Antioch Poets Celebrate National Poetry Month - 4/10/2023

Conversation Overview

Join us for the first Messy Conversation of the Spring 2023 quarter hosted by Clarence R. Williams: Antioch BIPOC Poets Celebrate National Poetry Month. This is a panel where Barbara Fent, Kirby Chen Mages, Justina Garcia, and Paula Williamson will discuss their work and the intersections of poetry, activism, and race.

Kirby Chen Mages is a writer and transdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. They earned a BFA from The Cooper Union and an MFA from Antioch University. They are the recipient of the Elizabeth Kray Poetry Prize, and their writing has been published in Prolit, The Poetry Project Newsletter, and Lunch Ticket.

Paula Williamson is a Black Queer writer in the Bay Area. She is a mom of three and an MFA candidate at Antioch with a dual concentration in Poetry and Writing for Screen. Her work has appeared in Manastash Literary Journal and the Chestnut Review, and she is the current poetry editor for Lunch Ticket. She is excited to be a part of this Messy Conversation.

Justina Garcia is an MFA candidate at Antioch University, Los Angeles’s Creative Writing program. A word nerd at heart, she believes in the power of words and the meaningful ways they connect us to each other. She is a public affairs professional in the energy industry working to address environmental socio-economic and equity issues and helping to build a clean energy future. Justina is passionate about coaching and developing individuals to help them connect with their purpose and create healthy cultures that begin with psychological safety. She is a So. Cal. native, growing up in Echo Park and Highland Park, before moving to Pasadena and now lives in La Habra Heights, CA with her son, Andrew.

Barbara Fant has been writing and performing for over 15 years. She competed in 9 National Poetry Slam competitions, and she is a World Poetry Slam finalist. She is the author of two poetry collections, Paint, Inside Out (2010) and Mouths of Garden (2022). Her work has been featured in the Academy of American Poets, Electric Literature, McNeese Review, The Ohio State University Press, Button Poetry, and Def Poetry Jam, amongst others. She has received residencies in Havana, Cuba and Senegal, West Africa. For over 12 years, she had led healing-informed poetry workshops for both youth and adults who are incarcerated and in community. She is certified as a Healing Centered Engagement specialist and holds both an MFA in Poetry and a Master of Theology. She is the founder of the Black Women Rise Poetry Collective and co-founder of The Senghor Project and the We THRIVE Healing and Arts Collective.