Clarissa Adkins

Clarissa Adkins lives in Richmond, Virginia and earned degrees from James Madison University and Lesley University. As a high school English teacher, she co-coordinates her school's Poetry Out Loud program and is a research member of Virginia Commonwealth University's Culturally Responsive Teaching consortium. Clarissa's published in The Pinch, Whurk Magazine, River City Poets' anthology: Lingering in the Margins, Passengers Journal, and more. She earned a Best of the Net nomination from Parentheses International Literary Arts Journal and was a finalist for the 17th Annual Erskine J. Poetry Prize. She reads for Sugar House Review.

Paula G. Akinwole

A young black poet and author doing life unconventionally. She desires to bridge the reality between the nuances of existing as a spiritual being in a physical world. 

Roscoe Burnems

Richmond Virginia native, Douglas Powell/Roscoe Burnems is a poet, published author, spoken-word artist, comedian, educator, father, husband, and Richmond, VA's inaugural poet laureate, who has dedicated his craft to entertaining and educating.  As a “slam poet” he has been a two-time southern regional finalist (2009, 2014), National Poetry Slam Champion (2014), NPS Group Piece Finalist (2018), NUPIC/Underground Slam Champion (2019), ScreenTime Poetry Slam Season 1 Champion (2020), and Lake Eden Arts Festival Slam Champion (2021). He is the founder and member of The Writer's Den Poetry Slam team and collective. With Roscoe as a coach The Writer's Den has been consistently ranked top 10 in the country. As a poetry slam coach he also took the VCU poetry slam team to be ranked 3rd in the world (2018).

Rosa Castellano

Rosa Castellano is a poet whose work was recently supported with a year-long fellowship from the Visual Arts Center of Virginia and by Tin House. In 2021, she was a finalist for Cave Canem’s Starshine and Clay Fellowship and her work can be found or is forthcoming from the RHINO Poetry, South Hampton Review, EcoTheo Review and Passages North.

Sammi Harris

Hopewell High school student

Dr. Kathleen Decker

Dr. Decker is the VP for the Eastern Region of the Poetry Society of Virginia.  She has written a number of poetry books and edited several anthologies. She is currently curating an exhibit of reverse ekphrastic poetry, half of which were written by students of the Appomattox Regional Governor's School under the direction of Ms. Gail Giewont.

chapman hood frazier

A Professor in Residence in Prince Edward Schools for JMU and previous professor of English Education at Longwood and a Prof. of Education at JMU, Chapman Hood Frazier's poems have appeared in The Southern Poetry Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, and a variety of other publications. He has also been a guest editor for The Hampden Sydney Poetry Review and a poetry editor for the Dos Passos Review from Longwood.

His book, The Lost Books of the Bestiary, was a finalist for the V Press LC competition is available through Barnes and Noble Bookstores for $24.99, Amazon, or Independent Bookstores like the New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville, VA, www.ndbookshop.com.  Publisher: V Press LC, ISBN 979-8-9854670-6-2 . His 

Bill Glose

Bill Glose is an award-winning writer whose honors include the F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Award, the Dateline Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the Heroes' Voices Award for Veteran's Poetry. Garrison Keillor read one of Bill's poems on The Writer's Almanac, which aired on 600 radio stations nationwide. As time allows, Bill travels around the state to film poetry readings, which he posts on his YouTube Channel, Virginia Poetry Online. 

Derek Kannemeyer

Derek Kannemeyer was born in Cape Town, raised in London, and has spent most of his adult life as a writer, teacher, and actor in Richmond, Virginia. He holds a BA from London University and an MA from UVA. His poetry and prose have appeared in scores of publications from Fiction International to Rolling Stone. In 2018, he won the inaugural chapbook contest offered by the Irish journal Blue Nib and this year he has a full-length poetry collection, Mutt Spirituals, forthcoming from San Francisco Bay Press.

Joanna Lee

Joanna Suzanne Lee earned her MD from the Medical College of Virginia in 2007 and a Master’s in Applied Science from William & Mary in 2010. Her poetry has been published in a number of online and print journals, including Rattle, Caduceus, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. As a leading force behind River City Poets, Joanna makes possible a wide range of poetry happenings throughout Richmond, and is especially interested in the intersection of creativity and healing. She is currently serving as Board Chair of the James River Writers.

Brandon Lovee

Brandon Lovee, also known as Wellness Warrior B Lovee, is a 24 years young Melanated American born and raised in Richmond, Virginia's Southside. B Lovee expands his purpose globally as the founder of two movements, B LOVEE LLC and LOVEE TEAHC LLC, that provide people with resources for their holistic and financial health and sustainability.

