Quintessential Listening: Poetry Online Radio

Mike Turner is a songwriter and poet living on the US Alabama Gulf Coast. A retired Federal law enforcement executive, Mike was named 2017 Male Gospel Entertainer of the Year by the North America Country Music Associations International, and was a featured performer at the 2021 Monroeville (AL) Literary Festival. His recordings have received radio and streaming play in the US, UK, Europe and Far East. Mike has had more than 280 poems published in over 50 literary journals and anthologies; his book, “Visions and Memories,” was published in 2021 by Sweetycat Press. When not writing, Mike and his wife Pamela Caudill explore the bays and backwaters along the Gulf Coast aboard their classic trawler yacht. Website http://www.MikeTurnerSongwriter.com Book https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mike-Turner/author/B098BK9SHZ?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Social Media https://twitter.com/schoonerskipper https://instagram.com/MikeTurnerSongwriter https://youtube.com/MikeTurnerSongwriter https://linkedin.com/in/mike-turner-54b75240

Alexander Poster is a good, grey bureaucrat who works as a historian for a labyrinthine federal agency. He lives less than one mile from the U.S. Capitol and survived a nasty case of COVID-19, none of which inspired his writing one bit. He is a fan of Cormac McCarthy, depressing music from the 80s and 90s, and, surprisingly, marine mammals. He loves his wife, even though she has expressed concern for him being a “cynical bastard.” He began writing poems later in his life and is his first chapbook. He has performed his poems at “Spit That” at the Woolly Mammoth in Washington, DC. Book: A Refuge For Those Who Like Sad Endings https://a.co/d/6MDsbIn Social Media https://facebook.com/aposter https://www.instagram.com/alex.poster/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-poster-7b7421a

Martin Graff is an artist, author, musician, and extreme-chin-beard enthusiast in Arlington, VA who crafts poetic vignettes with matching art on every topic from the stigma of liking scrapple to the meaning of life in a series called The Face Zone: Surreal Daydreams to Trip Your Imagination... Marty’s live spoken-word show adds original piano compositions from his album Trips for Piano to heighten the experience. His affecting commentary, original humor, whimsical artwork, and absorbing piano offer a uniquely engaging respite that cuts through the noise of our information-age lives with concise, essential truths certain to entertain as they set mind in motion. For a decade, Marty's act has been featured at venues across the region, including Capital Fringe Festival, Spit Dat DC's residency at The Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and multiple Busboys & Poets locations. He has been reviewed and interviewed in over thirty print and online publications, and has made radio and TV appearances in support of his three books and piano album, for which he was nominated Best Classical Artist in the 2022 DC Wammie Awards. When not performing, Marty teaches English as a Second Language, which he started in China and has continued doing throughout the Mid-Atlantic U.S., earning a 2015 Teacher of the Year nomination in Frederick, Maryland.

I was born Wavyne Diana Benskin in Trinidad and Tobago to Barbadian parents. I am a graduate of Curepe Junior Secondary and St Augustine Girls High School. A graduate of Mercy College. A recipient of Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Fellowship. A Scholarship of Community Literature Initiative California. Best Spoken Word Artiste, CHub Magazine London. Global Ambassador Divas of Color. Co host WZYEFM 95.9 in NJ. I love to karaoke. https://trinidadexpress.com/features/local/words-of-empowerment/article_f2508e1e-ffea-11ec-828c-2f0d6d93a595.html https://trinidadexpress.com/once-upon-a-pandemic/image_8de4a964-ffeb-11ec-9f8b-5bdc58c2d289.html

Ellen Thea is an award winning performance poet, drummer, dancer, and holistic counselor, utilizing tarot, astrology, crystals and energy work. Her life’s journey has taken her from New York City to South Florida to rural Alaska. She has been writing and performing almost her entire life, learning to write and starting dance at age 4 with her first audition (on Broadway) at age 5, writing, directing and performing original sketches by third grade. Growing up in the cultural wonderland of NYC in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, Ellen decided to use words and movement as both her paintbrush and medium. Ellen received a bachelor’s degree (B.S.) in Psychology with an (almost) minor degree in theatre from Union College, Schenectady, NY in 1978. Her master’s degree is from Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida 1996 in Marriage and Family Therapy with a specialization in medical family therapy. After college, Ellen moved to South Florida where she had her three children (now adults). After suffering a head injury from a vicious mugging, she heeded the counsel of a Cherokee medicine woman, who sent her to Alaska for a healing walk in 2004. She’s made her home in rural Alaska ever since. Her awards: Bitterroot Poetry Magazine Award 1986, the Douglas Freels Poetry Award 2002, the Dancing Poetry Competition 2013, and the Poetry Matters Award 2014. Her book, “On My Way To The Apocalypse” (a non-linear 55 page prose poem) was published by Dingaroo Press in 2012 (That same year Ellen became a grandmother). She’s created and performed her original works (full shows and as a featured artist) in Florida, Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Alaska. Her work (both writing and esoteric) has been featured on various radio programs. She’s also been a news reader and d.j. on the local radio station in Alaska. Ellen has also created a number of specialized curriculums and workshops for children through adult learners.