LitHop 2026 Reader Bios

Alberto Saldaña Uribe (He/Him): Alberto Saldaña Uribe is a high school dropout, a college graduate, and holds an MFA from Fresno State. His work can be found in Flies, Cockroaches, & Poets, The Roadrunner Review, Variant Literature, Slippery Elm, and Chariot Press. Instagram: @titioso98. Family Folklore (3:00-3:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Alex Mendez (She/They): Alex Mendez is from the East Side of San Jose and a graduate of CSU Monterey Bay. They’ve taken inspiration from a wide variety of authors and poets throughout the years but have always really admired and felt called to the work of the late Andrea Gibson. Although they’ve performed in slams and open mics in the past, they’ve been out of the scene for the last decade. They’re here to step back in and share a space with a talented group of artists. Instagram: @_toytle. Black Freighter Press: The Docks (12:00-12:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Alex Taylor (He/Him): Alex Taylor is a photographer and poet living in Fresno, California. He earned an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute and previously studied and worked in journalism and broadcasting. He currently teaches photography at Clovis Community College. The Grotesque Ordinary (3:00-3:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Alexander Ayers (He/Him): Alexander Ayers is a born and raised Central Valley denizen who has worked and traveled through a lost handful of identities and has returned to the Valley to raise a family. His writing orbits labor, environmental grief and domesticity. As he describes himself: human yo-yo, hyphen-enthusiast, and ordinariest-seaman. Rimes & Rhizomes: written ecologies in between worlds (1:00-1:45 PM: Bookish)

Alexandria Bibler (She/Her): Alex Bibler is a senior at California State University, Fresno, studying as a Creative Writing major. She has read her poetry at LitHop a few years ago, and one of her poems was published in Clovis Community College’s creative arts journal, Folio. She has also presented at the UCMLA conference this spring, and was an editor for this year's Spectrum journal. This semester, she’s delved into the poetically mystical, and analytical world of the lyric essay, where she’s developed a newfound relationship with words and their meaning—how, oftentimes, they are ironic and yet so deeply connected. In the future, she hopes to broaden her writing career, and challenge herself with new genre types as she works her way to becoming a professor! Wordplay (4:00-4:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Alexandria "BlaqLeo Goddess" Benn (She/Her): Alexandria a.k.a. BlaqLeo Goddess is a mother, activist & poet who uses her life experiences & art to speak towards the issues she is passionate about. She Who Speaks: A Black Woman’s Cypher (1:00-1:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Alexis Jaimes (He/Him): Alexis Jaimes is a poet and educator from Santa Ana, California. As the proud son of Mexican immigrants, his work explores the intersections of cultural memory, language, generational trauma, and healing. He is the author of The Seeds We Sow (Daxson Publishing, 2026) and Corazón Coalesced (Bottlecap Press, 2024). His work has appeared in numerous presses as well as showcased at the Fullerton Museum Center and the Huntington Beach Art Center. He teaches in a dual-language classroom, believing in the power of language in all its forms. Alexis can also be found hosting or attending open mics throughout Orange County. Instagram: @letrasbyalex. Poetry, Protest, and Resistance (12:00-12:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Together We Rise (1:00-1:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Alie Jones (She/Her): Alie Jones is a writer, artist, and Creole mermaid raised in Fresno. She is the author of Saltwater Moonshine, a poetry collection that honors her matrilineal Creole heritage through poetry, music, and reflections of love. Alie is passionate about centering our breath work as sacred and hopes to build a legacy of awareness and expression. She is the Director and Co-founder of Black Freighter Press, a revolutionary press committed to the exploration of liberation. Alie is the host of the podcast called Chit Chat with Aliecat, exploring self-care practices & journeys of self-love. She received her MPA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies as well as a MFA from Mills College in Creative Writing. Instagram: @aliejjones. Black Freighter Press: The Docks (12:00-12:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Alison Mandaville (She/Her): Alison Mandaville grew up in Portland, Oregon, Turkey, Massachusetts and Yemen. Her prose, poetry, and translations have appeared or are forthcoming in swamp pink, Redivider, Terrain, Four Way Review, Diagram, Magma, World Literature Today, and elsewhere. A past Fulbright scholar, she has received grants from UNESCO and the Open Society Foundation for her work with women writers and artists in Azerbaijan. She is a professor at Fresno State where she teaches comics, writing, and literary civics. She is currently at work on a collection of environmental lyrical essays anchored in the Pacific Northwest. Flash Resistance (3:00-3:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Allison Botello-Nieto (She/Her): Allison Botello-Nieto is a Mexican American writer, poet, artist, and educator born and raised in the Central Valley. She teaches visual and performing arts at Dunlap Elementary and is a passionate advocate for arts education and creative expression. Her writing and art was recently published in the Chicanx Writers & Artists Associations 26th volume of Flies, Cockroaches and Poets Journal. Her work explores identity, culture, family and the everyday moments that shape who we are. Instagram: @my_silent_miles. A Third More Hopeful Thing (2:00-2:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Allyssa Gaines (She/Her): Allyssa Gaines is a writer from Clovis, California. She found her love of writing through the horror genre. She began with writing fiction stories, but has began writing about her life and real-world events through a horror lens in nonfiction. She has a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Fresno State. When she is not writing horror stories or essays, she is contributing to the online horror blog Morbidly Beautiful. Instagram: @allysaanimal. The Grotesque Ordinary (3:00-3:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Amanda Chiado (She/They): Amanda Chiado won the 2026 Press 53 Poetry Award for her prose poetry collection Today I Wear the Bear Head. Her poem, "My Great-grandmother Had the Face of a Beast," was chosen by Diane Seuss for the Best Microfiction 2026. Her poetry and fiction have been published in DMQ Review, The Account, Southeast Review, RHINO, and others. She lives in Hollister, California, with her husband, son, daughter, and mother. Read more of her work at www.amandachiado.com.

Chiaroschuro in Contemporary Poetry (2:00-2:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Amelia Holguin (She/Her): Amelia Holguin (she/her) is in her last year of Fresno State's Master of Fine Arts Poetry program. She is affiliated with the YTT Northern Chumash tribe of California and identifies as both Chicana and Native American. She was a reader for Fresno 2024 Rogue Fest the 2025 UCLMA conference, and is published in the 2026 edition of Flies, Cockroaches, and Poets Literary Journal. Mythmaking: Unearthed & Reinvented (2:00-2:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Andrea Aliseda (She/Her): Andrea Aliseda is a multi-hyphenate writer, multi-disciplinary artist, and cook based in Los Angeles, CA. Her debut plant-based Mexican cookbook, Make it Plant-Based! Mexican, was listed as part of the best cookbooks of spring 2025 by Bon Appétit and Epicurious, and is available everywhere books are sold. Her work has been featured by De Los, LA Times, Epicurious, The Kitchn, Bon Appetit, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. In February of 2026, Aliseda starred and co-wrote her first short film shot on super 8 with director Pauline Chatelan, titled Te Amo, based on her poetry project, Te Amo. This fall 2026 her debut poetry chapbook titled, By the Candlelight, a gothic collection that delves into the darkness of depression and the triumph of love and self-discovery, is set to publish. Instagram: @adrea_aliseda. broke poets collective showcase (12:00-12:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Andrew Lackey (He/Him): Andrew Lackey is a recent Fresno State finance graduate, musician, and emerging poet. Drawing from the intentionality of jazz improvisation and the self-expression of electronic music, he approaches poetry as an extension of his broader creative practice, as a space to experiment with multimedia forms and offer readers a distinct experience. Growing up in the Central Valley, Andrew has cultivated a deep love for the natural world, diverse community, and the art that grows from both. As a writer, he hopes to craft pieces that elevate each reader’s unique human experience and bring clarity to the present moment. Wordplay (4:00-4:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Andy Marin Contreras (She/Her): Andy Marin Contreras is a poet based in Fresno County. Andy likes to explore womanhood, religion, and depression through her poetry and non-fiction essays. In her free time, she loves to feed stray cats, watch movies, and weight-lift. Her work has appeared in the Apricot Press, Flies, Cockroaches & Poets, and The San Joaquin Review. Family Folklore (3:00-3:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Angela Chaidez Vincent (She/Her): Angela Chaidez Vincent has a background of livelihoods in engineering, mathematics, and programming. Her debut poetry collection ARENA GLOW (Tourane Poetry Press, 2024) features poems about women with a daredevil oblique. She is Associate Editor of Scrub Jay Press and a poetry reviewer for #100smallpress. Her work has appeared in the Oxford Review of Books, North American Review, 32 Poems, among others. Angela lives and writes in Fresno, California. Bluesky: @angelacv.bsky.social. Instagram: @acvwriter. Dueling Poets: Riffs and Reverberations (2:00-2:45 P: Teazer World Tea Market); OneiRomantics (4:00-4:45 PM: Bookish)

