Happy National Poetry Month!
You are invited to join us for our April event on Zoom on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at 2 pm ET with Susan Justiniano | RescuePoetix®, Danny Shot, and Talena Lachelle Queen.
Plus a limited open mic. Your $5 contribution keeps our annual anthology in print. Hosted by Patricia Carragon, our Brooklyn girl and Editor-in-Chief.
Please follow the directions below, completing both steps at least two days before the reading to avoid delays entering the meeting room. Note the order of the open mic follows the order of signup. Sign up early to read early in the program. Last-minute signup means you will read at the end of the program. The cutoff for Zoom access for an open mic slot is noon the day of reading. After noon, late registrants are not guaranteed Zoom access to join the open but will receive a link to watch the reading live-streamed on YouTube.
Please follow these instructions:
Step 1: Make your $5 contribution: https://bit.ly/3bkqFmO
(Note that your contribution is not refundable.)
Step 2: Register in advance for this meeting:
https://bit.ly/3hnpy8D
Step 3: After making your contribution and completing your registration, you will receive a confidential confirmation email containing your unique link to join the event.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/19434090...
Bios:
Susan Justiniano | RescuePoetix® is a self-taught bilingual poet, recording artist, and arts advocate recognized across the Northeast for her dynamic performances and community engagement. Twice honored as Poet Laureate—Jersey City’s first Puerto Rican woman laureate and New Jersey Beat Poet Laureate (2022–2024)—she is on teaching artist rosters and advisory boards nationwide. Since 2006, her brand has fused poetry with activism, producing multilingual events and recording bilingual spoken word. She serves on boards and committees advancing equity in the arts, including ArtPride NJ, In Full Color, Jersey City Writers, and The Justice Arts Coalition. Learn more: linktr.ee/rescuepoetix.
Last year (2025) was a busy year for Danny Shot with two books published: a collection of poems, The Jersey Slide in November by CavanKerry Press and his prose, collected in Night Bird Flying in February by Roadside Press. WORKS was published in 2018 by CavanKerryPress. Danny is a New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (2024-Lifetime). Danny Shot was the longtime publisher and editor of Long Shot arts and literary magazine, which he founded along with Eliot Katz in 1982 in New Brunswick, NJ. More information can be found on his website: dannyshot.com.
Talena Lachelle Queen is a poet, educator, and community leader from Paterson, New Jersey. Since 2018, she has served as the city’s first African American Poet Laureate, using poetry to elevate community voices and advance social justice. She is President and founder of Word Seed Inc., Executive Director of the Paterson Poetry Festival, and Vice President of CavanKerry Press. A doctoral candidate in Education at National University’s Sanford College of Education, her research explores poetry’s role in developing empathetic leadership. She teaches AP Seminar at College Achieve Public Schools High School and has founded initiatives including Paterson Poetry Month and the Passaic County Literary Arts Cultural Center.