Friday, October 11 through Sunday, October 13, 2019
- 4-9 pm: Small Press Book Fair
- 7-8:30 pm: Feature Reading: KC’s Riverfront Readings hosts Denver’s Suspect Press
- 9-11 pm: Sharon Eiker hosts Poetry Open Mic
- 11-2 pm: Flying Ketchup Press hosts Poetry Brunch Open Mic at Our Daily Nada venue
- 1- 9 pm: Small Press Book Fair
- 3-4 pm: Kansas City Poetry Slam hosts a Writing Workshop
- 4-5 pm: Spartan Press hosts a Publisher’s Panel
- 7-8:30 pm: Feature Reading: KC’s Latino Writers Collective
- 9-11 pm: Arsyn Spitfire hosts Poetry Open Mic
- 11-1 pm Poetic Underground hosts Pop-Up Open Mic
- 12-6 pm: Small Press Book Fair
- 4-5:30 pm: Feature: KC’s Stubborn Mule Press hosts New Hampshire’s CLASH Books
- 8-10 pm: Afterparty Open Mic hosted by Brandon Whitehead at Swordfish Tom’s venue
Brandon Whitehead has been a music/movie reviewer, short story writer, and famed robot fighter for over thirty years. He has read his poetry in strip clubs, graveyards, back alleys and the deck of a sinking ship. He has been a projectionist, violin player, live movie-riffer, gravedigger and bio-hazardous materials courier. His book of poetry “Thieves, Pharaohs & Mexican Daredevils” is available for cash money or good whiskey. You can find his shorty story collection “Outpost 4423 & Other Stories” at the Amazon Kindle site, if you’re into that kind of thing. He currents hosts the Speakeasy@ Swordfish Tom’s on first Sundays in a basement boiler room with a cocktail bar while dressed like a hobo from the 1920s’.
Samantha Slupski (she/her) is a Midwest writer living in Austin, Texas. She the former Program Director for Kansas City Poetry Slam, Poetic Underground, and founder of the Middle of the Mic workshop series. She has been a competitor at Texas Grand Slam, was a 2018 Nationals Team Member, and headlined the Melbourne Spoken Word Poetry Festival in 2018. She is currently a regular contributor to the blog, Pass/Fail and the Social Media Manager for The Adroit Journal. Her work centers around how a body survives trauma and aims to illuminate stories about mental health. To find out more about Samantha, visit her website at ww.samanthaslupskipoetry.com or on Instagram at @samfromkc.
Abby Bland has a B.A. in English from William Jewell College and is working on her Masters in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management at the University of Missouri Kansas City. She currently serves as the Program Director for Kansas City Poetry Slam, Poetic Underground, and the Middle of the Mic Workshop series. She is a multi-time finalist on the Kansas City Poetry Slam stage and was a competing member of the 2018 KC Poetry Slam nationals team and the 2019 Rustbelt Regional Team. Her work focuses on exploring topics such as intimacy, vulnerability, and cultural expectations of the feminine.
Jason Preu is the author of six chapbooks, two full-length poetry collections, and a book-length illuminated poem. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in various anthologies and journals. Jason’s performative collaboration with composer, Brian Padavic, was the subject of the feature film, The Avocado Among Other Fruits, Live from Prospero’s. In 2019, Jason released the album, threats, under the name, isyouisorisyouaint.
Jeanette Powers is a writer-artist, working-class anarchist, and listener of rivers and bats. They mess around, mostly, and are known to skygaze day and night. Powers is a founding editor of Stubborn Mule Press and an organizer for FountainVerse: KC Small Press Poetry Fest. They are also an art barista for Fictional Cafe and the singular subversive voice of Spartan Press’ developmental editing. What else? Their gender identity is currently holy person and their dog died this year which still hurts brutally. JP will be attending a month long residency in Iceland in January of 2020. Find more at @dada_ahha and www.jeanettepowers.com.
