2026 NYC Poetry Festival

Anastacia-Reneé is an award-winning writer, interdisciplinary educator, multi-modal artist and former Seattle Civic Poet. She is the author of Afrofuturist-fiction-fantasy book, Here in the (Middle) of Nowhere (HarperCollins/Amistad) as well as the author of two full length books of experimental poetry: Side Notes from the Archivist (HarperCollins/Amistad), and (v.) (Black Ocean). Side Notes from the Archivist was named New York Public Library’s “Best Books of 2023,” and The American Library Associations (RUSA) “Notable Books of 2024.” Anastacia-Renee has been featured on the PBS NewsHour Brief-But-Spectacular series and Our Black Gay Diaspora Podcast a biweekly series celebrating the global Black LGBTQ+ community by profiling diverse professionals across 28 countries and 45 professions. She has received fellowships and residences from: Baldwin for the Arts, Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, VONA, The White Center, Mineral School, Ragdale, 4Culture, and The New Orleans Writers Residency. As a playwright, Anastacia-Renee has written and directed: Talking with the Lorde: A Choreopoem,Not My Size, 9 Ounces, and Queer Mama Crossroads. Her work has been anthologized and published widely.

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor is a poet & performance, artist, the author of seven collections of poetry which includes Raw Air, Night When Moon Follows, Convincing The Body, Arrival and Mama Phife Represents about the life of her son, Hip Hop Legend, Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor). Cheryl holds a master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham University & an MFA in Creative Writing from Stonecoast: The University of Southern Maine.

A VONA Fellow, she has facilitated workshops for Cave Canem,  Urban Word NYC, The Caribbean Literary and Cultural Center, Poets House, and Poets & Writers. Her poems have been published in: Prairie Schooner, Adrienne, Poetry, Killens Journal of Arts & Letters, The Mom Egg Review, and  Black Lesbians - We Are the Revolution.

Cherylboycetaylor.net

JP Howard is a poet, educator, literary activist, and community builder. Her debut poetry collection, SAY/MIRROR (The Operating System), was a Lambda Literary finalist. She is also the author of bury your love poems here (Belladonna*), Praise This Complicated Herstory: Legacy, Healing & Revolutionary Poems (Harlequin Creature) and co-editor of Sinister Wisdom Journal Black Lesbians--We Are the Revolution! JP was a featured author in Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools Program and is featured in the Lesbian Poet Trading Card Series from Headmistress Press. JP was the inaugural recipient of the Maine Writers Studio writing retreat and was a Brooklyn College Tow Mentor-in-Residence. She has received fellowships and/or grants from Cave Canem, VONA, Lambda Literary, and Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). She curates Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon. JP’s poetry is widely anthologized. Her poetry and/or essays have been featured in The New York Times, The Slowdown, The Academy of American Poets, Apogee Journal, The Feminist Wire, Split this Rock, and elsewhere. JP is a general Poetry Editor for Women's Studies Quarterly and Editor-At-Large of Mom Egg Review VOX online.

http://www.jp-howard.com