Devotion: A Flowering Poetry Club Live Reading

Nizhonniya Austin was born in Juneau, Alaska and is a multi-disciplinary artist of Tlingit and Diné ancestry. She is an alumni of the Institute of American Indian arts where she initially studied painting and film. Nizhonniya later discovered her love of poetry and has been working on a poetry book for the past year in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she lives.

Riel Bellow (Métis) is a storyteller, visual artist, and radio host. They were raised between Santa Fe NM and Chiapas MX. Riel holds a BA from Pitzer College and an MFA from the Milton Avery School of the Arts. She is usually on the move.

My name is Skylar Bixby, I am 19 years old and am currently in college pursuing my associates degree, later I hope to transfer to a 4-year university to study architecture and English. I have been writing poetry consistently since I was 12 years old, when I was encouraged by my middle school English teacher to continue writing after he saw one of my poems. I have always been inspired to write about the beauty and the mystery I see in nature, and relating to the human experience.

Jakia Fuller is a multi-disciplinary artist who’s living a life full of adventure, creating art and spaces that bring a smile to people’s faces. Born and raised in Detroit, MI, and Rio Rancho, NM, and am currently based in Albuquerque, NM. Through continuous exploration and not limiting herself to a medium or style, she creates work that is accessible to people, that they can engage with, reflect on, be surrounded by, and lastly, bring a smirk or smile to their faces.

Natachee Momaday Gray is a Santa Fe native and narradora indígena. Her work focuses on the melding of art and myth, ancestry and nostalgia, food and prayer, glamour, frivolity and the passage of time. She comes from a long lineage of storytellers and honors this tradition by bringing a charm and seduction to stories overlooked and undertold. Moving between English, Spanish, and the blood memory of the Plains people, she addresses her boundless identity, often using the alias Tatja Lucia. Her first collection of poetry, Silver Box, is set to come out in early 2023.

Devin Horne is a Santa Fe born and raised poet. Her poetry and photo zine, Starter Homes, was published in 2021. She is currently the manager of a bookstore and is working on a second publication.

Scott McMaster – In 2014 at the height of the folk punk scene I went on tour with my band in a broken down ’95 Honda Civic through the midwest. I was playing the washboard and toting around a few dozen spiral bound copies of my first novel which I read excerpts of in between bands’ sets. This opened my eyes to the possibilities of self publishing–the intersection of DIY ethos and accessibility for both the writer and reader. After the tour I did 4 years studying literature and writing at Kent State University, occupying my free time playing in bands and organizing with leftist groups while continuing involvement in poetry readings at various coffee shops and house venues whenever I got the chance. A few years after school I hit the road, traveling around the country and working odd jobs until I eventually crash landed in Santa Fe. I’ve continued printing zines and writing, mostly memoirs and poetry, and have a continued passion for underground and indie publishing. I believe in the importance of writing poetry that pushes boundaries, challenges social and political conventions, and attempts to show an honest view of an ever fluctuating reality as well as one’s shifting perception of it.

Matt Ray is the songwriter and frontman of New Mexico-based band Silver Movie. Born and raised in New York City, Ray drifted out west at the end of 2018 – first to California before settling in New Mexico. In the past two years he’s recorded and released close to a dozen songs, written poetry, and served as the creative director for all of the band’s artwork. Silver Movie will be performing on May 6th at Longhair Records in Albuquerque and on May 13th at the Mineshaft in Madrid.

Hazel “Violet” Simmons is an artist and poet born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is the current president and founder of the Flowering Poetry Club. Inspired by the beauty of death and the dream state, her work carries her unparalleled appreciation for the obscure, with a focus on the morbid, mundane, and unconventional sentiments. Her unconventional inspirations are met with unconventional methods to illustrate her poems in which film and digital photography, collage, and short films, all come together to create an ensemble of the unusual.

Kate Stringer was born in Kingston, England and grew up in New England. She graduated with a BFA in Ceramics from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2018 and shortly thereafter moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she has resided since as an educator, seamstress, and service worker. Poetry has been a constant throughout major life events, with its ability to conjure up surreal images and reference blurry memories.

Kate’s poems use lyrical wordplay, assonance, and beat to describe experiences both real and imagined. For these reasons, they are best heard and read through performance. Although not literally autobiographical, they pull from moments and experiences had while living in the southwest. Going forward, Kate hopes to continue to produce and read more of her work around New Mexico.

Liana Woodward received her MFA in poetry from the University of Montana, where she was a writing instructor and a poetry editor for CutBank literary magazine. She was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM and received her BA in liberal arts from St. John’s College. Her work has appeared in The West Review, Peach Mag, Hot Pink Magazine, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Santa Fe and works at the Southside Library.