Antonia Cardinale (She/They): Antonia is a Bay Area-born and Fresno-raised writer, editor, and artist. They are in their final year of Fresno State’s MFA program. Her fiction work is primarily young adult focused, with motifs of challenging religious and cultural expectations, LGBTQ+ celebration, self acceptance, and family ties. She was recently published in Flies, Cockroaches, and Poets’ 26th volume. https://antoniacardinale.carrd.co/. Instagram: @ant.ton.nia. Great Migrations: Love Letter to Latinx Adolescence (1:00-1:45 PM: CellPros Tower District); Beyond the Manosphere (2:00-2:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Anya Connely-Howland (She/Her): Anya Connelly-Howland teaches English Composition at Reedley Community College. As a second-year creative nonfiction student, Anya’s writing centers on survival, millennial identity, and the complexities of coming of age in Tulare County. Anya’s work has been published in The Calaveras Station and most recently in The Open Journal Of Arts And Letters. A Circle of Seers: Women who survived childhood without Caller ID (3:00-3:45 PM: Bookish)

Armen Bacon (She/Her): Armen Bacon’s books include Griefand: An Intimate Portrait of Love, Loss, and Unlikely Friendship (2012), My Name is Armen: A Life in Column Inches (2014), and My Name is Armen: Outside the Lines (2016). Her newest body of work, Daring to Breathe: Stories of Living with the Foreverness of Grief (2025) examines the long-term impact of grief and is an anthology of 28 diverse voices each sharing their unique journey. Her essays have appeared in Maria Shriver’s Architects of Change, Entropy, Brevity Blog, Tulip Tree Review, Streetlight Magazine, and The Fresno Bee. Facebook: Armen D. Bacon. Instagram: @ArmenBacon. Memoir in Motion (12:00-12:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Arthur Kayzakian (He/Him): Arthur Kayzakian is the finalist for the 2024 Kate Tufts Award, and the winner of the 2021 inaugural Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings (Black Lawrence Press, 2023), which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry.He is the recipient of the 2023 creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a founding member and serves as the Poetry Chair for the International Armenian Literary Alliance (IALA). His work has appeared in several publications, including The Adroit Journal, Chicago Review, Cincinnati Review, The Southern Review, among other journals. Instagram: @arthurkayzakian. Chiaroschuro in Contemporary Poetry (2:00-2:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Betty Harbison (She/Her): A proud graduate of the University of Southern California, she holds a B.A. in English and an M.S.Ed. in Education, along with certifications in Gifted and Talented Education and English Language Learning. A dedicated educator and mentor, she has guided students to national recognition, including publication awards and admission to universities such as Harvard University, Princeton University, and Yale University. She is also a singer, writer, painter, and lifelong advocate for education, culture, and service. Currently, she is a professed Catholic Religious with the Sisters of Social Service in Los Angeles. Instagram: @sr.bettys. What We Carry: Navigating Grief Through Poetry (12:00-12:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Humor, Wit, and Satire (3:00-3:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Bill Simmons (He/Him): Bill Simmons, B. A. in English/Philosophy from Fresno State, with a focus on reading and writing poetry. Lived in Carroll, Iowa. Read at local Colleges, DMACC, and started a writing group with the instructors and conducted a writing group at the local library. Now lives in Fresno, California with his wife Chris and has started another poetry group. His works have appeared in Trajectory, Jesuit Review, California Quarterly, Miramar, Evening Street Review, Abandoned Mine Journal, The Healing Muse and others. Gillis Library Cluster (12:00-12:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Blanca Nino (She/Her): Blanca Nino is a Latina writer from California, currently pursuing her Ph.D. in physics. In her free time, Blanca enjoys reading, coffee, contemplating and petting stray cats. Her writing explores the intersection of trauma, mental illness, and body horror with themes of grief and intimacy. Instagram: @high.strungwords. The Grotesque Ordinary (3:00-3:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Blu Torres (They/Them): Blu Torres is a queer, non-binary mixed artist, and writer, from Fresno, CA. Their work offers a place for visual art and poetry to meet with a distinct style. They focus on creating platforms within their communities to help uplift smaller artists who are trying to find their way by focusing on collaborative work, community events, and publications. Their poetry is a reflection of them navigating internal conflicts and the uncertainties of our current political climate, through their unique perspective. Website: https://www.60sblu.com. Instagram: @60sblu. We, The Rancid Tree (2:00-2:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Brad Balukjian (He/Him): Brad Balukjian never grew up, and that’s just fine. He is a biologist and writer who may be the world’s only professional wrestling author/entomologist. His first book, The Wax Pack, was an NPR Best Book of the Year, and he has written for The Atlantic, The Ringer, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, and many others. He is currently the president and publisher of Natural History magazine and lives in San Francisco. Website: thebradpack.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradpackbooks. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.balukjian/. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-balukjian-5293364/. Oddly Curious: How Unexpected Curiosities Enliven Writers' Work (2:00-2:45 PM: Bookish)

Brenda "Morita" Mora (They/Them): Morita is an artist and cultural strategist rooted in the responsibilities we have to care for each other outside, inside, and in community. They are proud to be a fat, queer, nonbinary, and disabled community-engaged artist, shaped by a decade of care work and mutual aid centering dignity and justice for rural San Joaquin Valley communities. Morita has been a contributing author for Our Work is Everywhere: An Illustrated Oral History of Queer & Trans Resistance (Syan Rose), a part of the Poetry Foundation x Crescendo Literary's Poetry Incubator for community-engaged poets in Chicago, and an Arte Americas Cultural Arts Fellow. Instagram: @teoriajoteria. We, The Rancid Tree (2:00-2:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Brenna Womer (She/They): Brenna Womer is a neurodivergent prose writer, poet, editor, and artist. She is an Assistant Professor of English at California State University, Fresno, where she teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing program. She also teaches at the prisons in nearby Chowchilla. She’s the author of the full-length, mixed-genre collections Unbrained (FlowerSong Press, 2023) and Honeypot (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019) as well as the chapbooks Atypical Cells of Undetermined Significance (C&R Press, 2018), cost of living (Finishing Line Press, 2022), and Dear Mom (petrichor editions, 2026). Her work has appeared in Blackbird, North American Review, Indiana Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Pinch, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. Website: brennawomer.com. Flash Resistance (3:00-3:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing); The Four Horticulturalists of the Apocalypse (4:00-4:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Bridgit Clancy: Bridgit Clancy is a hilarious playwright of "The History of Pants", a clothing designer and friends with surviving Merry Pranksters. San Francisco On the Road Writers (12:00-12:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Brisa (She/Her): Frequent vender during ArtHop with other ArtMart community vendors in Fresno. Proud Oxacan and artist and humorous, often recognized for the yarn mushroom hat worn out and about. Enjoys helping out and getting involved and sticking out for real friends. Instagram: @thewalkingmushroom. In order of readers (4:00-4:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

C. G. Hanzlicek (He/Him): C. G. Hanzlicek was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, in 1942. He is the author of nine books of poetry: Living in It, Stars (winner of the 1977 Devins Award for Poetry), Calling the Dead, A Dozen for Leah, When There Are No Secrets, Mahler: Poems and Etchings, Against Dreaming, The Cave: Selected and New Poems, and, most recently, The Lives of Birds. Flight (2:00-2:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Celeste Jones (She/Her): Celeste Jones (She/Her) is a small-town escapee turned writer and multimedia artist. Raised in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, her writing reflects on the rural landscapes of her upbringing while exploring queer identity, memory, and belonging. Celeste is currently pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing at Fresno State. You can find more of her work on Instagram, @Celeste_Jonez. Rimes & Rhizomes: written ecologies in between worlds (1:00-1:45 PM: Bookish); Mythmaking: Unearthed & Reinvented (2:00-2:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Charles Hensley (He/Him): Charles Hensley is a fifth-generation Californian who lives a life metastatic. A published poet, he has worked in healthcare from the kitchen to the emergency room to become an internationally published healthcare management engineer and certified quality professional. In his youth, he performed with the Chanteymen trio at the Hungry i, the Troubadour, Icehouse, and as a second act for the Smothers Brothers at UC Berkeley. Earth, Water, Air, and Fire (3:00-3:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Charlie Getter (He/Him): Charlie Getter is a famous San Francisco poet and has hosted the 16th and Mission Poetry Reading at BART Plaza for over twenty years. His latest book is Why?....Explained. San Francisco On the Road Writers (12:00-12:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Chelsea Jones (They/Them): Chelsea Jones is a multimedia artist and musician from Kingsburg, CA. They hold an MFA in Digital Arts And New Media from UC Santa Cruz and a BA in French Horn Performance with a Minor in Electronic Music. Chelsea's work focuses on community media: you can find them blabbing on the airwaves at KFCF, or scribbling local news articles. They recently completed a documentary with the 2026 Empowered Voices Fellowship at Fresno's Community Media Access Collaborative (CMAC). Their work has been published in Noctua Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Abridged Magazine, and others. Instagram: @cheldawg. Autonomous Wonder: Reflective Prose, Poetry and Essays of Interpersonal Healing and Exploration (4:00-4:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Cherice Cameron (She/They): Cherice is a native Idahoan, a mother, grandmother, writer, artist, and musician whose creative spirit thrives on exploration and discovery. Her travels around the world have instilled a deep appreciation for natural beauty. The solace of nature serves as a sanctuary and source of inspiration. Her book of poetry, Gamut Eclectic & Mundane: Life Perspectives, is an eclectic collection of poems and her first foray into published poetry. She currently lives in Moscow, Idaho, and teaches music in both high school and middle school. Instagram: @chericecameronpoet. Poetry, Protest, and Resistance (12:00-12:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Writing Ourselves Into the World (2:00-2:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Clara Ximena Roque-Wagner (She/They): Clara Ximena Roque-Wagner is a multimedia artist and writer who grew up in the Bay Area. She earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2021 and has had her work featured in the school’s Transfer Magazine. Clara is the author of the poetry collection The Day the Flowers Bloomed (2024), which reflects her continued dedication to poetic storytelling. Her creative practice explores how words can dance on the page, building narratives where pain, joy, and heartbreak open space for reflection and imagination. Her poetry often engages land-based learning as a way of reconnecting to self, heritage, and collective healing. Other published works include "La Receta Del Mole" in Sad Girl Diaries and her zine Cafe con Leche. Instagram: @titaximenaa. Together We Rise (1:00-1:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Writing Across Cultures (3:00-3:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Corrinne Clegg Hales (She/Her): Corrinne Clegg Hales’ most recent book is, To Make it Right, winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize. Her poems appear in many journals and anthologies, and awards include two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Richard Snyder Memorial Publication Prize, the Devil's Millhopper Chapbook Prize and the River Styx Poetry Prize. She coordinated the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Fresno State for many years. Facebook: @CorrinneHales. Instagram: @corrinnech. Flight (2:00-2:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery); Dueling Poets: Riffs and Reverberations (2:00-2:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Cristina Sandoval (She/Her): Cristina Sandoval is a proud Chicana from Modesto, CA. She has her MFA in poetry from Fresno State, and currently works as an educator in Modesto. Her work has been featured in Penumbra, Artifact Nouveau, Dystopian Dance Party, Exist(ir), and The Talon Review. You can find her two books of poetry, Moon Ride and We Need Bad Bitches, on Amazon. We Need Bad Bitches is also on sale at Bookish Modesto. In her free time, she is a proud auntie unable to resist spoiling her nieces and nephew. She is also an art enthusiast. Instagram: @poetchill. Family Folklore (3:00-3:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Danielle Potter (She/Her): Danielle Potter is a teacher and writer from California's Central Valley. An alumna of Fresno State, she has been published in Io Literary Journal, Wingless Dreamer Publisher, Meridian, Blue Earth Review, and most recently, Thin Air Magazine. When she's not writing, it's probably because her cat, Sushi, is on the keyboard, demanding attention. Narrow Escapes (3:00-3:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Deborah Mechele Bento (She/Her): Deborah Mechele Bento is a California-based writer, realtor, and MFA student in creative writing. Her work has appeared in HAIS: A Literary Journal, The San Joaquin Review, and The Collegian. She has read at the Rogue Festival as part of #FresnoWritersLive and at LitHop. Deborah writes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction exploring love, grief, embodiment, family, and place in California’s Central Valley. Inspired by travel, old bookstores, and independent coffee shops, she strives to create authentic work that deeply resonates with readers. Instagram: @purpledebwrites. TikTok: @RealtorPurpleDeb. A Circle of Seers: Women who survived childhood without Caller ID (3:00-3:45 PM: Bookish)

