Today You Are Perfect - Elizabeth, Vella, Garrett
In our monthly reading series, "Today You Are Perfect," we bring poets and artists and listeners together to share their words. Afterward, everyone has the option to participate in a small question and answer session.
The Lineup: Ashley Elizabeth, L. Vella, Mackie Garrett
Date & Time: June 27, 7:00-8:00 pm CT (5 PT, 6 MT, 8 ET)
Host: Jennifer MacBain-Stephens
Location: Online reading. Join us virtually via Zoom Webinar by registering for the link at the button below.
Ashley Elizabeth
Ashley Elizabeth (she/her) is a Pushcart-nominated writer and teacher. Her works have appeared in Voicemail Poems, South Florida Poetry Journal, and Stanchion, among others. Ashley's first chapbook collection, you were supposed to be a friend, is available from Nightingale & Sparrow and her sophomore collection, black has every right to be angry, is forthcoming from Alternating Current. When Ashley isn't teaching, editing, or working as an Chapbook editor for Sundress Publications, she habitually posts on Twitter and Instagram (@ae_thepoet). She lives with her partner and their cats in Baltimore, MD. Ashley is Black before she is anything else.
L.Vella
L. Vella lives and works in Iowa City with a tiny flock of chickens, a sweet little pup, and her favorite person. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her poems have appeared in DIAGRAM, Bat City Review, Black Warrior Review, Tupelo Quarterly, Sugar House Review, and others. She is an editor for Ancient Exchanges, an online literary journal of translations of ancient texts. You can find more at lvellapoet.com.
Mackie Garrett
Mackie Garrett is a poet, artist, and caregiver based in Iowa City. His poems have appeared in IODINE POETRY JOURNAL, THE FOURTH RIVER, PLAINSONGS, SPOON RIVER POETRY REVIEW, SLANT, and other literary journals. Mackie designs and letterpress prints zines, chapbooks, greeting cards, and posters as 508 Press. He has taught literature, creative writing, and English as a Second Language to students of all ages at schools, community colleges, and universities in the midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan) and overseas (rural Jamaica; Shanghai, China). He facilitates letterpress printing and zine making workshops at the Iowa City Press Cooperative and dreams of starting a literary magazine soon.
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