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What we’ll do

Just like in the old days when poets came together, perhaps imbibed, or had some coffee, and talked about the problems of the world and how they would use poetry to speak their minds. This is a Coffee Table Talk.

We will have a select group of panelists:

Susi Bocks
Chyrel J. Jackson
Maxima Kahn
LaVan Robinson

For this event, Susi Bocks will be sharing about her anthology of poetry as well as some of the poets involved will share their poetry.

We will also be talking about using poetry for social change.

Lisa Tomey will be the moderator.

Audience participation is encouraged after the panel discussion.

About Our Panelists:

Susi Bocks, writer/author/poet, has self-published two books – “Feeling Human” and “Every Day I Pause” and is the Editor of “The Short of It,” which she is developing into a anthology. You can find her work at IWriteHer.com or follow her on Facebook, where she invites you to read her thoughts to get to know her. Bocks’ work has been published in the anthology “SMITTEN: This Is What Love Looks Like: Poetry by Women for Women” and in VitaBrevis, Spillwords, Literary Yard, and other literary magazines.

Chyrel J. Jackson is a poet and artist who, along with her sister Lyris D. Wallace, published “Different Sides of the Same Coin.” It is a modern collage of poetry as experienced from the Black female perspective of 2 sisters and authors. This collection of poems is refreshing and unique. It is a heartwarming work of new age black voice and spoken word. This adaptation highlights the human experience of life, love, loss, parting and sorrow. Timeless wording, honestly written with a little of the unexpected. Black Expression has never been more relevant and real. This work is an interesting twist on Harlem Renaissance revisited as it collides with 2020 social struggles of our current time. In no short order we are reminded of why written and spoken word is so vital to the sustenance of African American Literature. Website: sistersrocnrhyme.com

Maxima Kahn is a writer of poetry, essays and fiction. Her debut collection of poems, “Fierce Aria,” was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020. Her work has been featured in numerous literary journals and on popular blogs and she has twice been nominated for Best of the Net. She has received scholarships and fellowships to the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley and the Vermont Studio Center. Her popular workshops and one-on-one mentoring in poetry, creative writing and The Artist’s Way have helped hundreds of people to unleash their creative gifts, realize their aspirations and create lives of passion, purpose and deep play. Having taught formerly at the University of California, Davis Extension, she now teaches and blogs at BrilliantPlayground.com. You can get intimate, insider access to her creative projects and process at Patreon.com/MaximaKahn. She is also an improvisational violinist, an award-winning composer and a dancer.

Veteran Larry Richardson started writing poetry in high school and as of October 2010 he published the second edition of “Songs of Lala – the Poet” Richardson shared, “I love poetry and will use it to inspire people and bring them closer to God.” He writes under the penname of LAVAN ROBINSON in honor of his mother, Mary Robinson. Robinson has published 4 books of poetry and is working on his 5th, a collaboration. Other books by Robinson: “Love’s Rhapsody,” “Cries of a Society,” and “Love’s Anticipation.”