Destiny Delgado Gonzales (They/Them): Destiny Delgado Gonzales is an artist who creates work about the complexity of the human experience. They are a studying anthropologist concerned with poverty, pain, addiction, and the ways resilience occurs within oppressive systems. As such, they write with a mindfulness that reality can be cruel, as much as it is beautiful. We, The Rancid Tree (2:00-2:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Devoya Mayo (She/Her): Devoya Mayo is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural curator, and community organizer whose work in arts and culture, wellness and civic engagement spans more than two decades. Known for her warmth, grounded presence, and intuitive ability to bring people together, she blends storytelling, music, memory work, and civic engagement to create spaces where people feel seen and supported. Devoya's background in community radio programming has helped shape several collaborative projects that continue to uplift local voices. A proud Central Valley native, Devoya’s practice is rooted in lineage, creative reuse, and community ritual to build spaces where community can thrive. Instagram: @devoya. Sharpen Your Verbs (1:00-1:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Eduardo Martinez-Leyva (He/Him): Eduardo Martínez-Leyva was born in El Paso, TX, to Mexican immigrants. He is the author of Cowboy Park, which was published by the University of Wisconsin Press, which was the winner of the 2024 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, an award for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters, a Lambda Literary Award, and the 2026 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. He teaches and resides in Los Angeles, California. Brown and Proud: LGBTQ Poets Writing in Troubling Times (1:00-1:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Elizabeth Svoboda (She/Her): Elizabeth Svoboda is an award-winning science writer and contributor to Scientific American, the Boston Globe, Discover, Psychology Today, Aeon and the New York Times. Her work has appeared in the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology, and she is the author of What Makes a Hero?: The Surprising Science of Selflessness. Her most recent book, from Simon & Schuster, is The Art of Pacing — a scientific and contemplative look at how to pace ourselves in different domains of life. Website: https://www.elizabethsvoboda.com. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/svobodster. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.svoboda. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethsvoboda. Oddly Curious: How Unexpected Curiosities Enliven Writers' Work (2:00-2:45 PM: Bookish); Where I Belong: How personal geography informs writing across genres (4:00-4:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Ellie Celina Labampa (She/Her): Ellie Celine Labampa is a Filipino-American poet who resides in the Bay Area, California. She contemplates the Filipino diaspora through her poetry while also spinning tales about growing up feeling like an outsider, and her obsession with pop culture. Her writing skills are better than her juggling skills, but ask her to juggle and she’ll do it. Her debut BuliLit chapbook, Depressed in Dealer’s Hall was released via Sampaguitas Press in December 2025. Instagram: @laceituplove. broke poets collective showcase (12:00-12:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Ely Lupe (She/Her): Ely Lupe is the first-born daughter of two Mexican immigrants. She was born and raised in Southeast Los Angeles, attended New York University, and acquired a Dual Master’s degree in Educational Theatre and English Education. She has acted on stage, written, directed, and produced theater, and recently had a play put on at Frida Kahlo Theater’s 10 Minute Play Festival. Her poem, "Long Beach Beach," was published in the anthology, Long Beach Spits Fire. She is currently living the dream, teaching theater to high school students. Instagram: @elylupe_. Mental Health, Trauma, and the Power of Poetry (1:00-1:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Writing Across Cultures (3:00-3:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Emerald Medrano (He/Him): Emerald Hope Medrano is a writer in the Creative Writing MFA program at Fresno State. He received his B.A in Creative Writing with a minor in Commercial Music from the University of Texas at El Paso. Emerald's dream life is one full of good books, sunsets & funky rocks, planned adventure, and fashion. When he isn't writing, you can find him dancing to Taylor Swift music or searching for frogs/4-leaf clovers in the grass. Instagram: @lightheartedcruller. Rimes & Rhizomes: written ecologies in between worlds (1:00-1:45 PM: Bookish)

Erica Castro (She/Her): Erica Castro is a Xicana English high school teacher who has taught for twenty-nine years. She has dedicated herself to publishing student work. She published the Oracle school anthology, and she has recently launched Daxson Publishing to publish marginalized voices. She published two books, Creating Peace through the Grieving Process and The Pain Left Behind Surviving a Suicide Loss. Instagram: @daxsonpublishing. Instagram: @ericalopez74. What We Carry: Navigating Grief Through Poetry (12:00-12:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Writing Ourselves Into the World (2:00-2:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Gavriel Gómez (They/Them/Ze/Hir): I’m a weird poet and prose-et who writes equally weird poetry and prose. The Sierra Nevada Foothills are in my bones, a score of a life grown in a house haunted by sickness with family haunted by history flows with my blood, and I am in your walls. I’ve noticed you're reading more lately. Proud of you, buddy! In 2024, five of my poems were published in Clovis Community College’s magazine Folio, and I started CCC’s monthly Open Mic Poetry Readings the same year. Gillis Library Cluster (12:00-12:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Gina Sandí-Díaz (She/Her): Gina Sandí-Díaz, PhD. is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Fresno State, specializing in Latine and Latin American Theatre, Acting, and Directing. Her most recent productions at Fresno State include Fade by Tanya Saracho, The Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarías, Sanctuary City by Martyna Mayok, Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus, and Electricidad by Luis Alfaro. Her co-authored book, Directing Intersectionally: Rethinking Theatre Directing Practices for the 21st Century, will be published by Routledge this fall. Instagram: @gina_greenlotus. A Third More Hopeful Thing (2:00-2:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Haley White (She/They): Haley White is a multi-hyphenate artist and professional juggler of too many things. By day, she co-runs Duende Creative House, a boutique agency that assists social good enterprises with soulful marketing. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College and is the creator of the S'Will series, an annual drunk Shakespeare production put on by The Fools Collaborative. Haley's storytelling is marked by strength cutting through vulnerability, profundity in the simplest stories, and social stewardship through the deeply personal. Like most writers, she spends much of her time finding ways to avoid writing. Facebook: @thejunkyardqueen. Instagram: @thejunkyardqueen. A Third More Hopeful Thing (2:00-2:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Hannah Sutton (She/Her): Hannah Sutton is a Fresno-born and -raised writer. She is in her third and final year of Fresno State’s MFA program. Her writing explores themes of psychological horror and the dangerous beauty of nature, as well as many issues within feminism, including the monstrous feminine, women’s agency, and the reclaiming of not just power but desire. She’s currently interested in fairytales, gothic whimsy, and the joy of weirdness. Beyond the Manosphere (2:00-2:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Hope Cerna (She/Her): Hope Cerna is a San Fernando Valley native and an alumni of Cal State Northridge. Writing since childhood she hopes to create a space for readers to breathe, relax and dream in her writing. Her work has been published in anthologies and in online literary magazines like The Clayjar Review and HaikuCrush. Her first full collection of poetry, A Sentimental Garden, was published in 2025 by Daxson publishing. When she is not writing she can be found rolling dough and frosting cakes. Instagram: @hope_cerna. What We Carry: Navigating Grief Through Poetry (12:00-12:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Together We Rise (1:00-1:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Indigo Terán (They/Them): Indigo Terán is probably a writer and sometimes a zine maker based in a fictional town called Fresno, CA. Their writing focuses on the queerness of identity and nature. The Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Nevada are two landscapes which inform and define their storytelling. Indigo is the author of the self-published the zine Frazno!, a literary exploration of the spirit of Fresno, CA through poetry, prose, and recipes, since the summer of 2022. They are currently pursuing a MFA in Creative Writing at Fresno State. Instagram: @frazno.zine. Rimes & Rhizomes: written ecologies in between worlds (1:00-1:45 PM: Bookish)

