Pushcart Prize-nominated poet Rich Ferguson has shared the stage with Patti Smith, Wanda Coleman, Moby, and other esteemed poets and musicians. Ferguson was selected by the National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc. (NBPF), to serve as the U.S. Beat Poet Laureate (2023-24) and the State of California Beat Poet Laureate (Sept. 2020 to Sept. 2022). He is a featured performer in the film, What About Me? featuring Michael Stipe, Michael Franti, k.d. lang, and others. His poetry and award-winning spoken-word music videos have appeared in numerous anthologies and festivals, and he was a winner in Opium Magazine’s Literary Death Match, L.A. He is the author of the poetry collections 8th& Agony (Punk Hostage Press), Everything Is Radiant Between the Hates (Moon Tide Press), and the novel New Jersey Me (Rare Bird Books). Ferguson is the lead editor of an anthology of CA poets entitled Beat Not Beat (Moon Tide Press).