Steve Kramer wrote his first poem at the age of 18 shorty after drinking a 12-pack of beer and falling asleep on a large boulder at the edge of a wilderness lake near Spectacular NY. His work has inspired occasional accolade and frequent dismissal, the most cutting of which "I know poetry, this is not poetry, it is madness," serves as mantra and raison d'etre. He lives in Riverhead.
Mary Seymour is a passionate and dedicated advocate for the creative/cultural artists' community. Seymour is a poet, director, dramatist, actress, singer, and educator. She is president of the Grammy Award-winning music publishing company A Dish-A-Tunes LLC. Mary is proud of her theatrical history; she has an extensive directing and acting resume.
Broadway credits include Hair original Broadway production. A co-starring role in Raisin "The Musical." Seymour is a member of the iconic Disco/Dance singing group MUSIQUE. Seymour is on The Board of Directors of The AUDELCO Awards Audience Development Committee and Hands Across Long Island.
Education: Master of Arts Africana Studies Stony Brook University 24’' BA degree Africana Studies/Playwriting 18" [summa cum laude] Suffolk County Community College '15 AS degree Directing/Playwriting [highest distinction] Yale University School of Drama 12' [Theatre Directing Project]
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world- Harriett Tubman
Kelly J. Powell is an award winning Poet and Performer of the Long Island School of Poetry.
She crafts her poetry through the ordinary to the extraordinary and back again, staying grounded as possible through all the realms. A dear friend once called her a living poem. She has performed widely on Long Island, NYC and been published locally, nationally and internationally. She hopes you are having a great day this side of the grass!
Pastor Montez Johnson is an Assistant Pastor at Riverhead’s First Baptist Church, in charge of Outreach. He works extensively and counsels in Riverhead and Yaphank. Pastor Johnson loves to write poetry and hopes to write a play. This is his first time featuring at Poetry Street and we are eager to welcome him to the Poetry Street family.
Dr. Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan is the first woman to be appointed Suffolk County Poet Laureate (2009-2011). She is the founder and president of the Long Island Poetry & Literature Repository, publisher of The North Sea Poetry Scene Press, and the editor of Long Island Sounds Anthology and other anthologies.
She has penned six chapbooks, a memoir, entitled: The Long Way to Home, and a children’s book, Would You Hug a Porcupine, two full-length books of poetry, Chasing Clouds and If I Could Only Bottle This, her collected scholarly essays, and a book on the healing power of poetry. She teaches at Long Island University, at the C W Post campus, as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the departments of: English, Humanities, and Sociology.
Richard Bronson wrote poetry in high school and was a member of the creative writing club, but my interest withered during my education in college at MIT and in medical school. Though I carried a paperback copy of Robert Frost’s North of Boston in the pocket of my white coat during internship at Bellevue Hospital, I didn’t return to poetry for many years. While participating as faculty at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, in a course focused on the interpersonal relationships of medical practice, we often read poetry written by doctors. This experience reawaked my former interest, and I resumed writing. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to live in a vibrant community of poets on Long Island, who have nurtured my development as a poet.
I am currently on the Board of Trustees of the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, as well as the Board of the Long Island Poetry Collective and have facilitated its weekly poetry workshop held at the Huntington Library for several decades. I won the poetry prize of the American College of Physicians in 2003, and the Institute for Medicine in Contemporary Society prize for poetry in 2005. I am the recipient of the Leonard Tow 2015 Humanism in Medicine Award of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and have served as Suffolk County Poet Laureate from June 2021 – June 2023.
I have five collections of poems, the first, Search for Oz, was published in 2006. My work has appeared in many medical journals, including The Pharos, The Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, as well as the Long Island Quarterly, Suffolk County Poetry Review, Long Island Sounds, and the Performance Poets Literary Annual.
Beryl R Williams is the founder and president of the Caribbean American Poetry Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the rich cultural heritage and diverse voices of Caribbean American poets to the widest possible audience! Born in Dominica, the nature isle of the Caribbean
Beryl began writing and reciting poetry during her formative years. She continued over the decades with performances at cultural, religious, and special events in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Beryl’s poems have appeared in a few anthologies. Her two collections, A Pebble In My Shoe and Zandoli, will be published soon. When Beryl is not writing poetry, she enjoys singing, cooking gourmet meals, and being Mom to her son. Beryl has called Long Island home for almost 20 years. She draws inspiration from its lovely beaches, rural farms, great eateries, quaint ‘antiquey’ spots, neighborhood libraries, and friendly people, particularly the prolific poets who welcomed her ‘home’!