Iris De Anda (She/Her): Iris De Anda is a Guanaca Taparía poet & musician who has been featured internationally. Author of Codeswitch: Fires from Mi Corazon, Roots of Redemption: You have No Right to remain Silent, Loose Poems: B-Sides poetry & songs. Now celebrating her new book Paint the White House RED! Instagram: @lawriterunderground. Chillin' at the Park (1:00-1:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Ivy Tong (She/Her): Ivy is a writer and artist who loves storytelling through any medium she can get her hands on. Her work frequently centers Asian American characters, drawing inspirations from visual art, fantastical folklore, and historical vignettes. Currently, all her favorite projects have sprinkles of magical realism and heaps of ritzy 20th-century costumes. Beyond the Manosphere (2:00-2:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Mythmaking: Unearthed & Reinvented (2:00-2:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Jack Chavoor (He/Him): After a 33 year career as a high school teacher, Jack Chavoor went back to college and earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. He likes frozen yogurt, traveling, reading, writing and making playlists. He and Grace enjoy grocery shopping, thrift stores, and helping each other figure out long, complicated TV series with too many characters and plot twists. They love their kids and grandkids. Narrow Escapes (3:00-3:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Jackie Ryle (She/Her): Jackie Ryle is a visual and assemblage artist, an emerging drummer, and a student of writing and poetry. She and constant companion Baby Yoda attend as many arts related activities as they can get to and have deep appreciation especially for Fresno’s stellar literary talent! Earth, Water, Air, and Fire (3:00-3:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Jacob Byron Selway (He/Him): Jacob Selway is an undergraduate at Fresno State University majoring in English studies. He grew up in Fresno and credits California -- more specifically the Central Valley -- for his love of nature and community. He has been published by The San Joaquin Review, and his poem "Under More Full Moons," which won the 2026 Larry Levis Prize for undergraduates and The Mireyda Barraza Martinez Prize for Social Justice Writing, appears on Poets.org. His writing reflects an attempt at being the most authentic version of himself and coming to appreciate the beauty of the world that we live in. Wordplay (4:00-4:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Jake Terán (He/Him): Jake Terán is currently teaching composition across several college departments, with a focus on Indigenous and Chicanx literature. He is also an advocate for social justice, self-care, and embracing the identities and lived experiences of others. Jake lives in the San Gabriel Valley, where he continues to develop creative projects rooted in his upbringing in the barrio. His work often reflects on themes such as gang life, drugs, violence, and the search for identity within a complex and often chaotic urban landscape. Through both teaching and writing, he explores how storytelling can foster understanding, healing, and personal transformation. Instagram: @nopal_cafe. Together We Rise (1:00-1:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Beyond Masculinity: Poetry and Vulnerability (1:00-1:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

James Cagney (He/Him): Oakland born poet James Cagney, is the award winning author of three books of poetry, including MARTIAN The Saint of Loneliness. His latest, Ghetto Koans: A Personal Archive is now available from Black Lawrence Press. Please visit JamesCagneyPoet.com for more information. Instagram: @real_james_cagney. Black Freighter Press: The Docks (12:00-12:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

James Morrison (He/Him): James T. Morrison is a nonfiction writer and visual artist whose work takes a variety of forms, from the lyric essay to single-panel comics. His essays, visual poems, and book reviews have appeared in the literary journals River Teeth, Fugue, and Diode, as well as national outlets like Slate. He resides in California’s Central Valley, where he serves as the nonfiction editor of The Normal School. He holds an MFA from California State University Fresno. Of Monsters, Monarchs, and other Muses (12:00-12:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Jamie Maxwell (She/Her): Jamie Maxwell is a Los Angeles-based writer and spoken word poet whose work gives voice to resilience, transformation, and the hidden strength found in survival. Her debut collection, Kintsugi, is a manifestation of recovery, weaving poetry that speaks to the broader human struggles of foster care, addiction, and domestic violence. These experiences, often marked by silence and stigma, become in her work a place of honesty, reflection, and renewal. Instagram: @kintsugi.prose. Mental Health, Trauma, and the Power of Poetry (1:00-1:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Writing Ourselves Into the World (2:00-2:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Jazelle Marie (She/Her): Jazelle Marie is a multi-dimensional creatrix. A conscious mama, poet, holistic practitioner, activist and community member rooted in Fresno. Her work, Flowatree, is a reclamation driven by vulnerability, authenticity, and the voice of her once-silenced inner child. She Who Speaks: A Black Woman’s Cypher (1:00-1:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Jeffery Martin (He/Him): Jeffery Martin is the author of 13 books and contributor to 7 poetry anthologies. His first book Weapon of Choice won best book of poetry in 2008 New Jersey Beach Book Festival. Several of his books have received "honorable mention" in various book contests. Having recently collaborated on a film script, he plans to submit it to various contests. In November 2019, he interviewed professor/activist Noam Chomsky and from that wrote a book of poetry entitled: Muse Moments: Poetry Inspired by Noam Chomsky. Mr. Martin also has a podcast called Write a Way Podcast, where he and his guests discuss writing, the arts and life experiences. He is currently interviewing poets and graffiti artists in hopes of creating a documentary highlighting the power of art and poetry. He resides in California, but considers himself a citizen of the world. Instagram: @jefferythapoet. Poetry, Protest, and Resistance (12:00-12:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Beyond Masculinity: Poetry and Vulnerability (1:00-1:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Jenny Qi (She/Her): Jenny Qi is a cross-genre writer and artist with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science. Her debut poetry collection Focal Point won the 2020 Steel Toe Books Award, and her work is published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. She has received honors and support from organizations such as Tin House, the San Francisco Writers Grotto, and the California Center for Cultural Innovation. She is working on a hybrid collection and a memoir in conversation with her late mother’s accounts of the Cultural Revolution and life in Las Vegas. Instagram: https://instagram.com/jenqiii. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenny.y.qi/. Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jennyqi.bsky.social. The Revolutionary Power of Rage: Asian Women Poets Reclaim Anger (12:00-12:45 PM: Bookish); Oddly Curious: How Unexpected Curiosities Enliven Writers' Work (2:00-2:45 PM: Bookish)

Jesse Wolfe (He/Him): Jesse Wolfe is a poet, scholar, and English Professor at CSU Stanislaus, where he has taught since 2006. His debut poetry chapbook, En Route, was published in 2020 by Cathexis Northwest Press, who will also publish his new volume, Breathe Again: A Polyphony, in 2026. He is the author of two scholarly books about modernist literature and the history of intimacy. He is currently working on a third scholarly book about African American modernism and ideas of progress. The Ties That Bind (4:00-4:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Jessica Johnson (She/Her): Jessica E. Johnson is the author of the book-length poem Metabolics (Acre Poetry Series), the chapbook In Absolutes We Seek Each Other (New Michigan Press), and the memoir Mettlework (Acre Books). Her work has appeared in journals including The Paris Review, The New Republic, River Teeth, DIAGRAM, Annulet Poetics, Volt, The Common, and Off Assignment. She co-hosts the Constellation Reading Series in Portland, Oregon. Of Monsters, Monarchs, and other Muses (12:00-12:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Joe Clifford (He/Him): Joe Clifford is a celebrated crime writer whose memoir Junkie Love was described as one of the four best recovery memoirs written in the 21st Century. He has also written The Skeleton Theory and the Jay Porter mystery series. San Francisco On the Road Writers (12:00-12:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

