Poetry in Motion

Rock Island native, Aubrey Barnes, also known as “Aubs.”, is one who calls himself a Creative. He is a poet, spoken word artist, author, battle rapper, Emcee, teacher of the arts, podcast host of Black Thoughts Podcast. Aubs. has performed and taught workshops all over; from Chicago, Atlanta, and outside the country in Haiti. Aubs. has also published three books of his poetic work, “Unfinished”, “I'm Not Anti Love, I Swear”, and his most recent work "It is Good, It is Written," which all can be found on Amazon. He also has produced many records pertaining to spoken word and rap. His most recent record titled "Politick'n" can be found on all streaming services.  Aubs. is also the executive director of "Young Lions Roar" which is a literary program that teaches performance poetry ans well as using writing to help develop social emotional skills.

Lisa Roberts 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 in Eastern Iowa. Today she works as the Director of Iowa City Poetry, a nonprofit community writing organization dedicated to sharing the wealth and wonder of literary resources in IC with everyone. Her poems have appeared in Plainsongs, The Untidy Season: An Anthology of Nebraska Women Poets, and Little Village. She has performed spoken word poems at a variety of shows, including Was the Word, Voicebox, and The Hook.

Matthew Marroquín is a Salvadorian-American writer, actor, and spoken word poet originally from the cornfields of Storm Lake, Iowa. He currently resides in New Jersey. Marroquín's writing reflects identity, culture, advocacy, and unheard or unvoiced perspectives. He is the author of Guanaco Binge, a chapbook published by Read or Green Books. If you wish to see more of Matthew Marroquín, you can find him on Instagram at vida_marroquin.

Samm Yu is a three time grand slam champion. As a part of Team Des Moines, they won first place in the 2021 Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival and the iLUV state slam. In their free time, Samm is a professional portrait photographer and community member with a mission to bridge the intersection of art, equity, and psychology through activism and representation. You can find their original poetry and photography in the Des Moines Register, Iowa Public Radio, and The Daily Iowan. Samm enjoys skateboarding, sriracha, and spending money on boba.

Glenn Freeman has published three collections of poetry, Keeping the Tigers Behind Us, Traveling Light, and Drinking with O'Hara. He teaches creative writing and American literature at Cornell College. 

Champagne Harrington is a Des Moines native, a mentor, and a spoken word artist. Known for spoken word performances that are raw, passionate, and anthems of self-love, Champagne will share her own powerful journey into womanhood and personhood.

Glen Waters is a Second Year Poet at the Iowa Writers Workshop. He was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended Georgetown University. Glen graduated as an English honors student receiving the Emilia Ferrara award for Best Creative Writing Thesis. Since arriving at Iowa, Glen has facilitated workshops at Georgetown and Iowa University to support undergraduate students in their creative writing journey. Glen published his first poem, “Cadillacs and Poetry,” in the Journal of Multicultural Affairs at Stephen F. Austin University. This past summer he attended the Napa Valley Writers Conference as a John Leggit scholarship recipient and workshopped his poetry with Major Jackson.

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.