Workshop Poets
Bugsy Calhoun
CHILDREN'S POETRY WORKSHOP: EKPHRASIS WITH BUGSY CALHOUN. POETS WILL LEARN ABOUT TRANSFORMING ART INTO POETRY.
(AGES 8-12)
Bugsy Calhoun) Jamal Washington a poet emcee born and raised in the OceanHill Brownsville section of Brooklyn NY, Debuted his poetry at the Brooklyn Moon. He is founding member of the Unusual Suspects poetry Troop and member of Black on Black Rhyme and the slam master of Columbia's slam team Tribe Slam he Co-hosts an open mic at The House of Hathor called the J.A.M. Session with his wife (Wintah Storm) Karen Joyner Washington he also has 6 spoken word and hip hop music projects on www.Bandcamp.com/bugsycalhoun Bugsy works in the community using his poetry to build Bridges not barriers he works with Tracy Oakman who runs the Princes Empowerment and Boyz II Men infused mentoring program.
Alyssa Stewart
TEEN POETRY WORKSHOP: WE GOOD! WITH ALYSSA STEWARD. IN THIS WORKSHOP, POETS WILL GO OVER SONG STRUCTURE, STYLE, STRATEGIES, AND BEGIN SHAPING SONGS. (AGES 13-19)
The constant support Alyssa receives from her family, friends, peers, and partner is priceless. She teaches private music lessons, writes and performs original songs, photographs small, important things, and writes poetry and reads less often than she’d like. She lives in downtown Columbia with three other women and two orange cats. She won the inaugural Combahee River Prize for a South Carolina BIPOC Writer. Her work is published in Jasper Magazine and in Fall Lines Volume X
Evelyn Berry & Naya Lani
POETRY WORKSHOP WITH QUEER WRITERS OF COLUMBIA, EVELYN BERRY 7 NAYA LANAI. QUEER WRITERS OF COLUMBIA PRESENTS "WRITING AGAINST SILENCE," A WORKSHOP DESIGNED TO HELP WRITERS EXPRESS WHAT OFTEN GOES UNSAID, WHETHER BECAUSE OF OPPRESSION, CENSORSHIP, OR SHAME; DRAWINGS UPON THE PEDAGOGY OF WRITERS LIKE AUDRE LORDE, BELL HOOKS, DOROTHY ALLISON, SHARON OLDS, AND MORE. WORKSHOP LEADERS NAYA LANAI AND EVELYN BERRY PROVIDE THOUGHTFUL CONVERSATION AND GENERATIVE PROMPTS TO WRITE AGAINST AND INTO THE SILENCES IN OUR LIVES.
Evelyn Berry (she/her) is the trans, Southern author of Grief Slut (Sundress Publications, 2024) and the chapbook Buggery (Bateau Press, 2020). Her chapbook T4T is forthcoming from Small Harbor Publishing in 2026. She lives in Columbia, SC. __________Naya Lanai is pink, queer, and ready to be fierce! She uses both pain and pleasure in her writing to create a kinder world. Not afraid to be vulnerable, she writes with healing in mind for both herself and others. Connect with her on Instagram at @nayalanai.
Al Black
EVERY VOICE MATTERS-HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY THE VICTORS. POETRY IS WRITTEN BY THE PEOPLE AN DIS WHERE TRUTH GOES TO LIVE.
Al Black writes poetry, hosts workshops and since 2010 has hosted over 1,000 poetry/music events in the midlands of South Carolina. He is author of two books of poetry, I Only Left for Tea (2014 Muddy Ford Press), Man with Two Shadows (2018 Muddy Ford Press); co-editor Hand in Hand: Poets Respond to Race (2017 ) and edited Tall Women (2024); was the 2017 Jasper Literary Artist of the Year; co-founded the Poets Respond to Race Initiative, co-hosted the Chewing the Gristle, a poetry chat Youtube series and has a semi-weekly byline in jasperproject.org – Poet of the People.
Moses Freeman
POETRY WORKSHOP WITH MOSES FREEMAN: DOWN BY THE RIVER IS A WRITER'S WORKSHOP TO TEACH THE CRAFTY OF POETRY AND STORY AS IT INTERSECTS WITH STAGE PERFORMANCE AND THE OBSERVATION OF THE SPOKEN WORD.
