READ THE ROOM: A Poetry Series
POET BIOS
Azalea
Aguilar
Azalea Aguilar is a Pushcart Prize–nominated Chicana poet from South Texas, where the scent of gulf and memories of childhood linger in her work.
Her poetry delves into the complexities of motherhood, echoes of childhood trauma, and the resilience found in spaces shaped by addiction and survival. She writes to honor the past, give voice to the unspoken, and carve tenderness from the raw edges of experience. Her debut chapbook, Foxhole, was recently published by Bottlecap Press. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, including Angel City Review, The Skinny Poetry Journal, The Acentos Review, and Somos en Escrito. She is currently crafting her first full-length manuscript, a collection exploring the intersections of love, loss, and lineage.
WHO IS AZALEA?
Dahlia
Aguilar
Dahlia Aguilar is a Chicana poet and D.C. Arts and Humanities Fellow who has called Washington, D.C. home for three decades.
Her work moves through memory’s rooms—where humor and ache share a cup of coffee, and ghosts of girlhood slip back in wearing her hat. A Macondo Writers Workshop alum, she has also held residencies with Under the Volcano, Elk River, and Gemini Ink. Her poems appear in the journals Naugatuck River Review, Acentos Review, and The Skinny Poetry Journal, and in the anthologies If the Trees Were Pens, Boundless and Somos Xicanas, the latter an award-winning collection. Her manuscript Tidal Range was a finalist for Trio House Press’s Louise Bogan Poetry Award. A member of Tintas DC and Círculo de Poetas and Writers, Aguilar’s work moves between tenderness and defiance, interrogating power, memory, and survival with the intimacy of lived witness. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her teenage son, two dogs, and menopause.
WHO IS DAHLIA?
Jhon Carlos
Barrera
WHO IS JHON?
Jhon Carlos Barrera is a writer, poet, and cultural curator who utilizes his intersectional identities and lived experiences to inform his writing, storytelling, and the spaces he curates within the local DC community.
This has been evident in his recent performances as the featured poet for the 2025 Hispanic Heritage Month season, where he crafted a multi-sensory performance at Eaton DC Hotel and Busboys & Poets Brookland. His community affiliations span within the Dominican Professional Association, Latinx History Project, Tintas DC, BloomBars Writers Group, and as a 2025 Alumnus of the Dominican Writers Association’s “El Retorno” Writers Retreat.
Jhon Carlos is a Queer Caribeño-Latino of mixed descent from the Dominican Republic and Colombia, born in Queens, NY, and raised in Miami, FL. Jhon Carlos is a first-generation college graduate who received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Florida International University, and is now based in Washington, DC.
C. Alexandria
Bernard
An unstoppable force of creativity, activism, and inspiration. As a Queer Black Non-Binary Poet and survivor of child abuse, Chris has transformed lived experience into a life of service using poetry, teaching, and advocacy to champion healing and justice for marginalized communities.
C. was recognized as a Pioneer of Poetry by the National Underground Spoken Word Poetry Award (NUSPA) in 2015. They have the rare ability to captivate audiences as a performer while also guiding communities as a host, educator, and organizer.
Their work has been featured at leading institutions such as Georgetown University, Howard University, Angelina College, and Jefferson University, as well as cultural spaces.
Beyond the stage, C’s. impact reaches deep into community healing. They are a certified facilitator of Darkness to Light’s Stewards of Children® program, teaching adults how to prevent and respond to child sexual abuse. Through their acclaimed workshop Writing to Wellness™, C. empowers survivors to use poetry as a tool for healing while navigating childhood trauma.
Their advocacy and artistry have earned honorable mentions from World Childhood Foundation USA, Buddy Speaks, and End the Harvest Ministries, and they made history as the first poet ever featured in Swerv Magazine. Their voice and vision have also appeared in The New York Times,
The Zebra, Canvas Rebel Magazine, and more.
With every performance, classroom, keynote, or workshop, C. embodies love in action. They stand as a beacon of hope and empowerment amplifying the voices of survivors, youth, and marginalized communities. Through poetry, advocacy, and a commitment to positive change, C. is shaping a more inclusive, compassionate world.
