Speakers
Jennifer Dotson
Jennifer Dotson is the author of three poetry collections. Her debut, Clever Gretel, received the Journal of Modern Poetry Award and was published by Chicago Poetry Press in 2013. Late Night Talk Show Fantasy and Other Poems came out in 2020 by Kelsay Books. Her newest, The Figs Are Ripe and We Have Stories, is fresh this summer from Starboard Press. Jennifer is the founder of Highland Park Poetry.
James Green
James Green has published six chapbooks of poetry and individual poems have appeared in literary journals in Ireland, Canada, the UK, and the USA. In addition, he has co-translated a collection of poems by the Myanmar poet Maung Sein Win. He divides his time between his home in Muncie, Indiana, and Mae Hong Son, Thailand, where he serves as a volunteer education consultant for the Jesuit Refugee Service.
Gay Guard-Chamberlin
Gay Guard-Chamberlin is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and poet whose first collection of poems, Red Thread Through a Rusty Needle, was critically acclaimed. One of her 2025 poems was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Gay is one-half of Sibling Revelry along with her sister-writer Anara Guard in California. Together, they perform and lead innovative, low-stress writing workshops in Zoom rooms and in person. Learn more at her website.
Melissa Huff
Melissa Huff, a Pushcart Prize-nominated author, often explores the deep conversation between nature and humans. Her book, To Speak to Each Day in Its Own Language, was published in 2025 by Kelsay Books. An advocate of the power of poetry presented aloud, Huff twice won awards in the BlackBerry Peach Prizes for Poetry. Her work has been published in The Orchards Poetry Journal, Blue Heron Review, RockPaperPoem, and elsewhere.
Karian Markos
Karian Markos is a poet, fiction writer, and nonprofit attorney based in Elmhurst, Illinois. Her debut poetry collection, Esemplastic: Many and One (Highland Park Poetry Press, August 2024), received the 2024 Prairie State Poetry Prize and earned Honorable Mention for the 2025 Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award. Her award-winning poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Learn more at her website.
Carole Novak
Carole Novak is a member of the Illinois State Poetry Society, Poets & Patrons, and the Oak Park Writers Group. She is inspired by nature and enjoys writing haiku, flash fiction, and short stories. Her work has appeared in East on Central and The Wednesday Journal of Oak Park, as well as Poets Respond to the American Revolution: The US250 Persona Poem Project.
Donna Pecore
Donna Pecore holds a BA in poetry from Columbia College Chicago, with an MA in creative writing from UIC. She is a recipient of the Alma Stuckey Award, and Chicago Poetry published “Bindle Stick” among other publication credits. Poetry found Donna at Weeds, a Chicago venue in 1996, saving her life. She shares her passion for poetry and writing at the Budlong Woods Chicago Public Library, paying it forward.
Judy Soohoo
Judy SooHoo renewed her childhood interest in creative writing in retirement. In 2026, her work was accepted for United We Stand, Demolishing Walls, US250 Persona Poetry Anthology; in 2025, Poetry Hall, Sunflowers Rising, LitBop; The Write City Review (2023) and Play (2022). Her poetry placed in the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Prize and the Highland Park Poetry Challenge. Judy is honored to be a featured reader at various venues.
E.J. Wade
E.J. Wade is an educator and award-winning poet, author, and Pushcart Award Nominee whose work has been published in the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Women Speak, Salvation South, Callaloo, Porchlight, and Soul Forte literary journals. She holds a doctorate in education and Master of Arts degrees in Appalachian Studies and Creative Media Practice, reflecting her deep expertise in literature, culture, and educational practice.
Lorna Wood
Lorna Wood is a writer, teacher, and musician in Chicago with a Ph.D. in English from Yale. A featured poet in the erbacce-prize for Poetry, she is internationally published, has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, and has a collection, The Great Garbage Patch, on Alien Buddha Press. In addition to poetry, Wood has published fiction, creative nonfiction, and scholarly essays.
Poets & Patrons
Poets & Patrons was founded in 1954. It is dedicated to supporting poetry development in the Chicagoland area. It does this through sponsoring and hosting congenial, professional workshops at The Harold Washington Library; running an annual Chicagoland Poetry Contest with modest cash awards for multiple categories; facilitating free writing workshops at local museums and outdoor venues (Write! Chicago); and an annual awards banquet. Poets & Patrons is an excellent vehicle for defining your work, meeting with other fine poets for unique critiques, and exploring with others the power of well-crafted verse. For more information, visit the Poets & Patrons website.
