Lisa Roberts

she/her

FOUNDING DIRECTOR

Lisa Roberts did her undergraduate work at Princeton University and graduate work at The University of Virginia. Over eighteen years, she taught literature and writing at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Virginia, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and the University of Nebraska. After moving to Iowa City, she served as Assistant Director of the Iowa Youth Writing Project and worked to bring free creative writing workshops to children throughout Eastern Iowa. Her poems have appeared in Plainsongs, The Untidy Season: An Anthology of Nebraska Women Poets, Little Village, and Backchannels. She has performed spoken word poems at a variety of shows, including Was the Word, Voicebox,  The Hook, and Poetry in Motion.

Caleb Rainey

he/him

Director IC Speaks

Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey is an author, performer, and producer. His debut book, Look, Black Boy, was awarded first prize in the North Street Book Prize, and his second book, Heart Notes was published in 2019. He released two spoken word albums and in 2023, as a part of the Brucemore Artisan in Studio program, Caleb produced his first short film, Willing to Grow. He is the winner of several slams across the United States, and competed in the 2023 UNESCO Slam-0-Vision global poetry slam where he ranked 7th worldwide. He has shared the stage with spoken word titans such as Siaara Freeman, Denice Frohman, Javon Johnson, Ebony Stewart, Anthony McPherson, Danez Smith and Patricia Smith, and videos of his performances can be found on his YouTube channel, Write About Now, and Button Poetry.

Yassie Buchanan

she/her

Assistant Director
IC Speaks

Yassie Buchanan is a senior studying English and Creative Writing with a minor in Spanish at the University of Iowa. She is passionate about creating and uplifting work that highlights minority voices and experiences. Yassie writes a variety of pieces including non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. She has worked as a columnist at the Daily Iowan, mostly writing about social justice. She was awarded first place in column by the Associated Collegiate Press awards. Yassie also serves as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at the University of Iowa Dance Marathon.

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens

she/her

READING SERIES DIRECTOR

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and now lives in Iowa where she likes to rock climb. She is the author of four full length poetry collections and twelve chapbooks. Her chapbook “Teeth Have a Hardness Scale of 5,” is forthcoming this summer from Sputnik and Fizzle Press and her chapbook “The Female Citizens of Sunshine Nation Face off with Light Sucking Demons” recently came out from Grey Book Press. Her work can be seen at or is forthcoming from The Pinch, Cleaver, Yalobusha Review, Zone 3, and Grist. She is excited to host the reading series Today You Are Perfect sponsored by the non-profit Iowa City Poetry. Find her online at her website.