A multi-dimensional creator, B Lovee has a passion for performing arts and is a well known spoken word artist, motivational poet, hip hop artist, actor and published author with recognition on various platforms such as, The Shaderoom and CBS6. As a youth mentor and community activist who has worked alongside numerous youth organizations in Virginia, B Lovee's light shines bright and his impact to the RVA community is undeniable. B is known to take on many titles, but the title he holds very close to heart is being a father to his baby boy, Se Lovee, and life partner to his Queen NeeNee Lovee. Outside of business and creative passions, self-lovee is not only what he preaches, but practices as well.

Rachel Loughlin

Rachel Loughlin graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University where she received the Undergraduate Poetry Award. She is a graphic designer, eternally optimistic gardener, runner, muralist, and writer living in Richmond, Virginia. Rachel explores the intersections of nature, sensuality, and deconstructed spirituality through her poetry. Her work appears in Pure Slush Books, Green Ink Poetry, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Paddler Press, Flora Fiction Literary Magazine, Michigan State Library, Moss Piglet, Fathom, Plum Tree Tavern, Kind of a Hurricane Press, and others.

Gwyn R.C. Moses

Gwyn R.C. Moses is native to Richmond, Virginia. She is an Educator and Poet. Published works include collections of rhyme and free verse. Most recent poetry titles are Olive Grey, and SHE, Fully Hydrated. Vivid writings awaken with expressions of frolics, ecstasy, oblivion, and sorrow. Too, she is named National Poet of Virginia Capital Region Land Conservancy. She has contributed to  Writing The Land 2022: Windblown I, and is a contributing Poet in the upcoming 2024 Writing The Land Project. 

Emily Okamoto-Green

Japanese-American essayist and poet Emily Okamoto-Green mainly centers her work around "ideas of being a woman, an immigrant, the ghostliness of memory, the poetic vehicle of dream, and what it means to have a homeland.” Her accolades include the Virginia Downs Poetry Award, the Joseph Lohman III Poetry Prize, The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center 2020 fellowship, Yes Poetry Magazine’s Poet of the Month, and inaugural winner of the Berkey Essay Contest.  She is currently the Writer in Residence at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

David Patteson

David Patteson won 2nd place in the Poetry Society of Virginia’s contest on the topic: Honoring Fatherhood. He has also published two graphic memoirs and a graphic biography. Other publications: Lingering in the Margins: A River City Poets Anthology; Ellipses Zine; Zazu-Zine Comix; Road Publishers: The Poets Domain, Vol. Three, and others. David also works with at-risk teenagers. davidmarkpatteson@gmail.com www.davidpatteson.wordpress.com

Ron Smith

Ron Smith’s book That Beauty in the Trees is forthcoming from Louisiana State University Press. His The Humility of the Brutes, Its Ghostly Workshop, and Moon Road were also published by LSU Press. Smith’s poems have appeared in many periodicals, including The Nation, Kenyon Review, Georgia Review, Five Points, and Arts of War & Peace (Université Paris Diderot). He is currently Writer-in-Residence at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Virginia, and Poetry Editor for Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature. From 2014 to 2016 Smith was the Poet Laureate of Virginia. In 2021-2022, he partnered with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to present poems associated with Man Ray’s Paris years.

Dorinda Wegener

Dorinda Wegener is a Perianesthesia Certified Registered Nurse in Richmond, VA. She has work forthcoming in Hayden’s Ferry Review, as well as poems published in many journals, including The Antioch Review, THRUSH, Indiana Review, Hotel Amerika, and Berkeley Poetry Review. Her first full length book, Four Fields, is forthcoming from Trio House Press in 2024. 

Vernon Wildy Jr

Vernon Wildy, Jr. is the author of the contemporary romance novels Nice Guys Finish Last, Reunion At McBryde Hall, and Death To The Nice Guy.  He is also a contributing author to the short story collection River City Secrets and the poetry collections Lingering In The Margins and Virginia Bards Central Review 2020.  He has also been featured in the series Essays on Childhood on the website Esse Diem Blog.

A member of James River Writers and River City Poets, he resides in Glen Allen, VA.Vernon Wildy, Jr. is the author of the contemporary romance novels Nice Guys Finish Last, Reunion At McBryde Hall, and Death To The Nice Guy.  He is also a contributing author to the short story collection River City Secrets and the poetry collections Lingering In The Margins and Virginia Bards Central Review 2020.  He has also been featured in the series Essays on Childhood on the website Esse Diem Blog.

A member of James River Writers and River City Poets, he resides in Glen Allen, VA.