Susan M.G. Dingle is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Southold, a published poet who has led workshops in mindfulness, meditation, and well-being practice.
A graduate of the SUNY Stony Brook School of Social Welfare (MSW), the University of Illinois at Chicago (MA in Creative Writing), and Northwestern University (BA), Susan is grateful for the foundation in social justice she received at the Friends School of Baltimore, and the inspiration of her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Brown, at Monmouth Elementary.
Like many women, Susan experienced sexual abuse and trauma long before #METOO was a thing. But rather than speak out, she relied on alcohol and drugs and kept silent.
Nevertheless, from 1971-1974 as an Instructor of English at Colgate University, Susan Grathwohl helped minority students find their voices, first as a teacher of writing, and then as an organizer of the Colgate Women’s Caucus and ally of the Black Students Union. Her poems were published in Feminist Studies, Partisan Review, American Poetry Review, Liberation, and other journals.
She spent two years in Los Angeles, finishing up her qualifications for recovery. Finally, in 1981 she entered recovery and found her voice, her Lord, and a second chance at life.
In 2003 she began to work as a counselor in an outpatient substance abuse clinic, and in 2008 became a therapist encouraging others to overcome abuse and trauma and find their voices. Publishing The Poetry of Well-Being in 2013, Susan performed with Maggie Bloomfield and Nina Yavel as the Poets of Well-Being, and developed and led a writing workshop for clients at a substance abuse rehab program on the East End for six years. With Terri Muuss, The Poets of Well-being also presented at The Associated Writing Programs Conference and Expressive Therapies Summit.
In 2014, as an artist selected for the East End Arts JumpstART program, Susan envisioned an open mic, where people in recovery and people of all races would be able to share their poetry, in downtown Riverhead, something like the Nuyorican Poets Café. She reached out to Robert A. (“Bubbie”) Brown, of First Baptist Church in Riverhead. The rest is history. In 2017, Susan was a recipient of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Meritorious Award, for community service, presented by First Baptist Church of Riverhead. That honor inspired her to preach the prophetic word, which she has done at several churches including Shinnecock Presbyterian and Orient Congregational.
Also in 2017, she collaborated with Maggie Bloomfield on “BREAK OUT! “ a two-woman performance of their poems selected for the East End Fringe Festival, which they had previously performed to a sold-out house at the Southampton Cultural Center.
With God’s grace, Susan’s calling as a poet has flourished. She was invited to write and perform community poems for the First Baptist Church of Riverhead, the First Presbyterian Church of Southold, East End Arts, the Anti-Bias Task Force of Southold Town, and several veterans organizations. She has also featured at readings throughout Long Island and has received awards from the Performance Poets Association and the East End Fringe Festival. Her chapbook PARTING GIFTS was published by Local Gems in January 2020, and her next chapbook, IN PILGRIM DRAG, expected from Finishing Line Press in September 2020.
Later in 2020, Susan plans to re-locate to Portland OR, to join that line of Moms, supporting her son and his wife and their multi-racial family as they continue to protest and do all those other family things. Susan’s next collection of poems is STIR CRAZY: A PORTRAIT OF AMERICA IN PROTEST. For more information, see www.susandingle.com
Mindy Kronenberg is a widely published poet, writer, critic, and professor of writing and the arts at SUNY Empire State University. Her work has appeared in print and online journals around the world, in numerous anthologies and video recordings, and has been featured in art exhibits at galleries and museum installations. She is the author of Dismantling the Playground, a poetry chapbook, Images of America: Miller Place, a pictorial history, and an illustrated book of poems, Open. Ms. Kronenberg is a board member of Inspiration Plus, an arts initiative that educates through the linking of art to science, is the editor of Oberon poetry magazine, and a docent/trustee of the Miller Place – Mt. Sinai Historic Society. She’s the curator of poetry selections for the Sculpture on the Trail arts event held by the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery
(CEED)
Lee Gill is a poet and activist based in the New Jersey/New York area. His creative media of expertise includes poetry, film/television scripts, short stories, and the occasional novella.
Lee's main creative inspiration is the dynamic and challenging creations of Rod Serling. After spending many childhood years watching marathons of The Twilight Zone, he decided that writing would be his main passion and outlet in life.
