Hosted by Ad Astra Books & Coffee House
141 N Santa Fe Ave., Salina
Friday, November 12, 7:00pm
Click here for more information.

Manager: Linzi Garcia
 
Theme Contest:
Amy Sage Webb-Baza is Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program at Emporia State University, where she was named Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor and directs the Donald Reichardt Center for Publishing and Literary Arts. She is managing editor for Bluestem Press and Flint Hills Review. She publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and is author of Your Own Life: Kansas Stories (Woodley Press, 2012).
 
Classical Poetry:
Kristin Van Tassel teaches writing and American literature at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. She writes essays and poetry about place, teaching, motherhood, and travel. Her work has appeared in literary, academic, and travel publications, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, World Hum, ISLE, The Journal of Ecocriticism, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Wraparound South, Temenos, Burningword, Capsule Stories, and About Place.
 
Free Verse:
Jason Ryberg is the author of fourteen books of poetry, six screenplays, a few short stories, a box full of folders, notebooks and scraps of paper that could one day be (loosely) construed as a novel, and, a couple of angry letters to various magazine and newspaper editors. He is currently an artist-in-residence at both The Prospero Institute of Disquieted P/o/e/t/i/c/s and the Osage Arts Community, and is an editor and designer at Spartan Books. His latest collection of poems is Are You Sure Kerouac Done It This Way!? (co-authored with John Dorsey, and Victor Clevenger, OAC Books, 2021). He lives part-time in Kansas City, MO with a rooster named Little Red and a billygoat named Giuseppe and part-time somewhere in the Ozarks, near the Gasconade River, where there are also many strange and wonderful woodland critters.
 
Narrative Poetry:
John E. Epic is the author of the non-fiction memoir, Ill Digestions, the illustrated children’s book, Such a Little Apple: the anatomy of a bully, and numerous poetry books that illuminate beauty within the mundane, meaning within the seemingly insignificant, and humor to all of life’s absurdities.  As an avid advocate of the arts John E. Epic co-created DroneBEE Gazette Publishing, an agency dedicated to publishing previously unknown artists, poets, photographers and authors. Bio Pic by Rim Valiakhmetov (Moscow, Russia)  
 
Whimsy:
Lori Brack is the author of three books of poems: A Case for the Dead Letter Detective (Kelsay, 2021), Museum Made of Breath (Spartan, 2018), and A Fine Place to See the Sky (The Field School, 2010). She lives in Lucas where she is a freelance writer for nonprofits, a writing coach and instructor.
 
 
Japanese Poetry:
Dr. Cynthia Patton has been a member of the English faculty at Emporia State University since 2000.  For the past fifteen years, she has researched and taught Japanese literature and film in English translation, as well as her original fields (19th- and 20th-century British literature, literary criticism and theory).  Her favorite haiku is by Yosa Buson:
harusame ya monogatari yuku mino to kasa.  Spring rain: / so the story goes-- / straw raincoat and umbrella
 
Performance Poetry:
Matt Spezia is the Kansas Program Director for Poetry for Personal Power. In art, Matt is a national powerhouse of lyrical ability, combining an eight-time national award-winning poetry style, Kansas City hip hop, and thespian teachings. He has three albums and a book published and has appeared in an anthologized CD and book. Matt uses his platform and his art to promote self confidence and betterment, social awareness, and cultural change. Outside of art, Matt is a mentor and has worked to directly influence school children in 36 different districts. He has given numerous presentations on performing for the public forum at a number of state-wide venues and on the floor of the Kansas capitol building. Matt has experience with hosting radio shows and producing commercials, music videos, and films. Above all, Matt believes everything is a #teameffort.
 
New Poets:
Jason Baldinger is from Pittsburgh and looks forward to roaming the country writing poems again. His newest books are A Threadbare Universe (Kung Fu Treachery Press) and The Afterlife is a Hangover (Stubborn Mule Press).  A History of Backroads Misplaced: Selected Poems 2010-2020 (Kung Fu Treachery) is forthcoming later this year. His work has been published widely across print journals and online. You can hear him read his work on Bandcamp and on lp’s by The Gotobeds and Theremonster.
 

 Kansas Authors Club is run by an all-volunteer board. Officers from across the state devote time monthly to everything from district programming to our annual writing contests and convention. Visit with your district representative about how you can contribute!

Linzi Garcia plays with language in poetry, essays, book reviews, and publicity materials. Her full-length poetry collection Thank You was published by Spartan Press in 2018, and since then she has been continually writing and publishing poetry about her experiences as a newspaper reporter, bartender, family gal, traveler, and philosopher. She and her partner Jase Buck co-authored a chapbook, Live a Great Story (Analog Submission Press 2019), about their short but impactful time in England. 
 
Linzi also writes feature articles for Spotlight, the Emporia State University alumni magazine. She pursued her MA in English at ESU, during which she worked as an editorial assistant for Flint Hills Review and Bluestem Press, and as a graduate assistant to Kansas Poet Laureate Emeritus Kevin Rabas. Her research focused on Kansas poetry and small press publishing. Outside of the university, she was a reporter for The Emporia Gazette and bartender at Mulready’s Pub. 
 
Garcia currently teaches English composition at ESU and still bartends after class. She continues her work with Rabas, which primarily consists of curating, designing, editing, and promoting his chapbooks and books, including Elizabeth’s City, Kansas Letters to a Young Poet, and More Than Words. Garcia also currently works as the publicist for Meadowlark Press.
 
Garcia became involved with KAC after building friendships with members across the state, particularly in Salina, Emporia, and in Lawrence, where she currently resides. She served as the 2020 free verse poetry contest judge and, after joining the club in 2021, serves as the 2021 poetry contest manager.