John Hales (He/Him): John Hales is the author of Shooting Polaris: A Personal Survey in the American West (University of Missouri Press), and his essays have appeared in the Georgia Review, Creative Nonfiction, Fourth Genre, Southern Review, Ascent, and Hudson Review. Awards include the Missouri Review Editors Prize in Nonfiction, and a Pushcart Prize. John has taught at Fresno State for a really long time, most recently in the MFA program. Flight (2:00-2:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Jose Hernandez Dias (He/Him): Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020), Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024), The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025), Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man (Red Hen Press, 2025), and the forthcoming The Lighthouse Tattoo (Acre Books, 2026). He has been publisehd in the Best American Poetry, the Best Microfiction and the Best American Nonrequired Reading. He has taught creative writing at the University of California at Riverside, and at the University of Tennessee where he was the Poet in Residence. Instagram: @jose_hdz_dz. Chiaroschuro in Contemporary Poetry (2:00-2:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Joseph Donohoe (He/Him): Joe Donohoe is a former cab driver, Registered Nurse specializing in AIDS care, publisher and journalist who has just published his taxi memoir Get in the Cab. In 2012, he was the recipient of the Kathy Acker Award for Avant Garde Publishing. His cultural anthology is Speciousspecies. Website: www.speciousspecies.net. San Francisco On the Road Writers (12:00-12:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Juan Luis Guzmán (He/Him): Juan Luis Guzmán is a poet, professor, and literary/performing arts director who earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Fresno State University. He has completed fellowships from Macondo Writers Workshop, CantoMundo, The California Arts Council, and his work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Huizache, PANK, and The Rumpus, among other journals. Guzman is the vice chairman of the Selma Arts Council and served as director of LitHop from 2017-2019. He is the receipient of the Fresno Arts Council Horizon Award. The former co-director for CantoMundo, Guzmán is a professor of English at Fresno City College. Instagram: @juan_luis711. Brown and Proud: LGBTQ Poets Writing in Troubling Times (1:00-1:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Kaylynn Holt (She/Her): Kaylynn Holt is a second-year MFA Fiction Student at Fresno State whose works touch on many themes such as religion, intersectional feminism, economic systems, gender, and sexuality within fantasy type settings. In her free time she enjoys reading fantasy, sketching, rewatching One Piece or Adventure Time for the millionth time, and filling her folder up with new ideas for future stories. Beyond the Manosphere (2:00-2:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Kwamise "LadyK" Fletcher (She/Her): Kwamise “LadyK” Fletcher is a nationally ranked spoken word artist, ranked #6 in the U.S. for slam poetry. She is the 2025 Grand Slam Champion with LoudMouth Poetry Slam and a BreakBox Thought Collective Artist-in-Residence Fellow. Known for her powerful, emotionally layered performances, LadyK blends personal narrative, social commentary, and spiritual reflection to create work that resonates deeply with diverse audiences. She is also the author of multiple self-published chapbooks and the creator of transformative workshops centered on identity, healing, and voice. LinkTree: https://tr.ee/cLlPIgpIx_ https://tr.ee/WCrIJZRKs4. She Who Speaks: A Black Woman’s Cypher (1:00-1:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Kyle Doria (He/Him): Kyle Doria is a Filipino American poet and public school educator. Born and raised in Chula Vista CA, he now lives and works in Gilroy. Poetry chapbook to be released via Sampaguita Press in 2026. Instagram: @kcdoria. broke poets collective showcase (12:00-12:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Leila Farjami (She/Her): Leila Farjami is an Iranian-American poet and psychotherapist. She is the author of Daughter of Salt (Trio House Press, 2026), an Editor’s Selection. She has received The Iowa Review Award in Poetry and The Cincinnati Review’s Robert and Adele Schiff Award, and is a fellow of PEN America’s Emerging Voices program. A multiple Pushcart nominee, her poems appear in Ploughshares, AGNI, The Iowa Review, Copper Nickel, The Missouri Review, and Pleiades, among others. She lives in Los Angeles. Instagram @Leila_Poetry. Website: http://leilafarjami.com. Trio House Press Quartet (3:00-3:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Leslie Kay Quintana (She/Her): Leslie Kay Quintana, under the pen name lkq, is a queer Chicana poet from Fresno. She is a second year MFA poetry student at Fresno State. Her work highlights the ways in which grief shapes generational relationships. She spends much of her time searching for the whimsical in daily life through poetry, a good fantasy book, & living the life with her two cats & partner. You can find her on Instagram @lkqwrites. Instagram: @lkqwrites. Mythmaking: Unearthed & Reinvented (2:00-2:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Linda Scheller (She/Her): Linda Scheller is a founding board member and current vice president of Modesto-Stanislaus (MoSt) Poetry Center. Her poetry, plays, and book reviews appear in Colorado Review, Slipstream, Notre Dame Review, Plays, Wisconsin Review, Terrain, and elsewhere. She is the author of four books of poetry: Fierce Light, published by FutureCycle Press; Wind & Children, published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company; Laurels, forthcoming from Prickly Pear Publishing; and The Ghosts of 16 Larkin Street, selected by Ariel Francisco for the Hilary Tham Capital Collection and forthcoming from The Word Works. The Ties That Bind (4:00-4:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Linnea Alexander (She/Her): After retiring as a professor of English at California State University, Fresno, Linnea Alexander entered Fresno State’s MFA program to focus on her writing. She is a member of Hearts on Fire Rock and Roll Choir and The Tower District Preservation Association. Her memoir, The River of Mercy, is available at all major retailers. Narrow Escapes (3:00-3:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Lisa Montagne (She/Her): Lisa Montagne, Ed.D. is a writer, editor, artist, college professor, and online learning specialist from Southern California. Her poetry, fiction and essays have been published by Running Wild Press, LA Art News, and various magazines. She published Robot Lover in November 2024. Instagram: @lisamlore. Writing Ourselves Into the World (2:00-2:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Humor, Wit, and Satire (3:00-3:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Louise Kantro (She/Her): Louise Kantro, retired high school English teacher and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for foster children, has published poetry and prose in such journals as The Chariton Review, SLAB, South Loop Review, Glimpse, Trajectory Journal, Arlijo, The Willow Review, Cloudbank, Oasis, Monterey Poetry Review as well as anthologies Lifting the Curtain on Education; More Than Soil, More than Sky; and several Tallgrass, Choeofpleirn, and Caesura collections. Pudding House published her first poetry chapbook, Dwellingplaces, and Finishing Line Press her second, A Wild Ride. The Ties That Bind (4:00-4:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

M. K. Sullivan (They/Them): M.K. Sullivan is a queer, disabled poet who writes about grief, trauma, alienation, and how we can come together to care for one another. Based in Southern California but raised in the Southeastern U.S., their writing is rooted in a disability justice politic to elevate biting critiques of ableism and patriarchy. Instagram: @littlelibrapoems. What We Carry: Navigating Grief Through Poetry (12:00-12:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Mental Health, Trauma, and the Power of Poetry (1:00-1:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

maestro gamin (He/Him): Maestro be writing near cats, grass, and karaoke...but in cars and bars too. He'd like to shout out Hiram Sim's library fortress, The Renaissance Family, His mother's new hip, The Taylor Bridge between Cypress Park and Frogtown, and his ever loving gas tank. Instagram: @kingtrade_maestro. Chillin' at the Park (1:00-1:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Mai Der Vang (She/Her): Mai Der Vang is the author of Primordial (Graywolf Press, 2025), Yellow Rain (Graywolf Press, 2021), and Afterland (Graywolf Press, 2017). Her honors include the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, an American Book Award, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, the First Book Award from the Academy of American Poets, among others. The recipient of a Guggenheim and Lannan Literary Fellowship, she teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Fresno State and recently served as the Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University. The Four Horticulturalists of the Apocalypse (4:00-4:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Mai-Linh Hong (She/Her): Mai-Linh Hong is a Vietnamese American refugee poet and scholar. Her debut poetry collection, Continental Drift, won the 2025 Trio Award and will be published by Trio House Press in 2026. Poems appear or are forthcoming in Copper Nickel, Waxwing, Minnesota Review, Wildness, and elsewhere. She is coauthor and coeditor of The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide to Mask Making, Radical Care, and Radical Justice (University of California Press, 2021). Raised in Virginia, she now lives in California's Central Valley and teaches literature at UC Merced. Instagram: @continentaldrift_poems. Bluesky: @FleursduMai. Trio House Press Quartet (3:00-3:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Margarita Engle (She/Her): Margarita Engle is the Cuban-American author of verse memoirs such as Enchanted Air, which received the Pura Belpré Award, picture books such as Drum Dream Girl and Dancing Hands, and verse novels, including Wild Dreamers, a Pura Belpré Honor Book that was also long listed for the National Book Award. Margarita was born in Los Angeles, but developed a deep attachment to her mother’s homeland during childhood summers with relatives on the island. She studied agronomy and botany along with creative writing, and now lives in central California with her entomologist husband and soccer playing Border Collie. www.margaritaengle.com. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margarita.engle. X: https://x.com/margaritapoet. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/engle.margarita/. Great Migrations: Love Letter to Latinx Adolescence (1:00-1:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Mateo Perez Lara (They/Them): Mateo Perez Lara is a queer, non-binary, Latine poet from California. They received their M.F.A. in Poetry from Randolph College’s Creative Writing Program. They are an editor for Block Chronicles and a Communications Specialist for Nectar Digital Collaborative. They have a chapbook, Glitter Gods, published with Thirty West Publishing House. Their poems have been published in EOAGH, The Maine Review, PANK, and elsewhere. Instagram: @teoflirtswithhorror. Brown and Proud: LGBTQ Poets Writing in Troubling Times (1:00-1:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Maw Shein Win (She/Her): Maw Shein Win's latest full-length poetry collection is Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn) which was shortlisted for the 2025 Northern California Book Award in Poetry. Her full-length collection Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn) was longlisted for the PEN America 2021 Open Book Award and shortlisted for the Golden Poppy Award for Poetry. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, the recipient of the 2026 George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature, and the 2025 Berkeley Poetry Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. She teaches poetry at USF, Dominican University, and Saint Mary’s College. mawsheinwin.com. The Revolutionary Power of Rage: Asian Women Poets Reclaim Anger (12:00-12:45 PM: Bookish)