With everything he writes, Lee strives to blend grounded, painful realities with mystical elements that will leave his readers reflective and spellbound. Outside of creative projects, Lee has the privilege of writing critical music and movie reviews, religious sermons, and political speeches.
Lee's other interests include visual arts, Magic: the Gathering, and metaphysical studies (with a focus on Hoodoo, Renaissance magic, and Noetic Sciences).
Lennon Stravato is a poet, screenwriter, and Emmy nominated producer of The Bay. He studied Religion at Stony Brook University and International Affairs at New York University. He will be reading from his debut book, The Inner Dialect, available at independent bookstores, and amazon.com (http://amazon.com/
Spoken word poetry Artist Akay is an up and coming Poet who has been taken Long Island by
storm with her powerful words . Akay who was born , Ahkyra Jackson is a 33 year
African-American woman and mother of three beautiful girls ages 12,11 and 5 years old.
Ahkyra was born and raised in Huntington New York where difficulties and her home life caused
her to run away and ultimately have two suicide attempts. Durning her recovery in the hospital
Ahkyra was introduced to writing , journaling , and poetry. She began to privately write in her
own as she continued to deal with life battles . Throughout all of these adversities Ahkyra was
placed into group homes throughout Suffolk County Long Island where she managed to
graduate a year early from Brentwood high school. It was there that Ahkyra continued on her
education receiving her associate's degree in criminal justice From Stanford Brown Institute and
becoming a young mother. Ahkyra used her hard work and determination to climb the ladder in
retail to land her a position in management. Ahkyra worked in this field for years until she
decided to take an appointment with a career counselor at the department of labor who
informed and educated her on civil service and the various positions. Ahkyra soon transitioned
from retail management to local government where she was able to work for her true passion
for advocating and providing resources for young minorities and youth. Ahkyra experiences as
a youth fuel the passion for advocacy for those like herself felt unheard for so long. Ahkyra has
now worked for The county executive Edward Romaine in the Suffolk County Department of
human services as a departments neighborhood aide for 4 years. In this position Ahkyra is the
go to person for the SC Youth Council: Leaders of Tomorrow, as she serves as the Program
Director/ Coordinator , Office of Minority affairs and certifying your business as a MWBE. On
her personal time Ahkyra is also a Mentor For the woman lead organization Moxie mentoring
foundation where she mentors young women who are in college . She is also a member of the
Suffolk County sheriffs community advisory board which she has served on for 3 years. As a
single mother ahkyra has shown great dedication and great strife in making a change in the
youth and in minority communities. Ahkyra makes it her mission to advocate and provide
resources and to be a helping hand to all those who need her support as well as being a great
role model to her three younger children. Ahkyra serves as a member of the National Coalition
of Negro Women : Huntington Chapter and the Mothers Club of Wheatley Heights. This past
year faces of Long Island a social media platform of Newsday interviewed Ahkyra on her
hardships as a youth and how she’s overcome them. Ahkyra performed for the first time in
February 2023 for the Suffolk County’s Black history month celebration. Since then Ahkyra has
been on the move booked as the featured artist performing her poetry all over Long Island and
Queens NY.
v.j.(Vinnie) Calone, formalist poet.
Winner 1st place P.P.A. Poetry contest 2023
Studied under Lewis Turco author, The New Book of Forms. BA SUNY Oswego '95.
Submission Editor at THE SCENE thescene.life poetry/art zine (June 2023- )
Major work to be released: The Old Wooden Bench and other poems,
slotted to be released Summer 2024.
You can reach Vin directly @ jeweliasdad@aol.com and thescene.life
Susan Semerade, also known as Surya in the yoga and Buddhist communities, teaches classes on Buddhism and leads meditation at the Long Island Buddhist Meditation Center, as well as the Riverhead Library.
As a yoga instructor for over 30 years, her days are spent having fun leading chair yoga classes to those who want to keep their mature/aging bodies moving and enjoying life to its fullest.
A lover of animals since she was a child, Susan shares her home with a small menagerie of senior animals that she has rescued and lets them live out their remaining years in comfort and love.
As a little girl, Susan entertained her family with poems and short stories she wrote about animals and nature. She is grateful for Poetry Street that has given her the confidence and inspiration to take a pleasurable past time to a deeper level.