations as far as Trinidad & Tobago, and his writing has been featured in various publications. He believes all people should be in pursuit of positive growth in order to combat the continuing cycles of oppression and hate. He loves to laugh, inspire, be inspired and he intends to leave the people he meets better than he found them.
Gogo Germaine at the Nov. 2023 LTYS
From Nov. 2023.
Gogo Germaine...penned Glory Guitars: Memoir of a 90s Teenage Punk Rock Grrrl to make sense of the heartbreak of being a rebellious, differently-wired girl in a predatory world. Critics likened it to Kids, Thirteen, and “if Howl had been written by a 15-year-old fanzine writer high on life, booze and illicit pharmaceuticals” (Louderthanwar). It was recognized by the International Book Awards (finalist); National Indie Excellence Awards (winner); and “Best Punk Memoir” (Westword).
Swanee Astrid at the Nov. 2023 LTYS
From November 2023.
Swanee Astrid... is a poet-scribe from Sacramento, CA, with degrees in Literature and Writing from the University of Iowa (BA) and Naropa University (MFA). She currently works for the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics as the logistical master-mind for the department. She has also been an art model, a line cook, editor, and festival producer. Her work currently focuses on Nordic Animism, astro-anthropology, and other forms of magic.
From our May 2024 event.
Eli Whittington...is a queer Colorado poet, parent, gardener, landscaper, tile contractor, singer/songwriter and cyclist. Their debut collection, Treat Me Like You Treat the Earth was published (and sold out) in 2019. Zine. They self-published a book of poetry, Confessions from the Brink of Ecocide (’23) and are working on another collection. They’ve published poetry and essays in multiple online journals, zines, and anthologies including South Broadway Ghost Society, Punch Drunk Press, Midwifery Today, Stain'd Arts, and Spit Poet zine. Find them with their band Eli and the Hypotheticals @EliandtheHypotheticals
From our June 2024 event.
Aerik Francis...(they/them) is a Queer Black Latinx poet & teaching artist born & based in Denver, CO. Author of BODYELECTRONIC (Trouble Department, ’22) and MISEDUCATION (winner of the ’22 New Delta Review Chapbook Contest). Find their experimental audiobook project for BODYELECTRONIC under phaentom[poet] on all streaming platforms, or an extended play of poetry and self-produced music entitled SYZYGY EP (Bandcamp). On social media, they are @phaentompoet, and their website is phaentompoet.com.
From our June 2024 event.
Jason B. Crawford...is a writer born in Washington DC, raised in Lansing, MI. Their debut Full-Length Year of the Unicorn Kidz is out from Sundress Publications. They are a 2023 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ Voices fellow. Their second collection, YEET! is forthcoming from Omnidawn Publishing in 2025.
Calvin Shaw "The Professor," Sept. 2024
From the Sept 2024 collaboration with The Poetry Brothel!
The Professor......aka Calvin Shaw, hailing from St. Louis, is a bank manager by day and aspiring songwriter/poet by night. With a briefcase full of money that he may have robbed from his own bank, The Professor’s shy charm draws you in. He can be hard to read, but is an open book with the ones he trusts. His desires are marked by the loneliness he holds in his heart, and a tenuous balance between good and evil. His dead mother is his guardian angel, but the reflection he sees is the mirror image of his womanizing, alcoholic father. Is there a soulmate that will soften the hard exterior of this hopeless romantic?
Kali Love Heals, Sept. 2024
Kali Love Heals at the Sept. 2024 collaboration with The Poetry Brothel!
August 2024 with Audry Lu Black!
Madame Audry Lu Black...is a professional dominatrix, sex educator, personal consultant, and philosopher. She has created programs for consensual behavioral modification integrating BDSM and sex-positive techniques with dynamic habit building. She currently teaches kink skills and negotiation, and works with clients one-on-one. She is writing a book on the dynamic intersectional relationship between psychology, philosophy, and kink. The book concentrates on utilizing stoic and cognitive behavioral therapeutic techniques to examine hedonistic experiences.