Megan Anderson Bohigian (She/Her): Megan Bohigian is the author of poetry collections, Sightlines and Vanishing Point. Her poems are anthologized in the book Shadowed, Unheard Voices, and published in journals including The Comstock Review, Whiskey Island Magazine, and In the Grove. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Fresno State, and has taught prose and poetry writing in the Fresno area. She was the City of Fresno Poet Laureate from 2021-2023. Email: meganbohigianpoet@wix.net. Flight (2:00-2:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Melinda Madeiros (She/Her): Melinda Medeiros is a writer, wife, mother (of three humans and five cats), native of the San Joaquin Valley, granddaughter of immigrants, and adjunct English professor at Clovis College and CSU Fresno. She earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction with an emphasis in publishing and editing from CSU Fresno, where she served as president of the San Joaquin Literary Association, Senior Editor at The Normal School, and a Teaching Associate. She has written for The Odyssey Online, and has multiple pieces published in hais: a literary journal and the Reedley College journal Symmetry. OneiRomantics (4:00-4:45 PM: Bookish)

Melineh Ani Yemenidjian (She/Her): Melineh Ani Yemenidjian is a Pushcart Prize–nominated writer for The Armenian Weekly and the author of The Split Pomegranate, her debut poetic memoir. Her work appears in Jewel City Review, HyeBred Magazine, and ILL Anthology Vol. 3. Bright As Life: Southern California Poets. Her poem “Equ-I-pose” was exhibited at the Huntington Beach Art Center. She is a member of the International Armenian Literary Alliance and a Student of the Year honoree with the Community Literature Initiative’s Long Beach chapter. Melineh is currently developing her first novel and second manuscript of poetry. Instagram: @melinehauthor. Mental Health, Trauma, and the Power of Poetry (1:00-1:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore); Writing Across Cultures (3:00-3:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Michael Cantu (He/Him): Michael Cantu, from Reedley, California, is a recipient of an MFA from CSU Fresno in the heart of California’s Central Valley. His writing explores the difficulty of life and the understanding of one’s self. His work has appeared in: HAIS: a literary journal, Flies, Cockroaches, & Poets, Kaleidoscope Literary Magazine, and Rising Phoenix Review. He is a winner of the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize. When not creating, he works as an English teacher helping underserved youth find their voices. He is supported in art by his loving wife, daughter, and extended family, all long time inhabitants of the California Central Valley. Family Folklore (3:00-3:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Michael Maldonado (He/Him): Michael Maldonado is a Mexican writer and punk from Fresno County. His work blends gonzo lyricism, satire, and fragmented reflection to explore contemporary anxieties, alienation, and absurdity in everyday American life. The Grotesque Ordinary (3:00-3:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Michele McConnell (She/They): Michele McConnell is an Assistant Professor of English and writes in the moments between teaching and lazing in the hammock. She has published in peer-reviewed journals on issues related to critical literacies at the Border and collaborative writing practices. She lives and works in Fresno. Flash Resistance (3:00-3:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Michelle Patton (She/Her): Michelle Patton received an MFA in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno. She won the Ernesto Trejo Award for poetry in 2003 and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Rattle, The Atlanta Review, Southern Poetry Review, Calyx, Zyzzyva, Prairie Schooner, Cutbank, and others. She teaches English at Fresno City College. Instagram: @Ros_Arden. Dueling Poets: Riffs and Reverberations (2:00-2:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Michelle Morgante Del Rio (She/Her): Michelle Morgante Del Rio is a native of Lindsay whose works often explore her search for identity and belonging. A longtime journalist, Michelle spent years working for global media companies across the U.S. and Latin America. Last year, Michelle was a fellow in the PEN America Emerging Voices workshop. She is finalizing her first novel, a speculative dystopian-fantasy story that imagines a world after Mexico won the 1848 war against the U.S. She earned her B.A. in political science at UC Santa Barbara and she'll complete her MFA in creative writing at the University of Texas, El Paso in December. Instagram: @michelle.morgante. Sharpen Your Verbs (1:00-1:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Mike Bonifer (He/Him): Mike Bonifer is a storyteller and poet and a founding producer of The Disney Channel and a leading practitioner of Quantum Storytelling, an emerging field exploring how stories form in networks, influence behavior, and shape the future. He has taught storytelling for companies worldwide and at institutions including USC, University of Notre Dame, NYU, UC Irvine, New Mexico State University, Cal State Fullerton, and the Los Angeles Community College system. He has written six books including The Art of Tron and GameChangers, along with poetry collections and scholarly articles. He continues creating films, poetry, and stories about shared human connection. Instagram: @mikebonifer. Beyond Masculinity: Poetry and Vulnerability (1:00-1:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness); Humor, Wit, and Satire (3:00-3:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Monica Arreola-Camacho (She/Her): Monica is a Multimedia Artist whose writing style is reflective essays of what it’s like to live with a mental health disorder. Instagram: @lavida_mony. Autonomous Wonder: Reflective Prose, Poetry and Essays of Interpersonal Healing and Exploration (4:00-4:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

NeFesha Ruth Y'israel (She/Her): NeFesha is an arts professional and advocate with a belief in the transformative and healing power of the arts. Currently, serving as the Director of Programs for CA for the Arts, NeFesha has worked as an Arts Administrator and Community Organizer in Philadelphia, PA, before moving to Fresno, CA. NeFesha’s experience in nonprofit and creative community development led her to consult with Fresno- based nonprofit organizations such as Another Level Training Academy, and she served as the executive director at the African American Historical and Cultural Museum of the San Joaquin Valley. NeFesha serves as the Chapter President of the Fresno (CA) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated and is a performing and visual artists curating culture to preserve and celebrate African American heritage and folk traditions. Additionally, she participated in the Museum Professionals Seminar with the Studio Museum in Harlem, further honing her skills and expanding her perspective on art and museum practices. NeFesha earned her B.A. in Fashion Design and Merchandising from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her M.A. in Urban Studies from Eastern University, where she is currently advancing her scholarly pursuits as a Ph.D. student in Organizational Leadership. She Who Speaks: A Black Woman’s Cypher (1:00-1:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Nikolai Garcia (He/Him): Nikolai Garcia is the son of Mexican immigrants and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. His poems have been published in Huizache, Mobile Data Mag, Razorcake, Latino Book Review and various other journals and anthologies. His second chapbook, All the Sad Music, was published by DSTL Arts (2025). He is cohost, (with Mauricio Moreno), of Trenches Full of Poets, an open mic in Long Beach. Instagram: @hellokommie. Chillin' at the Park (1:00-1:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Norman Antonio Zelaya (He/Him): Norman Antonio Zelaya was born and raised in San Francisco, CA. He has published stories in ZYZZYVA, NY Tyrant, 14 Hills, Cipactli, Apogee Journal, among others, and he was a 2015 Zoetrope: All-Story finalist. He is a founding member of Los Delicados, and has performed extensively throughout the US with them. Zelaya has appeared on stage, in film and in the squared circle as luchador, Super Pulga. Currently, he lives and works in San Francisco's Mission District as a special education teacher. Orlando & Other Stories is his first published book. Instagram: @zelayan2022. Black Freighter Press: The Docks (12:00-12:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Ozzy Cortez (She/They): Ozzy Cortez is an artist inspired by the tenderness and brutality of nature. Through their art, they explore cycles of growth, grief, transformation, and renewal, drawing wisdom from the natural world and applying it to the human experience. Working closely with children has deepened their connection to their inner child, allowing them to create from a place that is both whimsical and honest. Their work exists between fantasy and reality, softness and survival, inviting others to reflect on the ways we continue to grow through every season of life. We, The Rancid Tree (2:00-2:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Paul E. Pierce (He/Him): Paul E. Pierce, born in San Francisco, was moved to Fresno when he was three months old. He is Darrow’s dad, and Patience’s Husband. At times he’s done farm work, washed dishes, built things, sold stuff, been a teacher of both young and old people; been a city planner, a planning commissioner, managed and led people; worked as a leader on both sides of labor-management; negotiated contracts, facilitated small and large group processes; and baked great bread. In the third phase of life, Paul still works some, plays more, is learning a lot, and writes poetry and short fiction. Earth, Water, Air, and Fire (3:00-3:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Peter Lechuga (He/Him): Peter Lechuga is an incendiary wordsmith, organizer, Pushcart Prize nominee, PlantBasedgod, and Karaoke King who speaks stories of the Xicano experience which touch on topics of love, grief, and resistance. He is a founder and editor of the quarterly literary journal, the ILL Poetry and Art Anthology, by Curious Publishing. Peter’s work has been shared on college campuses, libraries, museums, city halls and has been published in various literary journals, anthologies, and ‘zines. He is the author of the poetry collection, Myth Opportunities, and co-author of the collab chapbook, Billionaires for Breakfast. When not molotoving the mic, he can be found hiking in the mountains, spitting freestyles. Instagram: @handsomeherbivore. Beyond Masculinity: Poetry and Vulnerability (1:00-1:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness); Humor, Wit, and Satire (3:00-3:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Preeti Vangani (She/Her): Preeti Vangani is a poet & writer exploring loss, sex and family relationships. She is the author of the poetry collections, Mother Tongue Apologize (2019) and Fifty Mothers (River River Books, 2026). Her work has appeared in AGNI, Georgia Review, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, among other places. Her honors include a PEN/Dau Short Story Prize and a Steinbeck fellowship. She has been supported by UCross, Djerassi, Ragdale, San Francisco Arts Commission and YBCA. She holds an MFA from University of San Francisco and teaches in the program. Based in San Francisco, Preeti grew up in Bombay, India. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/preeti.vangani. X: https://x.com/Pscripturient. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preetivangani/. The Revolutionary Power of Rage: Asian Women Poets Reclaim Anger (12:00-12:45 PM: Bookish); Where I Belong: How personal geography informs writing across genres (4:00-4:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Raúl Rivera (He/Him): Raúl Rivera is the proud son of immigrant parents from Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. He is a Fresno State grad student in the MFA fiction program. He writes predominately horror fiction and poetry, focusing on Latino and trans themes in his work. Wordplay (4:00-4:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

