This fall, our poetry students spent four months writing, workshopping, and diving deep into poetry collections. Now it's time to celebrate! Join us for a reading and discussion featuring both original work from the students and pieces from the poets who inspired them along the way.
Readers: Kristen Bales, Alison Damast Dolinger, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Megan Leonard, Caroline M. Mar, Sarah A. Paden, Phoebe Reeves
Kristen Bales is a writer, multi-faceted musician, and poet residing in Indianapolis, IN. A songwriter by trade, she draws on a constant flow of creative experiences to infuse her literary work with a blend of fiction and folklore-inspired narratives. Her poetry has been anthologized in Allegory Ridge’s Poetry Anthology, Aurora, Beyond Words International Literary Magazine, and The Heartland Society of Women Writer’s collection, (w)holes. Bales’s short story, “Death Wears a Feathered Cloak,” was recently acquired by Astronaut Publishing for the fantasy anthology, Fragments of Tender Hearts. Finding space for her innate love of fantasy, which was fostered through roots in Tolkien and grounded in an adoration for contemporary femme voices in the genre such as V.E. Schwab and Holly Black, Bales found a slice of bookish belonging in her Instagram account. You can follow her bookish musings alongside her poetry journey via Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook at @kristenbalesbooks.
Alison Damast Dolinger is a writer and freelance journalist based in Irvington, NY. Her poetry has appeared in Tarry Lit magazine and her journalistic work has been published in Bloomberg Businessweek, Poets & Quants and Yahoo Finance. When not writing, she can be found singing with The Manhattan Choral Ensemble and exploring the Hudson Valley with her family and goldendoodle.
Poet and essayist, Laurie Ann Guerrero was born and raised in the Southside of San Antonio and is the author of REDWORK, winner of the 2025 Autumn House Poetry Award, forthcoming in October 2026. Poet Laureate of San Antonio (2014-16) and Texas (2016-2017), she is the author of Babies under the Skin (Panhandler 2008), A Tongue in the Mouth of the Dying (University of Notre Dame Press 2013), A Crown for Gumecindo—a collaboration with visual artist, Maceo Montoya (Aztlan Libre Press 2015), and I Have Eaten the Rattlesnake: New & Selected Poems (TCU Press 2021). Guerrero holds degrees from Smith College and Drew University. She is an Associate Professor and the Writer-in-Residence at Texas A&M University-San Antonio where she teaches writing, cultural studies, gender studies, and is currently at work on a novel.
Megan Leonard (she/they) is the author of LARKSPUR QUEEN (Broadstone Books) and BOOK OF LULLABIES (Milk & Cake Press. Meg's paper art + poetry chapbook, DEAR -------, is forthcoming from Milk & Cake Press in 2026, and her micro chap, WHERE THE BODY ENDS is available from Platypus Press. Meg is a visual artist and writer, and themes in her work often include disability and chronic illness, mental illness, madness, creepy little fairytales, and motherhood. Meg works as a writing mentor and lives on the New Hampshire coast.
Caroline M. Mar is the great-granddaughter of a railroad laborer and the author of Water Guest, the Editors’ Selection for the 2024 Wisconsin Poetry Series. She is also the author of Special Education (Texas Review Press), which won the 2019 X. J. Kennedy Prize, and the chapbook Dream of the Lake (Bull City Press). Carrie is a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, a member of Rabble Collective, and serves on the board of Friends of Writers. She is a longtime ninth grade health educator in her hometown of San Francisco, and lives in Oakland, CA. She has been granted residencies at Hedgebrook, Ragdale, and Storyknife, among others. You can find her online at carolinemar.com.
Sarah Paden is a poet, chaplain and musician, residing with her family in Princeton, NJ. She has two degrees in music, from Smith College and Princeton University. Her poems have been published in Peacock Journal and West Marin Review, among others. She tries to stay close to the spirit with her work and listen closely.
Phoebe Reeves earned her MFA in poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and now is Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati. She has three chapbooks of poetry, most recently The Flame of Her Will (Milk & Cake), and her first full length collection, Helen of Bikini (Lily Poetry Review) was published in March, 2023. Her poems have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Best New Poets, Grist, Forklift OH, and The Chattahoochee Review, and she has been awarded fellowships by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Vermont Studio Center. She lives in Cincinnati, OH with her husband Don Peteroy, amidst her unruly urban garden.
This event is free but registration is required. Click here to receive the Zoom link.