I’m elated to share that my poem “Lullaby –An Elixir, a Tourniquet, a Panacea” has been shortlisted as the Top 10 Finalist in the State Level NAMI NJ  Dara Axelrod Poetry Contest. The top 3 highly voted poems will be chosen as the winners. The deadline for voting is May 15, 2024. Theme: What will you be doing all while the world is screaming? You can vote for the Top 3 poems here. You can read my poem “Lullaby –An Elixir, a Tourniquet, a Panacea” and vote here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrXe75WV-R_5Nho-fChjVBenDbqCsPk8cTA_jFgCfIze-eEw/viewform Poetry Contest Happy Poetr ..read more

I’m thrilled to share that I have been accepted into the 2024 Summmer Poetry Workshop by VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation). As a poet and literary activist, VONA has been one of my dream organisations to be associated with. I’m honored to be part of a week-long workshop “Form as Resistance, Legacy and Code with Anastacia-Reneé Established in 1999, the premier multi-genre workshop for BIPOC Writers, VONA is a Home where writers of color come to hone their craft and be in the community. VONA honors its writers’ unique histories, traditions, and aesthetics and provides a protected me ..read more

I’m grateful to Joan Kwon Glass as she shared my poem “Trails of Kindness”, previously published in the National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW) matched with poetry prompts. Visit her substack to read the poems and the poetry prompts from writers across the writing community. I’m extremely grateful to Joan for giving me the space on her substack “Weird Auntie Joan’s Writing Subsatck” Here is the link to the poem and the prompts on the substack : https://joankwonglass.substack.com/p/persimmons-and-tomatoes So get your pens, and laptops out and start writing! Happy National Poetry Month!! M ..read more

I’m honored to have two of my poems selected to be part of the upcoming anthology ” Peace, Poetry and Policy”. The Peace, Poetry, and Policy Project is supported by the KWD Collaborative in Conflict Transformation at Middlebury Institute of International Studies . Being a poet and a literary activist, it is an honor to be part of an anthology that support the fact that poetry is a vehicle of social activism, empowerment, and healing. The Peace, Poetry, & Policy Project team is made up of students and faculty from around the world  I’m grateful to Prof. Marie Boucher for giving m ..read more

I’m thrilled to share the news that two of my books namely (“My Body Is Not an Apology”, Finishing Line Press, 2021) and “My Body Lives Like a Threat”, FlowerSongPress, 2022) has been included in the showcase in the Poets House, Manhatten, NYC. The only event of its kind, the annual Poets House Showcase is a free exhibit featuring thousands of new poetry books and poetry-related texts published in the English language over the past 18 months. For nearly 30 years, the Showcase Exhibit has displayed thousands of works by and about the poetry community, including volumes by individual ..read more

I’m extremely honored and excited to have my poem “Topography of a Wound” part of the coveted anthology ” Black Fire This Time – Vol2 ” published by Willow Books. The anthology is open for pre-orders and will be published in  April 2024.  Honored to share the space with legends like Maya Angelou, Etheridge Knight, Ed Bullins, Jayne Cortez, Audre Lorde, Kalamu ya Salaam, and Judy Juanita. Also, happy to share the space with Dr. Kim Mcmillon, Keisha Anderson, Tureeda Mikell, Michael Warr, Jacquese Armstrong Elijah Pringle, and many more. In this follow-up volume in the Black Fire This ..read more

I’m extremely delighted to share the news that three of my poems “Sometimes”, “Desire and Its Hauntings” and “Fruitless Attempt” have been selected for future publication in the coveted journal, Journal of NJ Poets. I’m immensely grateful to EIC Laura Driver for her support.  Poets who have read at CCM include such national figures as Allen Ginsberg, James Wright, Stephen Dobyns, Ishmael Reed and the United States Consultants in Poetry/U.S. Poets Laureate William Stafford, Howard Nemerov, Gwendolyn Brooks, Elizabeth Bishop, Donald Hall, and Philip Levine. For more information, email&nbs ..read more

I’m absolutely thrilled and honored to perform alongside 10 other absolutely brilliant women artists at the 50th-anniversary celebration of Speicher -Rubin Centre for Equality on March 21, 2024, in collaboration with InFullColor. Please join us for an evening of poetry, music, and stories. This show is presented in partnership with NJCU & the Speicher-Rubin Women’s Center’s 50th Anniversary and is supported by funds from the Jersey City Arts Trust Fund. In Full Color All-Stars is Thursday, March 21 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm, opening with light bites and vendors. Show is at 7. There will be a ..read more

January and February have always been the months of new beginnings and change. Notable publications in these two months included anthologies “CAPS 25th year anthology”  and “ Fatal  Force: Poetic Justice” by Moonstone Arts. It was an honor and pleasure to read alongside Martin Espada. Grateful to Pramila Venkateswaran for publishing my book review “My Body Lives Like a Threat”, 2022) in Verseville.org.  It was such a pleasure to be one of the featured readers for the launch of  Vol 7 Ezine by NYPL “ Voices Across the World ”. I had my two part of the issue. I also had my po ..read more

I’m elated to share the news that my poem ” Perception – A Matter of Discussion” is included in the anthology ” Vagabond Lunar Collection” slated to be sent to the moon as part of the historic LunarCodex Project in collaboration with NASA/SpaceX in 2024. I’m grateful to the EIC , Mark Lipman and Dr Samuel Peralta for giving me the space in the anthology among 110 poets across the world. In addtion to this my co-edited anthology (” The Medusa Project”, Mookychick, UK” )and the anthology (“The Polaris Collection” , Brick Street Poetry, US)  also contains my work to be sent  to the lun ..read more