René Rodríguez-Astacio (He/Him): René M. Rodríguez-Astacio was born and raised in Humacao, Puerto Rico. A professor of secondary English Education at Fresno State and storyteller, his work, writing, and interests are fueled by his experiences and identity as a bilingual queer Puerto Rican. He is an avid reader, amateur cuentista, and die-hard fanatic of young adult and children’s literature. He also writes in his spare time about fantastic worlds, Puerto Rican queer teens, cuentos, and the occasional spur-of-the-moment poem. A nerd at heart, you can always find him hanging out at bookstores, record shops, and theme parks. Great Migrations: Love Letter to Latinx Adolescence (1:00-1:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Renee Gilmore (She/Her): Renee Gilmore is the author of Wayfinding: A Memoir (Trio House Press, 2025). She is a multi-genre writer, essayist, and poet. Through her writing and lived experience, Renee proves that resilience can be practiced both by accident and by intention. She is a first-generation college graduate, holds degrees from the University of New Mexico and Hamline University, and identifies as a person with a disability. Her work has appeared in many literary journals, including Writer’s Digest. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband, Steven, and works in corporate learning and development. Instagram @reneethewriter. Facebook: @renee.gilmore.writer. Threads: @reneethewriter. Website: www.reneethewriter.com. Memoir in Motion (12:00-12:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Rhoni Blankenhorn (She/Her): Rhoni Blankenhorn’s poems have appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Slowdown, Adroit, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins, and elsewhere. Her work has received support from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Storyknife Writers Retreat. Rhoni’s debut, Rooms for Dead and the Not Yet won the Trio Award, and was published by Trio House Press last summer. Website: www.rhoniblankenhorn.com. Instagram: @rhonierika. X: @rhonierika. Trio House Press Quartet (3:00-3:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Rooja Mohassessy (She/Her): Rooja Mohassessy is an Iranian-born poet and educator. She is a MacDowell Fellow and an MFA graduate of Pacific University, Oregon. Her ekphrastic debut collection When Your Sky Runs Into Mine was the winner of the 22nd Annual Elixir Poetry Award. Rooja and her work have been featured on NPR, The Hive Poetry Collective, and The Slowdown. Her poems and reviews have appeared in Narrative Magazine, Nimrod, Southern Humanities Review, The Adroit Journal, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Rooja is a poetry editor at CALYX Journal and a member of the Sierra Poetry Festival’s Programming Committee. She also leads ongoing, eight-week online workshops focused on critique and generative writing. To join or learn more, visit the contact page on her website. Website: https://www.roojamohassessy.com/. Instagram: @roojamohassessy. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roojamohassessy. Chiaroschuro in Contemporary Poetry (2:00-2:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Rowena Leong Singer (She/Her): Rowena Leong Singer is an award-winning Chinese-Filipino writer and editor whose work appears in The New York Times, North American Review, Black Warrior Review, Narrative, and elsewhere. She is the grand prize winner in literary fiction for the Book Pipeline Unpublished Contest and a semifinalist for the Books Like Us First Novel Contest by Simon & Schuster and for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship Contest. She received her MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, where she was awarded the Barry Hannah Merit Scholarship in Fiction. She is an associate editor at CRAFT Literary, a director of Rooted & Written, and a member of The Writers Grotto. Website: https://www.rowenaleongsinger.com/. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowenaleongsinger/. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rowena.singer. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowenaleongsinger/. Oddly Curious: How Unexpected Curiosities Enliven Writers' Work (2:00-2:45 PM: Bookish); Where I Belong: How personal geography informs writing across genres (4:00-4:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Sabina Khan-Ibarra (She/Her): Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun American writer based in Northern California. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is a member of The Writers Grotto. She serves as Director of Rooted & Written, a tuition-free fellowship supporting writers from underrepresented communities. Her work explores language, inheritance, and the complexities of being othered in America, and has appeared in Anomaly Literary, SWWIM, and Rising Phoenix. She has received fellowships from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and VONA. She is currently working on a poetry collection, What My Mouth Inherited, and a novel, The Poppy Flower. Instagram: @sabinaki_writes. The Revolutionary Power of Rage: Asian Women Poets Reclaim Anger (12:00-12:45 PM: Bookish); Where I Belong: How personal geography informs writing across genres (4:00-4:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Salvador Mendoza (He/They): First generation child of immigrants and amateur queer non-binary poet that uses writing as a medium for the exploration of emotion and self discovery. Instagram: @thesalmonbulldozer. In order of readers (4:00-4:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Samantha Tetangco (She/Her): Samantha Tetangco is a Filipino-American writer and author of the poetry collection Hope You Blend In: Studies in Color & Light (Broadstone Books 2024). A multi-genre writer, her poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, most notably in The Sun, North American Review, Tri-Quarterly, Puerto del Sol, and Cimarron Review. She is an Associate Teaching Professor in Writing Studies at the University of California Merced. Instagram: @SamTetangco. Sharpen Your Verbs (1:00-1:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

sami h. tripp (they'm): sami h. tripp is a hyphenate who is constantly in awe of the ways science and magic braid together. Their chapbook, Sister Cities, was a finalist in the 2025 Alta California Chapbook Prize. Their poems have homes in Huizache, Bramble LitMag, and elsewhere. They are privileged to be learning, creating, and communing with Yokuts land. Bluesky: @sayerofsooth. Instagram: @sayerofsooth. OneiRomantics (4:00-4:45 PM: Bookish)

Samina Najmi (She/Her): Samina Najmi teaches multiethnic US literature at California State University, Fresno. Her memoir-in-essays, Sing Me a Circle: Love, Loss, and a Home in Time, won the Aurora Polaris Award in Creative Nonfiction and was published by Trio House Press in October 2025. It has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is featured among Poets & Writers’ five nonfiction debuts of the year, among other honors. A multigenerational migrant, Samina moved to Fresno a swift twenty years ago and has now lived here longer than she has in any other part of the globe. Facebook: @SaminaNajmi. Instagram: @samina.najmi. Website: saminanajmi.com. Memoir in Motion (12:00-12:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room); Trio House Press Quartet (3:00-3:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Sammy Herrera (She/Her): With roots from the small city of La Puente hidden somewhere in the San Gabriel Valley, Sammy is a Mexican-American educator, poet, spoken word artist, and zine queen. She has found her way back into poetry after a long hiatus, fully immersing herself in the community through open mics, workshops, and poetry slams. She writes on topics such as feminism, racism, working with children, mental health, love, and heartbreak. Sammy is more often a lover than a fighter but will tackle heavy topics with grit and grace through poetry and performances. You can find samples of her work, upcoming events, shows, and digital zines on her website prettypetitepoems.com. Instagram: @prettypetitepoems. Poetry, Protest, and Resistance (12:00-12:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen); Writing Across Cultures (3:00-3:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Sara Rayann (She/They): Sarah Rayann is a journalist in Fresno whose writing explores interpersonal and self relationships in essays and prose within the creative non-fiction style. Instagram: @sararayannx. Autonomous Wonder: Reflective Prose, Poetry and Essays of Interpersonal Healing and Exploration (4:00-4:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Sara Wainscott (She/Her): Sara Wainscott is the author of Insecurity System (Persea, 2020), winner of the Lexi Rudtnitsky First Book Prize, and The Star Cabins (Rescue Press, 2026). She is the recipient of a fellowship from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, a Newcity “Lit 50” honoree for Chicago literary influencers, and the former co-curator of the Wit Rabbit Reading Series. She lives in Chicago. Of Monsters, Monarchs, and other Muses (12:00-12:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery)

Seemah Umat (She/They): Author, Poet, Singer, Coffee Lover, 30, Femme, Cat Mom, Community Organizer, Event Planner, Scholar and the baddest exploitive you’ve ever met. Instagram: @freethesudanipeople. Autonomous Wonder: Reflective Prose, Poetry and Essays of Interpersonal Healing and Exploration (4:00-4:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Shaena Reyes (She/Her): Shaena is a queer, Filipina, Fronteriza, poet. She writes to make sense of inner worlds and to sprinkle whimsy in outer realities. Living in the Bay Area and the Rio Grande Valley - distant regions that feel like two sides of the same coin - Shaena’s current writing explores how landscape and community create Home. Her first poetry collection, Softness Softness in Despair, will be published this year with Sampaguita Press. Instagram: @shaena.mae. broke poets collective showcase (12:00-12:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Sharon K. McClain (She/Her): Sharon K. McClain is a writer, yoga therapist, and medical librarian originally from the beach cities of Southern California. Her writing has appeared in LIT Magazine, Under the Sun, and Academy of American Poets. She is a graduate of the MFA program in Creative Nonfiction at California State University, Fresno. Instagram: @SharonMcclain. A Circle of Seers: Women who survived childhood without Caller ID (3:00-3:45 PM: Bookish)

