Betsy Holleman Burke

Betsy Holleman Burke is a poet living in the Washington, DC area. Her first collection of poems, Searching for Hummingbirds, was published in 2014. Such Friends as These, a Surrey Street Poetry Anthology includes her work. Her co llection, All That Remains, was published by WordTech Communications, Cherry Grove Press in 2020. Her poetry appears in The Front Porch Review, The Ekphrastic Review and other journals. She is a ten year member of the Surrey Street Poets and a floral designer at the Washington National Cathedral and Hillwood Museum.

Donna Denizé

Of Haitian American descent, Donna Denizé holds degrees from Stonehill College and Howard University, where she was a student of poet Robert Hayden, while he served as Consultant to the Library of Congress. She has also contributed to scholarly books and journals, including Shakespeare Set Free, published by the Folger Shakespeare Library, English Journal, and Teacher’s Digest, an educational magazine from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. She was also one of eight invited teacher's for The Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s eight part mini-series, In Search of the Novel (aired nationwide).

She is a teacher in the Education Department of The Folger Shakespeare Library, where she has conducted numerous workshops for students and teachers about the sonnet tradition and sonnets of Claude McKay; her article “The Sonnet Tradition and Claude McKay” was published in English Journal 2009 (Vol. 99, No. 1) to honor the 400^th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

She is the author of a poetry chapbook, The Lover's Voice (1997) and a book of poems, Broken Like Job (2005). Her poems have appeared in anthologies such as Full Moon on K Street, Hungry As We Are; WPFW Poetry Anthology; Weavings 2000, and magazines, Provincetown Arts, Gargoyle, World Order, Innisfree Journal of Poetry, Orison, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Volume 12, Number 2, Spring 2011, and The Journal of Baha’i Studies, Volume 25, Number 3, Fall 2015; Beltway Poetry Quarterly, 18:4 October, 2017.

In 1994, she was a Presidential Scholar Teacher; in 2003, she was awarded by Williams College the George Olmsted Jr., Prize for excellence in secondary teaching, and in 2004, she was appointed to the board of trustees of The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) in Staunton, Virginia. Currently, she Chairs the English Department at St. Albans School for Boys in Washington, D.C., where she teaches Shakespeare, American literature, and freshman English.

Miss Kiane

Author, performer, facilitator, coach and entrepreneur, Miss Kiane loves all things artsy. She has extensive experience writing, directing, and performing in theatrical productions. Miss Kiane has shared her poetry in several venues including Busboys and Poets, Mayorga Coffee House, Storytellers, Organic Soul and the Synergy Center. As a published poet, she was honored as the Poetry Society’s Who’s Who in Poetry. Miss Kiane is currently the Administrator for a Facebook Group called Poets, Writers and Creative Scribblers where she creates a virtual safe space for creatives to imagine, write and connect. In addition, pre Pandemic, she enjoyed hosting open mic nights at DC’s newest Busboys and Poets in Anacostia every third Tuesday night from 7-9 pm.

Miss Kiane is the author of two chapbooks; Think on These Things and Syncopated Hearts and co-author of a collection called The Write Blendhttps://www.amazon.com/Write-Blend-Collection-Poetry/dp/1698836481/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+write+blend+poetry+circle&qid=1607308780&sr=8-2. Miss Kiane uses her poetry to foster hope, healing and social change through her poetry business, Kiane Ink Healing in the Pen, LLC. Kiane Ink offers spoken word performances, original poetic merchandise and community open mics. In 2019, Miss Kiane established a non-profit called The InkWELL whereby individuals may benefit from cathartic writing programs in places like schools, juvenile centers, churches, community centers and more.

As a Licensed Graduate Social Worker, Miss Kiane enjoys melding her profession with her passion by helping others to access levels of personal healing, empowerment and growth through the power of poetry and creative expression. In her own words, “Poetry is my friend, my catharsis…my gift to the world.”