Teaching Artist Roles
2016 – Poetry Workshop Facilitator, Split This Rock (Washington, DC)
2017 – Poetry Specialist, DC SCORES (Washington, DC)
2018 – Teaching Artist, Change Conference (Washington, DC)
2019 – Resident Teaching Artist, Heard (Alexandria, VA), Teaching Artist, Carlos Rosario International Charter School (Washington, DC)
2020 – Resident Teaching Artist, Creative Suitland Arts Center (Suitland, MD), Summer Resident Teaching Artist, End the Harvest Ministries (Mt. Rainier, MD)
2022 – Teaching Artist, St. Charles High School (White Plains, MD), Teaching Artist, KIPP PCS (Washington, DC)
2023 – Teaching Artist, Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Lead Teaching Artist, Prince George’s Community College (Largo, MD), Teaching Artist, Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council (Suitland, MD)
2024 – Lead Teaching Artist, Brightwood Education Campus (Washington, DC), Lead Teaching Artist, Moten Elementary School (Washington, DC), Lead Teaching Artist, Chamberlain Elementary School (Washington, DC), Teaching Artist, Creative Minds PCS (Washington, DC), Lead Teaching Artist, Center City PCS – Congress Heights (Washington, DC), Lead Teaching Artist, Columbia Heights Educational Campus (Washington, DC)
Speaking & Community Engagements
2015 – Keynote Speaker, Child Abuse Prevention Awareness, Angelina College (Diboll, TX)
2016 – Keynote Speaker, Project Beacon of Hope Fundraiser (Washington, DC)
2022 – Keynote Speaker, Navigating Childhood Trauma Through Poetry, Prince George’s Community College (Largo, MD)
2022–2024 – Keynote Speaker & Pinwheel Garden Organizer, Child Abuse Prevention Awareness, Charles Hill Park (Alexandria, VA)
Publications
Moodz’ Ring (2004)
Voices Carry (2008)
Coloring Outside the Lines (2013)
Bernard’s Bedroom (2017)
Reclamation. (2023)
Depression Made Write This (2024)
Featured Publications
Stoked Words: An Anthology of Queer Poetry (2018)
Swerv Magazine (2018)
Imagoes: A Queer Anthology (2019)
Purple Poetry Book: A Survivor’s Anthology (2022)
Black Minds Publishing (2022)
The New York Times (2021)
The Zebra (2022)
Canvas Rebel Magazine (2023)
Bold New Journey Magazine (2024)
Awards & Honors
2017 – Authorized Stewards of Children Facilitator, Safe Shores – The DC Children’s Advocacy Center
2019 – Literary Fellowship, Split This Rock
2022 – Survivor Leadership Honoree, World Childhood Foundation USA
WHO IS C. ALEXANDRIA?
Brandon Blue
Brandon Blue is a black, queer poet, translator, educator.
Their work has or will appear in Poetry Northwest, Foglifter, Frozen Sea, and more. His work is also featured in the Capital Pride Poem-a-Day event and has received the support from Tin House, Aspen Words, and the Virginia G Piper for Creative Writing. Their chapbook, Snap.Shot, has been published by Finishing Line Press and was named in Poetry Mutual’s Best Books of 2023. Keep up with their work at brandonbluepoet.com
WHO IS BRANDON?
Pamela
Chomba
Pamela Chomba is now a poet and writer, focusing on her experience as an undocumented immigrant to explore familial bonds that trespass borders and an unimaginable universe led with love.
She is also an internationally recognized immigration advocate and political strategist, having recently built a new organization in Germany. Stories from the Beauty Parlor is a multidisciplinary storytelling and fundraising organization shedding light to the fact that only 2% of global funding goes towards women’s causes. Pamela worked at FWD.us for nearly a decade, advocating for immigration policies in Congress. As an advocate, she was a public voice for the issue and created educational resources for directly impacted individuals. She was born in Lima, Peru and now lives in Washington, DC.
WHO IS PAMELA?
Sophia
Duchin
Sophia Duchin is a 26 year old emerging poet who lives in Washington DC.
Her work explores themes of self exploration, internal conflict, and observations on the natural world and her place in it. She is deeply inspired by the work of Tracy K. Smith and Mary Oliver.
WHO IS SOPHIA?
Daniel
Delaney
WHO IS DANIEL?
Daniel Delaney is an emerging transgender poet whose work focuses on the intersections of identity, stigma, and fear, usually through the autobiographical lens of queer identity, substance use, and trauma.
He lives in an all-trans house in the exurbs of D.C., the 45-minute drive to anything interesting forcing all the housemates to create their own interest. Publisher and writer for Big Ol’ News (bigolnews.org), the DMV’s least-known and least respectable “real news” publication. Despite his lack of a formal arts background, he keeps writing and forcing people to read it. If you want to contact him, reconsider (or email him at delaney.kaelin@gmail.com).
Tatiana
Figueroa
Ramirez
Born in Puerto Rico, Tatiana Figueroa Ramírez has received fellowships from VONA Voices and Anaphora Arts, having worked with Willie Perdomo and Danez Smith.
Tatiana currently performs, facilitates workshops, and hosts events in the DC area, having previously done so across the United States and the Dominican Republic at venues including The Kennedy Center and New York University. Her work has been featured in MSNBC’s “Leguizamo Does America,” Giant Food "This is Home" campaign, and The Acentos Review, among other publications. Tatiana is the author of Coconut Curls y Café con Leche (2019), Despojo (2020), and Exhume (forthcoming).
WHO IS TATIANA?
Sierra
Fisher
Sierra Fisher is an emerging writer whose poetry and essays explore the quiet intersections of memory, emotion, and the human experience.
Her work has appeared in Livina Press, Wingless Dreamer, and the WildSound Writing Festival, where her voice has been recognized for its lyrical honesty and emotional depth.
Her first chapbook, Wading in My Thoughts reflects on cyclical themes of time and emotions. This chapbook is written in a traditional haiku format of 5-7-5; this style best captures the fleeting moments that thoughts occupy.
WHO IS SIERRA?
Adrian
Gaston
Garcia (AGG)
A queer Latine storyteller whose mission is to share narratives that build community. His work is a love letter to his younger self and a shout out to all the queer brown boys who choose joy as their form of resistance. His poems have been published in Latino Book Review, Split This Rock, A Gathering of the Tribes, and DC Pride Poems. He co-hosts Los Bookis Podcast and founded Tintas DC.
Adrian Gaston Garcia (aka AGG) is a queer Latine storyteller whose mission is to share narratives that build and nourish community. Originally from Chicago and now rooted in Washington, D.C. for the past 14 years, Adrian draws inspiration from theater, spoken word, and the intersectionality of his lived experience. His work is a love letter to his younger self, an ode to femininity, softness, and survival and a shout out to all the queer brown boys who choose joy as their form of resistance.
Adrian’s poetry and performances have been featured at the American Poetry Museum, BloomBars DC, Busboys and Poets, the DC Latino Book Festival, DC Pride Poems, DiVerse Gaithersburg, Dupont Underground, Homo Stanzas, The Nail Salon, Our Space Experience, World Poetry Festival, and Vocales Verticales.
His recent work includes co-directing and performing in Jotería: Our Untold Stories at Arena Stage during DC Latinx Pride and WorldPride 2025. He also served as creative co-director for Noche de Jotería: Variety Show and as executive producer and co-director of Oye DC. In 2024, he collaborated with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company to debut new work about grief, legacy, and healing after the passing of his father.
His poems have been published in Latino Book Review, Split This Rock, A Gathering of the Tribes, and DC Pride Poems. He was a featured poet at the District of Pride Showcase hosted by the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs in 2023 and 2025, and a storyteller for Story District’s Out/Spoken Pride special in 2023.
He is the co-host and producer of Los Bookis Podcast, a podcast for queer Latine bookworms, and the founder of Tintas DC, a writers group centering Latine voices in the DMV. He is a graduate of the Spanish Sin Pena Academy, a 2023 202Creates resident, and currently serves as the 2025 Pride Poet in Residence at the Arts Club of Washington.
WHO IS AGG?
Jayla
Rose
Hart
Jayla Rose is a Harlem born, Las Vegas bred, D.C. based writer and poet.
Jayla honors her experiences as a Black lesbian through writing that explores freedom dreaming, historical truth telling, and radical healing. Her poems have appeared in V Mag, Virginia Literary Review, America’s Future: Poetry and Prose in Response to Tomorrow, and the edited volume, After Emancipation.
WHO IS JAYLA?
Jennifer
Jantzen
WHO IS JENNIFER?
Jennifer Jantzen is a writer and educational professional based in Washington, DC.
She co-hosts a biweekly poetry workshop in the District for poets of all experience levels, which just held its first showcase performance in August of 2025. Her poetry has appeared in All Existing Magazine, Alexandria Quarterly, Sublunary Review, and manywor(l)ds. One of her poems was recently nominated for the 2025 Best of the Net Anthology by its publisher, The Disappointed Housewife. When not working, she dreams of dogs and performs with her band, Girls on Toast. You can find her work @stone.fruuit on Instagram.
Ángel
Lagunas
(Amoré L. Pachuco)
Amoré L. Pachuco is a Latine writer from Houston adopted by DC.
Their writings are a reflection of immigration, and familial struggles with the intent to move the people into the streets. They are an organizer for tenant and migrant rights such as Stomp Out Slumlords and Movimiento Migrante DC.
WHO IS ANGEL?
Jessica
Manack
Jessica Manack holds degrees from Hollins University and serves on the editorial teams of Rust Belt Magazine and the Pittsburgh Review of Books, and as poetry reader for TriQuarterly.
Her recent work explores her family of origin, the melting pot of America in general and northern Appalachia in particular, and the challenges and joys of girlhood, womanhood and motherhood. Her writing has appeared widely in anthologies and journals, and her poetry collection Gastromythology was published in 2024 by Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, as the winner of their First Chapbook Contest. http://www.jessicamanack.com
WHO IS JESSICA?
Chloe
Yelena
Miller
Chloe Yelena Miller is the author of Perforated (2026) and Viable (2021), both published by Lily Poetry Review Books. Along with Shasta Grant, she co-founded Brown Bag Lit, an online writing community.
She is currently working on an illustrated manuscript about breasts and breast cancer with her mother, Melabee M. Miller, a visual artist. Chloe writes and teaches writing in Washington, D.C.
WHO IS CHLOE?
Samuel
Miranda
Samuel "Sami" Miranda grew up in the South Bronx and resides in Washington, DC.
He is a visual artist, poet, filmmaker and high school teacher. He is the author of Protection from Erasure, published by Jaded Ibis Press, Departure, a chapbook published by Central Square Press, and We Is, published by Zozobra Publishing and his book Rewarding the Unhurried is forthcoming from Flowersong Press.
He is currently working on collaborative projects with musicians, visual artists and filmmakers. He has performed his poetry and facilitated poetry workshops throughout the US, St. Maarten, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Madrid. Films he co-produced and co-directed, "Hiding Place", "Desert Poems", “Jesus” and"Spanish Joe Remembers" have been included in film festivals in DC, Berlin, the Netherlands, Madrid, Houston, Bethesda, Seattle and Milwaukee.
Sami Miranda also manages programming for the American Poetry Museum and serves as its Executive Director.
WHO IS SAMI?
Carlota
Roby
WHO IS CARLOTA?
Carlota Roby is a human rights attorney graduated from Harvard Law School and co-founder of the Vocales Verticales project.
She is also a poet and a cat lover. Originally from Venezuela, she resides in Washington D.C. She has published the poetry collections 'Las Manos de los Muertos' (2013); 'Suburban Tales' (2019); and 'Lilith' (2024). Her poems also appear in the anthology 'Acaso esta atrocidad es el centro de todo' (2015) and in the magazines DAFY and Ámsterdam Sur." Her book "Lilith" is now available. Published by the Chilean publishing house Editorial Tintapujo, in both English and Spanish.
Isabella
Salcedo
Isabella Salcedo (she/her) is a poet, oral historian, and educator from Central Virginia.
She writes with a sense of urgency and determination for life after experiencing a school shooting in college. Through her poetry, she hopes to understand her histories, her capacity for empathy and gratitude, her people and places she calls home. Isabella has been published in UVAToday, Zaum, Cafe MFA, and VMag.
WHO IS ISABELLA?
Susan
Scheid
SUSAN SCHEID is the author of True Blue, published October 2025.
Her first book, After Enchantment, was inspired by beloved fairy tale characters. Susan honed her craft while working for many years as a Legal Secretary. She was inspired by her father reading poems to her at bedtime and stories of him reading poetry to the other wounded soldiers in the medical hospital during WWII. Susan’s poetry has appeared most recently in Paddock Review, The Southern Quill, Blue Heron Review, The Mid-Atlantic Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, and Burgeon Press as well as other literary journals. Her work is included in the anthologies, Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic, Enchantment of the Ordinary, Poetic Art, and the forthcoming Turning Poetry into Food. Susan served for a number of years as the Board co-chair for Split This Rock. She lives in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington, DC.
WHO IS SUSAN?
Nestor
Torres
Nestor Torres is a strategic communications professional with experience in diplomacy, institutional communication management, and voice-over acting.
He blends analysis, storytelling, and reputation management across various sectors. His work is distinguished by its regional perspective, accuracy, and creativity, enhanced by his poetic inclinations and ongoing interest in Guatemala and its sociopolitical landscape.
WHO IS NESTOR?
Burgi
Zenhaeusern
Burgi Zenhaeusern is the author of White Door (Carbonation Press, 2025) and the chapbook Behind Normalcy (CityLit Press, 2020), winner of the Harriss Poetry Prize.
Her work appeared, among others, in Diagram, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Sugar House Review, Little Patuxent Review, Seneca Review, and as broadside (runner-up of the Ashland Poetry Press Broadside Contest 2023). Originally from Switzerland, she lives on Piscataway and Nacotchtank land outside D.C. in Maryland.