Soreath Hok (She/Her): Soreath Hok is an award-winning journalist for KVPR, where she hosts the station’s daily news podcast Central Valley Daily. Her career honors include a national Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting and a fellowship with The Carter Center. With more than 20 years experience in radio, TV and digital media, Soreath is in a period of creative transition. She’s a recent graduate of Fresno State’s MFA program and is working on her first book. She writes about growing up in her family's donut shop, a cornerstone of the Cambodian refugee experience and a uniquely California story. Instagram: @soreathafranklin. Facebook: Soreath Hok. Memoir in Motion (12:00-12:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room); Sharpen Your Verbs (1:00-1:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing)

Stefan Leiva (He/Him): Stefan Leiva is a Fresno State alumni with his Masters in Creative Writing with a focus on Fiction. He is pursuing a career as a creative writing professor at the university level and a novelist specializing in queer and young adult fiction. Stefan aims to create stories that resonate with queer youth, providing safety and validation in a world that continues to threaten both every day. Stefan has publications in the 2019 and 2024 editions of The San Joaquin Review Journal. Instagram: @farmersakki. Great Migrations: Love Letter to Latinx Adolescence (1:00-1:45 PM: CellPros Tower District)

Steve Below (He/Him): Steve Below lives betwixt going to the mountains and the sea, pulled in both directions. Just as happy to sit here and write with dogs Rusty and Riley by his sides. The novel—in beta this past March—Burst of Empathy is also two-sided, exploring the nature of the human mind in an AI assisted future where minds, human and animal, can be emptied, read and rewritten. Sorta. He calls it a romp, I call it an instruction manual for kids born today. Both can be true. Keep living and find out. Gillis Library Cluster (12:00-12:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Steven Church (He/Him): Steven Church is the author of six books of nonfiction, most recently the collection of essays, I’m Just Getting to the Disturbing Part and the book-length essay, One With the Tiger. His essays have been anthologized widely, including in the recently published, Hit Repeat Until You Hate Music, The Best of Brevity, and 25 Years of Fourth Genre. His essays have been published recently in Brevity, The Notre Dame Review, and Beautiful Things. Of Monsters, Monarchs, and other Muses (12:00-12:45 PM: Spectrum Art Gallery); The Four Horticulturalists of the Apocalypse (4:00-4:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Steven Sanchez (He/Him): Steven Sanchez’s debut book, Phantom Tongue (Sundress Publications), was chosen by Mark Doty for the Rochelle Ratner Memorial Award. He is a CantoMundo Fellow, a Lambda Literary Fellow, and the inaugural winner of the Federico Garcia Lorca Poetry Prize for an emerging Latinx poet and was also awarded residencies from Tin House and the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. His poems appear in AGNI, American Poetry Review, The Missouri Review, Poet Lore, and North American Review. He lives in Fresno, California, where he completed his MFA in Creative Writing at California State University, Fresno and won the College of Arts and Humanities Outstanding Thesis Award. Brown and Proud: LGBTQ Poets Writing in Troubling Times (1:00-1:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market); Dueling Poets: Riffs and Reverberations (2:00-2:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Tere Joyce (She/Her): Tere Joyce Randolph is a stand-up comedian, writer, and former reality TV finalist best known as “Tere Joyce” from the first season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. Originally from Fresno, she began performing at 16 with Good Company Players while attending Clovis West High School. She later studied theater at Fresno City College and acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After a 40-year entertainment career, she earned a digital journalism degree from California State University, Fresno in 2025 and is currently pursuing an MFA in creative nonfiction, where humor remains her superpower. Instagram: @terejoyce. TikTok: @therealterejoyce. A Circle of Seers: Women who survived childhood without Caller ID (3:00-3:45 PM: Bookish)

Tiffany Evans (She/Her): Tiffany has a plethora of epiphanies she plucks from the space between the ripples and folds of an elastic and electrostatic dimension trapped inside her skull. Sometimes she rhymes (a lot.) Sometimes she doesn't (or not.) Come listen to the sloshy muck and mud that clogs around her feet as she wades through the quagmire of uncertainty and absurdity. Gillis Library Cluster (12:00-12:45 PM: Mi Cafesito Van Ness)

Tino Agustin De Guevara (He/Him): As a native of Santa Barbara, Tino attended Santa Barbara High School before setting off to Alaska to work as a commercial salmon fisherman. After graduating college with a degree in English, he fulfilled his dream of becoming a college teacher. He is an avid adventurer, fisherman and writer. Earth, Water, Air, and Fire (3:00-3:45 PM: Tower Yoga Lotus Room)

Tori Gesualdo (She/Her): Tori Gesualdo is an Echo Park based poet and bookseller. She published her first book of poems Smell the Smoke with Sunflower Station in 2022. New works are somehow more anarchistic, even more likely to yelled. Instagram: @styrofoamboots26. Chillin' at the Park (1:00-1:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Vanessa Espino (She/Her): Vanessa Espino is a poet and playwright who received her undergraduate education at Cal State Fullerton University. At the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival, her original play Odilia won an inaugural Hollywood Fringe Scholarship and Inkwell Playwrights Promise awards. She collaborated and premiered new dramatic work in Santa Ana, Long Beach, and Tracy CA. Currently she performs original poetry at The Grand Theatre; is a Co-Producer of Words Bubbles, an Open Mic Literary Collaborative in Tracy; and hosts live community writing streams on Twitch. She published La Otra Chika/ The Other Girl, a collection of poetry in 2025. The Ties That Bind (4:00-4:45 PM: Hart's Haven Used Bookstore)

Venita Blackburn (She/Her): Works by Venita Blackburn have appeared in the New Yorker, NY Times, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, Story Magazine, the Virginia Quarterly Review, the Paris Review, and others. Among various honors, she received the Prairie Schooner book prize for fiction, which resulted in the publication of her collected stories, Black Jesus and Other Superheroes, in 2017. Blackburn’s second collection of stories is How to Wrestle a Girl, 2021, finalist for a Lambda Literary Prize and was a NYTimes editor’s choice. Her acclaimed debut novel, Dead in Long Beach, California, is about the mania of grief, all of human history and a lesbian assassin at the end of the world. She is the founder and president of Live, Write, an organization devoted to offering free creative writing workshops for communities lacking access to professional instruction: livewriteworkshop.com. Her home town is Compton, California, and she is an Associate Professor of creative writing at California State University, Fresno. Website: venitablackburn.com/the-bio/. Flash Resistance (3:00-3:45 PM: Summer Fox Brewing); The Four Horticulturalists of the Apocalypse (4:00-4:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Vincent "Eddie the Okay" Mejia, Jr. (He/Him): Raised under the Fresno sun, Eddie’s an alien who strives to document his mind. While this often results in paintings and drawings, he experiments with writing as well. Crafting encrypted diary entries built around paranoia from death, God, and mankind. With the end result maintaining a sense of nostalgia for a time when he knew less. Instagram: @theeddieartshow. In order of readers (4:00-4:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)

Virginia Barnes (She/He/They): Virginia Barnes is based in the San Joaquin Valley. Their academic and creative work has appeared in WOC+ LIB, Flies, Cockroaches and Poets, Underground, and Round Table Literary Journal. OneiRomantics (4:00-4:45 PM: Bookish)

Wade Pierson (He/Him): Wade Pierson, born in Baltimore, MD, is a local actor, writer, poet, essayist and a member of the Diaspora Dreams: a black theatre collective in the Central Valley dedicated to celebrating Black & African stories. His debut poetry collection SOULPUNK: a tale of time in poetry will be published in November 2026. It is a memoir in fragments told through poetry, letters, essays and epics. Instagram: @wade.s_p. A Third More Hopeful Thing (2:00-2:45 PM: Broadway Parque)

Will Freeny (He/Him): Will Freeney is a dabbler in poetry and a writer of creative nonfiction, with an MA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Sacramento State University (2008) and an MFA in Creative Writing (CNF) from Fresno State University (2022). Besides writing (and reading, the prerequisite) he enjoys cycling, jogging, and hot yoga. Will practices Nichiren Buddhism (since 1985) and an innate worship of the Sun. Narrow Escapes (3:00-3:45 PM: Teazer World Tea Market)

Xyo Tompkins (He/Him): Living in Fresno for the past thee years and I've gotten fairly involved in town, such as going consistently to the No Filter Open Mic nights and ArtHop for over a year. I am a full time student earning a Bachelors in Art at Fresno State, having transferred from Fresno City College. I am very passionate about making work that is authentic in a way to evokes others to want to be authentic and seek to not wear a mask. I love sharing deep personal stories, always being honest and showing humility, and I have a fiery amount of passion. Instagram: @xyo.starlight. In order of readers (4:00-4:45 PM: Goldstein's Mortuary & Delicatessen)