Liza Achilles is the author of “Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets” (Beltway Editions, 2024). DCTRENDING selected this sonnet sequence for its Summer Booklist 2024. Her writing has appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The Headlight Review,… Continue Reading

John Amen is the author of five collections of poetry, including “Illusion of an Overwhelm,” finalist for the 2018 Brockman-Campbell Award, and work from which was chosen as a finalist for the 2018 Dana Award. He received the 2021 Jack… Continue Reading

Indran Amirthanayagam writes and translates in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Haitian Creole. He has published 25 poetry books, including “Seer,” “The Runner’s Almanac,” “Powet Nan Po A (Poet of the Port),” “The Migrant States,” “Origami: Selected Poems of Manuel… Continue Reading

Nancy Naomi Carlson won the 2022 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize and was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award and the Sarah Maguire Translation Prize. She was longlisted twice for the National Translation Award. Author of 16 titles (11 translated), her… Continue Reading

Melanie Figg is a writer from Maryland. Her award-winning debut poetry collection, “Trace,” was named one of the 7 best indie poetry books of the year: “Figg kindles broken, dying embers into a roaring memorial for the voiceless.”(Kirkus starred review).… Continue Reading

Majda Gama is the award-winning author of “In the House of Modern Upbringing for Girls” (Wandering Aengus Press) and “The Call of Paradise” (Two Sylvia’s, 2023). Her honors include the Graybeal-Gowen award for Virginia poets from Shenandoah and the Gregory… Continue Reading

Jubi Arriola Headley (he/him) is a Black queer poet, storyteller, first-generation United Statesian and the author of two collections of poems: “Original Kink” (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2020), recipient of the 2021 Housatonic Book Award; and “Bound” (Persea Books, 2024). He’s… Continue Reading

W. Luther Jett lives in Montgomery County, Md. His poetry has been published in numerous journals and anthologies and is author of: “Not Quite: Poems Written in Search of My Father” (Finishing Line Press, 2015), “Our Situation” (Prolific Press, 2018),… Continue Reading

Holly Karapetkova is Poet Laureate Emerita of Arlington, Va., and recipient of a 2022 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship for her work with young poets. Her poetry, prose and translations have appeared widely in print and online. She is… Continue Reading

M. Nzadi Keita’s new poetry collection, “Migration Letters,” reflects on Black girlhood and working-class identity in Philadelphia following the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Keita pays tribute to writers and musicians, and explores how Black Americans journey toward joy.… Continue Reading

Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full-length collections, “Her Dark Everything; Her Whole Bright Life” (winner of the Jack McCarthy Book Prize), “Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart” and “Beautiful & Full of Monsters.” She is the Arlington County Poet Laureate… Continue Reading

Steven Leyva was born in New Orleans and raised in Houston. His poems have appeared in Smartish Pace, Scalawag, Nashville Review, jubilat, The Hopkins Review, Prairie Schooner and Best American Poetry 2020. He is a Cave Canem fellow and author… Continue Reading

Esther Lin was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and lived in the United States as an undocumented immigrant for 21 years. Her book, “Cold Thief Place,” is the winner of the 2023 Alice James Award, and she is a… Continue Reading

Gregory Luce is the author of “Signs of Small Grace,” “Drinking Weather,” “Tile” and “Riffs & Improvisations.” His poems have appeared in numerous print and online journals and in the anthologies, “Living in Storms” (Eastern Washington University Press), “Written in… Continue Reading

Chanlee Luu is a Vietnamese-Chinese American writer from Southern Virginia. She received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Hollins University and BS in Chemical Engineering from UVA. Her work can be found in Snowflake Magazine, Tint Journal, Honey Lit, The… Continue Reading

Amuchechukwu Nwafor (Amuche The Poet) is a D.C.-based writer, performance artist, host, event curator, educator and teaching artist. She is a first-generation born Black American whose poetry touches on the diaspora, sexual advocacy, mental health and the female experience. Amuche… Continue Reading

Tanya Olson lives in Silver Spring, Md. She is the author of “Boyishly,” “Stay” and “Born Backwards,” all out from YesYes Books. She has received a Discovery/Boston Review prize and an American Book Award and was been named a Lambda… Continue Reading

Alison Palmer is the author of “I Give You the Planets” (Broadstone Books, forthcoming 2025), “The Offing” (Broadstone Books, 2024), “Bargaining with the Fall” (Broadstone Books, 2023), “Everything Is Normal Here” (Broadstone Books, 2022) and “The Need for Hiding” (Dancing… Continue Reading

Joseph Ross is the author of five books of poetry. Most recently, “Crushed & Crowned” (2023), “Raising King” (2020), and “Ache” (2017). His poems appear in many publications including, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Poet Lore,… Continue Reading

Lynne Schmidt is the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, and a mental health professional with a focus in trauma and healing. They are a 2025 Maine Arts Fellow, second-place winner of the 2024 National Federation of State Poetry Societies Founders… Continue Reading

Katherine E. Young is the author of two poetry collections, Day of the Border Guards and Woman Drinking Absinthe, and editor of Written in Arlington. Her translations of Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Russian, and Ukrainian writers have received international recognition. From 2016-2018,… Continue Reading