Tampa and O-Town Women Writers
Join Forces for National Poetry Month
By JULIE GARISTO
April 4, 2018
Finally, something besides an election has both Tampa and Orlando on our radar. Gloria Muñoz, Creative Pinellas 2017 Emerging Artist Grant Recipient for Literature/Poetry, author of Your Biome Has Found You, has organized a female rockstar poetry event for #NationalPoetryMonth.
The event, Poetry and Prose at Timucua White House, will take place in Orlando this evening at a unique nonprofit venue that highlights artistic expression and talent. Given the caliber of verse and impressive work of the venue, venturing out for bi-metro special event should be worth the drive.
–Cathleen Bota, multimedia poet & cofounder of LITEROCALYPSE
—Eleanor Eichenbaum, poet & educator
—Yuki Jackson, poet & UT MFA grad
—Susan Lilley, Orlando Poet Laureate
—Gloria Muñoz, author of Your Biome Has Found You
—Claire Stephens, writer, educator and graphic artist*Info: Timucua Arts White House | Doors: 7 p.m. | Reading: 7:30 p.m.
$10-$20 suggested donation. Please bring food or wine to share.
eventbrite.com/e/poetry-prose-at-timucua-white-house-tickets-44328986191*Stephens will be visually interpreting the reading throughout the evening.
Yuki Jackson is a graduate of University of Tampa’s MFA Creative Writing program. Her work has previously appeared on Juked. Yuki’s writing is inspired by her Soka Gakkai International Buddhist practice, hip-hop lyricism & the art within daily life.
Cathleen Bota is a queer latinx multimedia poet from Orlando, FL. She is cofounder of the literary series LITEROCALYPSE & the current poetry & graphics editor of Specs journal.
Eleanor Eichenbaum is a writer & educator based in Saint Petersburg. She is also an independent curator of visual arts & has organized exhibits in NY, NJ & CA.
Claire Stephens was born in North Little Rock, Arkansas, but isn’t from there, not really. She is a cartoonist & writer, mostly of science fiction & nonfiction. Her first comic, Lady in Ink, is about gender & tattoos. You can find her work in Prick of the Spindle, A Bad Penny Review, Words Without Borders, & on her website, rclaire.com. She teaches writing at the University of South Florida.
Vanessa Blakeslee’s writing has appeared in The Southern Review, Green Mountains Review, The Paris Review Daily, Kenyon Review Online, & elsewhere. Her novel Juventud won the 2015 IPPY Bronze Medal in Literary Fiction, was a finalist for Foreword Review’s Book of the Year, & a runner-up for the Eric Hoffer Award. Her story collection Train Shots won the 2014 IPPY Gold Medal in Short Fiction.
Gloria Muñoz’s writing has appeared in LUMINA, Yes, Poetry, The Rumpus, Best New Poets, Acentos Review, Forage Poetry, The Brooklyn Review, Entropy, & elsewhere. She is the author of Your Biome Has Found You. Her writing has been honored by the New York Summer Writer’s Institute Fellowship & a Creative Pinellas Artist Grant. Gloria teaches at Eckerd College & she’s the proud co-founder of Pitch Her Productions, an organization dedicated to women in film.
Susan Lilley is a Florida native, brought up in the kingdom of orange groves, palm trees, palmetto bugs, & heat stroke. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Gulf Coast, Poet Lore, The Southern Review, Drunken Boat, Saw Palm, Sweet, & other journals. Her chapbooks are Night Windows (Yellow Jacket Press) & Satellite Beach. She teaches smart kids at Trinity Preparatory School & has taught at UCF & Rollins College. She was recently appointed inaugural poet laureate for the city of Orlando.
Check out a live stream of the event here:
