Poets in Play 2023-2024

PROMPT: “Every line I write is a part of me that I give to this world”

Ahmed Toslim is a Bangladeshi Poet. He writes on the topics of philosophy, epistemology, devotion, and poetic expression. He is a published author, lyricist, and music producer. As a reciter, Ahmed has performed in Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, Buffalo in New York, and Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Chittagong in Bangladesh. Ahmed grew up on the bank of the river Shitalakshya in Bangladesh to which his soul is deeply connected. Through his poetry, he seeks to explore the deep questions of life, unravel the complexities of the human experience, and express the emotions that flow through us all.

Art is an American poet, farmer, and politician from Colorado and became poetry editor of the “Mountain Gazette” (2011-13) until the magazine folded. In 2014 he published “Looking South to Lone Cone: the Cloud Acre Poems” (Western Eye Press), became poetry editor for “Fungi Magazine” (2014-present) and started the online poetry anthology “Sage Green Journal” with Lito Tejada-Flores (2014-present). In 2019 he published “Dancing on Edge: the McRedeye Poems” (Lithic Press, Fruita, CO). He currently is a poet in residence for the online “Colorado Times Recorder” (Denver), and columnist for the “Four Corners Free Press” (Cortez). He has been co-editor of two mushroom anthologies both from Fungi Press: “MycoEpithalamia: Mushroom Wedding Poems” with Britt Bunyard (2016) and “Medicine for Hearts and Minds” with Wendy Videlock (2023). Art has appeared in many publications and has done hundreds of readings in the region, solo and with others.

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PROMPT: “Once we were old enough, they’d pack the car each summer and call us vagabonds, which, for the longest time,
we thought was bag-of-ponds, and we loved it because we saw ourselves as something splashable and fun . . .”

Some people are born writers. Lafayette Wattles was not one of those people. After he finally came around and discovered the wonders of the word, he decided to become a writer in the hopes of sharing those wonders with others. Lafayette Wattles was the name of his great-great-grandfather, a full-blooded Sioux. When he decided to become a writer, he wanted to honor that part of his past as a way to celebrate this new adventure, so he adopted the name for his writer self.

PROMPT: “Sometimes the stories wait for you to begin.”

Kenzie Allen is a Haudenosaunee poet and multimodal artist. She is a direct descendant of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. A finalist for the National Poetry Series, and author of Cloud Missives (Tin House, 2024), she is the recipient of a 92 NY Discovery Prize, the James Welch Prize for Indigenous Poets, the 49th Parallel Award in Poetry, and fellowships to Aspen Summer Words, Vermont Studio Center, and In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets).

PROMPT: “he composes in the mind’s eye / one-hundred necessary lines.”

John Roche edits Poetry Playhouse Publications with Jules Nyquist and hosts events in Placitas, NM. After studying at SUNY Buffalo and University College Dublin, he taught literature and creative writing for four decades. His latest book is Joe Rides Again: Further Adventures of Joe the Poet.

PROMPT: “It is the hunger, not the fulfillment, that fuels the passion…”

Karen Vogler’s work will make you laugh even as you are crying. Influenced by everything from dreams, family, work, and relationships, Karen’s narrative style poetry takes you deeply into her life…both real and imagined. Though she has been through many different creative and artistic phases over her lifetime, writing has always been the one constant in the background.

PROMPT: TBD

Rachel L. Joe née Johnson received her M.A. in English from SUNY University at Buffalo. In 2021 her poetry book, A Granddaughter’s Memories was published by Foothills Publishing. She has traveled inside and outside of the USA, lived in Hawaii for 4 years and now lives in Buffalo, NY with her husband, Ben Joe and stepdaughter.