In celebration of National Poetry Month, join us for a reading by local poets Shirley Brewer, Edward Doyle-Gillespie, and Joseph Ross followed by a poetry open mic. Each featured poet will read from their latest collection. The reading limit for the open mic is 3 minutes per person. All are welcome to share original poems. Sign up for the open mic as you arrive or email [email protected].

About the Poets: 

Shirley Brewer is the author of four books of poetry, including her most recent, Wild Girls.  Her work has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and she has won prizes and Honorable Mentions for her poems from the Maryland Writers’ Association and several literary journals. Her poetry has appeared in The Cortland Review, The Comstock Review, Passager, Slant, Poetry East, Tar River Poetry, Loch Raven Review, and many other journals and anthologies.   Shirley serves as the resident poet at the Carver Center for the Arts and Technology in Baltimore County.

Edward Doyle-Gillespie is a Baltimore poet and writer.  He is the author of several books of poetry, including his most recent Father of the Red Grotto Used Bookstore.  He holds a BA in History from George Washington University, and a Master of Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University.  He has worked in the fields of education and law enforcement.

Joseph Ross is the author of five books of poetry, including his most recent Crushed & Crowned. His poems have appeared in many publications including, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Poet Lore, Drumvoices Revue and the 2022 anthology, Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience. He has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations and won the 2012 Pratt Library / Little Patuxent Review Poetry Prize for his poem “If Mamie Till Was the Mother of God.”  He currently serves on the poetry Board at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. where he teaches English and Creative Writing.