Mary Lou Buschi (She/Her) is the author of 3 chapbooks and 3 full length poetry collections. Her 3rd book, BLUE PHYSICS was just published in February 2024 (Lily Poetry Review books). PADDOCK, her second book also published by LPR is a feminist play in poems. Her poems have appeared in literary journals such as Ploughshares, Glacier, Willow Springs, On the Seawall, among many others. Mary Lou is a graduate of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and holds an MS in Urban Education from Mercy University. Currently, she is a special education teacher working with students on the spectrum.

Rachel Jamison Webster has her MFA from Warren Wilson. She a professor of creative writing at Northwestern University and the author of four books of poetry in addition to the nonfiction. Benjamin Banneker and Us, which was chosen as a Best Book of 2023 by The New Yorker. Publisher’s Weekly hailed the book as “a stunning meditation on race, identity, and achievement.” Rachel has taught at Northwestern for the last 17 years. She has also developed writing workshops through the National Urban League, Ancestral Medicine, Chicago Public Schools and Gallery 37, and has received a Hewlett Fellowship for her implementation of diversity education in creative writing curriculum. Rachel’s essays, poems, and stories have been published in outlets including Poetry, Tin House, and the Yale Review.

Daniel Brock Johnson is the author of Shadow Act: an Elegy for Journalist James Foley, published by McSweeney’s. Previously, Johnson published How to Catch a Falling Knife with Alice James Books. In 2019, the City of Boston commissioned Johnson to draft lines of poetry for the twin memorials commemorating the Boston Marathon bombings. Johnson’s poetry has been featured in outlets such as National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour, The Washington Post, and in a variety of publications including Best American Poetry, Tin House, and I Have My Own Song for It: Modern Poems of Ohio. Johnson has received awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Poetry Center of Chicago, Foreword Book Awards, and elsewhere. For nearly a decade, Johnson served as the founding executive director of 826 Boston. Currently, he works as the executive director of Mass Poetry. Learn more at www.danielbrockjohnson.com.

A portion of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to Hudson Valley LGBTQ + Community Center in Kingston, which also serves Columbia County. Anderson John Heinz is a playwright, screenwriter and poet. Anderson’s full length plays include BEFORE THE DEVIL MADE ME RUN, PAINTED BRICK, MY GUY IN THE SKY, RITA IN THAILAND and BABY ALLEN. This March, his play THE SUICIDES took home several top prizes at the 2024 Queens Short Play Festival. Anderson was a member of New York Stage and Film’s 2022-2023 Filmmakers’ Workshop, where he developed his television pilot SUBMERGED OBJECTS. He formerly served as Executive Assistant with Daryl Roth Productions and as Showrunners’ PA to Michelle and Robert King on their shows THE GOOD FIGHT and EVIL. Anderson was born in Mobile, Alabama and raised in Memphis, Tennnessee. He is the proud uncle of 15 nieces and nephews.  

Pop Tart is a recurring night of dancing, club music, pop remixes, cups overflowing, joy abound. 8pm - ?