InspiredWordNYC (http://inspiredwordnyc.com), the creator of the Queens Lit Fest, presents Queens VOICES: A Poetry & Spoken Word Experience @ Urban Vegan Roots in artsy Astoria Queens. This is an amazing and amazingly diverse phenomenon of an event celebrating Queens-based literary artists. Our mission: to create something BIG for Queens! All Ages Welcome. $12 Early Bird General Admission Tickets include a $5 food/drink ticket up to 3 days before the event. Tickets go up to $15 after that via this page and at the door. Featuring Dynamic Poets, Writers, Spoken Word Artists, Performance Artists from the largest, most diverse borough in New York City. Thursday, October 37-8pm Featured Poets/Spoken Word Artists
Melissa FadulMelissa Fadul is a poet who lived in Flushing for many years. Her poetry collection “Pulse” debuted this past fall. She has been published in a wide array of anthologies and poetry journals. In 2020, Negative Capability Press, gave her poem, Tattooist’s Needle, Jewish Museum, honorable mention in their Spring contest. Melissa holds an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College. She has been teaching for 22 years. Melissa is also a founding educator at a high school in New York where she teaches poetry, English literature & Advanced Placement Psychology. She lives in New York and can be contacted at her website: Melissafadul.com Anda TotoreanuAnda Totoreanu, from Astoria, is a Romanian-American immigrant, poet, lawyer, choral singer, and lover of all things outdoors. Her poems have been published by Poets of Queens, The Poetry Society of New York, Pandemic Poems, Gravel Literary Journal, and on The Song Is… blog. Her work has also been published in several legal and academic journals on immigration, minority rights and conflict resolution. Anda’s poetry explores love, loss, vulnerability, coming to terms with your past, living in the present, and the peace of finding yourself in nature. She received her creative writing minor from Lafayette College. You may find many of her poems at www.instagram.com/poemsbyanda/.
Laura SalvatoreLaura Salvatore is a poet and collage artist living in Sunnyside. She received her MFA at The City College of New York. Laura was a fellow for the Zip Code Memory Project, which sought to find community-based ways to memorialize the devastating losses resulting from the Coronavirus. She participated in the micro-residency Poets Afloat and is the social media coordinator work for the Poetry By the Sea conference. Her poetry can be found in Movable Type, Angel City Review, The Marbled Sigh, and The Queens Review. Tara HiteshewTara Hiteshew is a published poet and social worker living in Maspeth. She was most recently published by ALLARTS by PBS for her poem “What my Backyard Looks Like” comparing growing up in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and living in New York City during the Pandemic. Her work can also be seen in ‘Humans of the World’ for her poem “When I feel Heavy,” drawing inspiration from working at Rikers Island as a social worker. Her influences are lyrical poets like Sandra Cisneros, and Kim Addonizio who incorporate the power of storytelling and metaphor. She believes in the healing power of translating pain to art, the strength of feeling understood, and the stories that connect us. Follow her poetry journey @roserhymes