~dreama
Bio:
Dreama Buck is a native Appalachian who was cradled by mountains and is still delighted by lightning bugs. Her publishing credits include Biostories, Et Cetera, the Boys Will Be Boys and All About the Girls anthologies, and the Feminine Rising: Voices of Power and Invisibility collection. She’s received awards and publications in multiple genres, including poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Reason for Signing Up:
One of my children sent me Misty Skaggs’ #LexPoMo poem “Scorched Sugar,” and that and other poems I found there inspired me to join in!
Lavagurl
Reason for Signing Up:
To keep the creative love going!
Misty Skaggs
Bio:
Barefoot poet, backwoods activist.
vanesa
Bio:
Vanesa writes to remember her roots.
kaylyn S
Bio:
Kaylyn is a writer (sort of) just trying to feel seen and be heard
Reason for Signing Up:
I signed up to challenge myself to write every day and have more people read my poetry
clkirby
Bio:
Social worker. Poet. Mother.
Reason for Signing Up:
Traditional
John Vance
Bio:
John is a former English professor, recovering drug addict, and current drug and alcohol counselor + WRFL DJ
Reason for Signing Up:
Seemed fun!
Nia Queen
Bio:
Nia Queen is a creative, critic, and community organizer. Her radical pro- Black lens is equal parts angry and imaginative.
Her words can also be found in USAToday, Courier Journal, and amongst countless stacks of diaries.
Morgan Caudill
Bio:
Morgan is a twenty-eight-year-old cat mom. A literature lover. A professional napper. And a middle school teacher. She has a BA in English Literature from Northern Kentucky University and an MAT in Middle Grades Social Studies & English and Communications. She has been published by QuillKeepers Press, Ghost City Press, Wingless Dreamer, and In Parentheses.
Mya Sophia
Bio:
Mya Sophia (She/Her) loves writing about nature, liberation and how we process grief. When she is not creating she is out in the garden, going on walks/bookstore trips with friends (masked of course) or watching her favorite shows. Her favorite color is yellow. You can find her work on Patreon at Mya Sophia's Blog.
Elizabeth Drew Kneibert
Bio:
Elizabeth Kneibert studies English, philosophy, and film at the University of Kentucky. She serves as an editor for her school’s creative writing magazine, and is a member of the English Honors Society. Kneibert’s work ranges from creative and critical concentrations such as photography, film theory, poetry, literary criticism, and more.
Reason for Signing Up:
I LOVE POETRY! WE MUST OVERCOME AMERICA’S AVERSION TO POETRY!
Jessica Stump
Bio:
Jessica Stump, an Eastern Kentucky native, grew up amid the lore of the Appalachian Mountains. She is a senior editor and writer at Appalachian State University in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, where she lives with her husband, writer Matthew Hatfield, and their goofball tabby, Gus. She holds an MFA in creative writing, and among her most favorite things are Halloween and the em dash.
Reason for Signing Up:
I return to LexPoMo as a challenge, and a promise, to myself —hold space for your words and their place in the world.
Leslie Workman
Bio:
Leslie is an educator, mother, video game enthusiast, and amateur poet.
Reason for Signing Up:
I have enjoyed it in the past.
Folio
Bio:
Christopher Folio is a visual artist, writer, and educator new to Lexington, Kentucky having moved from West Virginia. His writing compliments his artwork and vice versa. Christopher loves craft beer, comfort color t-shirts, and his kitten Sancho.
Reason for Signing Up:
I saw the posting on a Lexington event website and was really interested. This seems like a great way to not only write consistently, but to more importantly connect with more like minded creative people within the area. Writing is cool; friends are cooler.
ASH
Bio:
Ash is a writer from the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. She has loved words, language and writing since she was a young child. She is a mother of two beautiful girls and is committed to her loving partner and Co-Author, Kells. Ash lives a happy simple life and writes every chance she gets. Her work is based on her real life.
Reason for Signing Up:
I love writing and I wanted to put myself and my art out and try to connect with others within the poetry community
Susanna Spearman
Bio:
Susanna Spearman (they/she) is a queer, Appalachian poet originally from South Carolina. They graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Bluegrass Writers Studio in August, 2024. They live in central Kentucky with their wife, four cats, and senior chihuahua. They're a full-time ESL and English teacher. In addition to being the Secretary of Kentucky State Poetry Society, they are also co-editor of the KSPS literary journal, Pegasus. They are the director of Multifarious Collective, an organization based in central Kentucky that amplifies multilingual/multicultural poetic and artistic voices.
They were the 2023 winner of the BGWS Emerging Writer Award for Poetry (selected by Bernard Clay). They have poems published in West Trade Review, Still: The Journal, Untelling Journal, Carolina Muse, UDD3R Mag, and Yearling Journal. They have pieces forthcoming in Verses from the Underground and Meow Meow Pow Pow Lit.
Reason for Signing Up:
I neeeeeeeeeeed to write. I have been feeling so stagnant, and nothing quite like writing with a bunch of your peers to inspire ya!
Marianne Peel
Bio:
Marianne loves Lexington, but also travels the world. She taught middle and high school English for 32 years. She recently spent time in Portugal, writing on Madeira Island. She adores peanut butter pretzels dipped in Nutella. She plays Native American Flute in gazebos…has two books out: NO DISTANCE BETWEEN US and SINGING IS PRAYING TWICE. She had a new poetry collection, UNTAMED ARABESQUE, coming out this fall…❤️❤️❤️
Reason for Signing Up:
Want to see what gems y’all are working on…!!!
Ondine Quinn
Bio:
Ondine Quinn (they/them) is a visual artist, musician, and writer based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Their work explores themes of grief, belonging, resistance, and our relationship to the natural world, and is informed by their experience growing up as a queer latinx/e person in a working class family. In 2022 Ondine published their first book, a collection of vegan Cuban recipes inspired by their mother’s cooking. They began their poetry journey in 2020 through “Writing What Is”, a poetry circle for BIPOC women and femme poets founded by LeTonia Jones and Tanya Torp. They were accepted into the 2023 Appalachian Writers Workshop in Hindman Kentucky, and their poem “From From” was published in an anthology of Lexington writers as part of the 2023 LexPoMo writing challenge. Ondine has been invited to read in and around central Kentucky, including at the Carnegie Center’s 2023 Queer Literary Hoedown, Appalshop, and the 2024 Lexington Pride festival. When not writing, Ondine enjoys playing video games, drinking coffee and spending time with their partner Drew, and their dog named Rabbit.
Reason for Signing Up:
To be connected to fellow poets and hold myself accountable to a more regular writing practice!
