Susan Grathwohl Dingle lived in New Suffolk for many years before moving to the Pacific Northwest to live near family in 2020. Her father, Hollis Williamson Grathwohl was born in Peconic and her mother, Geraldine Powers Grathwohl was a trustee of the Cutchogue Library.
Susan Dingle currently serves as Clark County Poet Laureate (2024-2027) in Washington State.
Susan graduated from the Pacific University MFA program in 2025.
Susan is honored and grateful to have partnered with Robert A. “Bubbie” Brown, in creating Poetry Street as a jumpstART project for East End Arts in Riverhead at the Blue Duck Bakery Cafe, back in 2014, and applauds its continuing success!
She is currently an Anaphora Arts fellow. With Erin Boyt, she co-hosts a monthly reading series called Poetry Street PNW at the Camas Library, in Camas WA.
She has published two chapbooks, Parting Gifts (winner of 2020 NaPoMo Honorable mention, published by Local Gems) and In Pilgrim Drag (Finishing Line Press, 2020.)
Susan was featured on the podcast, About this Place on July 21, 2026. The link is https://imintothisplace.com/episodes/susan-dingle.
Rick Lupert has been involved with poetry in Los Angeles since 1990. He is the recipient of the 2017 Ted Slade Award, and the 2014 Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center Distinguished Service Award, a 3 time Pushcart Prize Nominee, and a Best of the Net nominee. He served as a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets for 2 years, and created Poetry Super Highway. Rick hosted the weekly Cobalt Cafe reading for almost 21 years which has lived on as a weekly Zoom series since early 2020. His spoken word album "Rick Lupert Live and Dead" featured 25 studio and live tracks.
He’s authored 30 collections of poetry, including “Begin the Beget, A Poem for Every Aliyah in the Book of Genesis,” “High Moose Alert”, “It’s Spritz O’Clock Somewhere,” “The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express,” and “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion” (Ain’t Got No Press) and edited the anthologies “A Poet’s Siddur”, “Ekphrastia Gone Wild”, “A Poet’s Haggadah” and the noir anthology “The Night Goes on All Night. He also writes and draws (with Brendan Constantine) the daily web comic “Cat and Banana” and writes a Jewish poetry column for JewishJournal.com. He lives in Newhall, California with his wife, son and 3 cats.
https://poetrysuperhighway.com/https://www.jewishpoetry.net/https://facebook.com/rickpoethttps://www.catandbanana.com/
Paula Curci is the co-founder of the Acoustic Poets Network® LLC and the Long Beach Shore Poets. She produces Calliope’s Corner &What’s the Buzz ® on WRHU.ORG, Radio Hofstra University, where she is also their Poet-in-Residence. She is the co-producer and founder of both Poetry It's a 'Shore' Thing!and the Hicksville open mics, and she produces festivals and workshops. Paula is a Journal to the Self® writing instructor, a Poet Correspondent for The Scene.life, and the co-editor of Poetry It’s a Shore Thing! An Anthology of Micro-Memoirs from the South Shore Poets of Long Island. She has penned several chapbooks and is a NYSCA grant award winner for her full-length book of poetry titled Portrait Poetry. Paula is also a Nassau County Poet Laureate Emerita and an award-winning retired School Counselor. Her chapbooks of Posics® poetry can be found on Amazon, and her encore shows of Calliope’s Corner and What's the Buzz ® can be heard on SoundCloud.
Sincerely,Paula Curci Ms.Ed.PdPoet Laureate of Nassau County Emerita 2022-2024Poet In Residence & Host of Calliope's Corner:The Place Where Poets and Songwriters Meet and What's The Buzz®
WRHU 88.7 FM & WRHU.ORG Radio Hofstra University
Co-Founder - The Acoustic Poets Network® LLC
Journal to the Self® Certified Instructor
Dr. Beryl R. Williams is the founder of the Caribbean American Poetry Association, a nonprofit organization based in Huntington Station, NY.
Born in Dominica, Beryl began writing and reciting poetry during her formative years, and has continued over the decades in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
Beryl holds a BA in Mass Communications and English from Oakwood University; a master’s in Public Administration from Long Island University Post, and a doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership from Colorado Technical
University. She began her career as a television anchor/reporter
for the ABC affiliate in the US Virgin Islands and parlayed that into a career in executive health care communications, nonprofit consulting, and currently as a college professor.
Beryl’s poems have been published in a number of anthologies, including The Caribbean Writer. Her debut collection will be out later this year.
James P. Wagner (Ishwa) is an editor, publisher, award-winning fiction writer, essayist, historian, actor, comedian, performance poet, and alum twice over (BA & MALS) of Dowling College. He is the publisher for Local Gems Poetry Press and the Senior Founder and President of the Bards Initiative.
He is also the founder and Grand Laureate of Bards Against Hunger, a series of poetry readings and anthologies dedicated to gathering food for local pantries that operates in over a dozen states. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Everyday Alchemy, Ten Year Reunion, The Customer is Often Wrong and All In, Poker Poems. He was the Long Island, NY National Beat Poet Laureate from 2017-2019. He was also the Walt Whitman Bicentennial Convention Chairman and has taught poetry workshops at the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site.
James has edited over 180 poetry anthologies and hosted book launch events up and down the East Coast. He was named the National Beat Poet Laureate of the United States from 2020-2021. He is the owner/ operator of The Dog-Eared Bard’s Book Shop in East Northport, New York. He just released Word Magic his Selected Works.
Ala Amoachi is a poet and immigration attorney based in Northport, New York. Her poetry explores family, immigration, identity, culture, and resilience through vivid imagery and narrative free verse. She draws inspiration from her own experience and the stories she bears witness to through her advocacy.
Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals. Her poem Wonder was nominated for the 2026 Pushcart Prize by Mayari Journal. She received third place in the 2025 Babylon Village Arts Council Poetry Contest for Bergamot and third place in the 2026 Nassau County Poet Laureate Poetry Contest for Bradycardia.
She has been featured by the Long Island Poetry & Literature Repository, the Poetry Performance Association, and the Dog-Eared Bookstore.
Maggie Bloomfield is a psychotherapist and published, award-winning writer from the South Fork. Maggie happily co-hosts Poetry Street, a monthly poetry venue, at The Riverhead Library, with Chip Williford. Maggie has been part of Poetry Street since 2014 when Susan Dingle and Robert “Bubbie” Brown developed it. Chip and Maggie stepped up after Susan relocated to The Pacific Northwestin 2020.
Maggie won an Emmy for contributions to Sesame Street. Poems and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies, locally and internationally, and two chapbooks, Trains of Thought (Local Gems, 2016) and Sleepless Nights (Finishing Line Press, 2020) are published.
Maggie graduated the MFA Program at Stony Brook, Southampton (SBSH) in 2014. Her one-act play,The Dispatchment Society, was chosen by New York City’sNew Works Emerging Artists Festival, 2019 and The Corchaug One-act Play festival in 2024. BREAK OUT! a one-act play in poetry and prose, was created with writing partner, Susan Dingle. It sold out at The Southampton Cultural Center in 2016, and was chosen for The Long Island Fringe Festival in 2017. The play is focused on two women’s journey from addiction to decades of joyful recovery.
Berkley Wendell Semple was born in Guyana. He has published four collections of poetry, Lamplight Teller, awarded a 2004 Guyana Prize for Poetry, The Solo Flyer, The Central Station, and Flight and Other Poems, awarded the 2023 Guyana Prize for Literature, and has edited a book of student poems. His debut novel, Kipling Plass, was awarded the 2024 Guyana Prize for Literature for first novel. His poetry and fiction have appeared in Callaloo, The Hampden-Sydney Review, The Caribbean Writer, for which he was awarded a Daily News Prize for poetry, and many other publications. He is a veteran of the US armed forces and a graduate of the Naval School of Health Sciences. He holds an MA and MLS degrees from Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and an MPhil from Long Island University (LIU) where he is a current Ph.D. candidate. From 2010 to 2022 he wrote audiobook reviews for Sound Commentary Journal. He is on the Editorial Board of The Caribbean Writer, and an editor and book reviewer for Caribbean Voice. He writes a weekly column on literature for the Guyana Chronicles. Berkley Wendell Semple is a librarian and currently works for the Queens Public Library system in New York City.
Gregory Cioffi (SAG-AFTRA, AEA) is a professional actor, an award-winning director, professor, published author, and the current Nassau County Poet Laureate (2026-2028). He is particularly proud of his first full volume of poetry – Poetic Anarchy. His most recent chapbook, Summer Heat: Poems of Passion, was published in 2025 by Wyld Syde Press. His debut novel The Devil in the Diamond was released in 2023 by Henry Gray Publishing. Other works have been published in The Feral Press, Mystery Weekly Magazine, The Red Penguin Collection, The Golden Lion, New Generation Beat Publications, The Scene, Queen Mob’s Tea House, The Nassau County Poet Laureate Society Review, Little Old Lady (LOL) Comedy, The RavensPerch, Blood Moon Rising Magazine, Fleas on the Dog, The Five-Two, Aphelion, Local Gems Press, Long Island Sounds, FDQ Review, Post University’s Pop-Up Mag, Bindle, Allegory Ridge, and various anthologies. Many of his stories have been archived in numerous libraries including Yale University’s Beinecke Collection (Rare Books and Manuscript Library).
Greg recently won Best Director for his horror film A Pandemic Presence at the 2024 Scared For Your LIIFE Film Festival. His film The Museum of Lost Things won awards at The Long Island International Film Expo, Global Shorts, and The Madrid International Film Festival. His next film, The Concertgoer, premiered at the New York City Short Comedy Film Festival and went on to be nominated for Best Art Direction at LIIFE. Look out for his upcoming film A Mother’s Voice on the festival circuit! You may have also caught Beyond the Silent Night, a tribute to the remembrance of 9/11 released in 2026 for the tragedy’s 25th anniversary. You might have noticed him on the stage or screen in The Irishman, Transit: A New York City Fairytale, The Godfather of Harlem, AMC’s The Making of the Mob, or in Tony n Tina’s Wedding where, for the last decade, he has been married hundreds of times nationally and internationally. Greg is an Adjunct Professor of English at Long Island University, an Associate Professor of Literature & Composition at Post University, and he also teaches Creative Writing, Poetry, and Basic Acting at Nassau Community College.
Jay Vegas, Award-Winning Poet, Actor, and Photographer who serves as the President of the Poem Stars, a premier spoken word poetry collective dedicated to changing the world "one poem at a time.”
With over a decade of experience on stage and behind the lens, Jay Vegas has mastered the art of storytelling as a tool for social change. His passionate and authentic performances go beyond entertainment; they are a call to action. By daring to speak about the unspoken with a unique blend of courage, love, and compassion, Jay captivates diverse audiences and challenges them to confront the most pressing issues of our time.
Whether through a photograph or a verse, his work seeks to bridge the gap between our societal masks and our truest selves.
Patricia McCue is a retired science teacher. Her poems have appeared in various journals and anthologies such as the Suffolk County Poetry Review 2026. She often writes about music and the natural world. She studies and plays Traditional Irish Music on the fiddle and ukulele with
the Good Ground Players Ukulele Club in her current town, Hampton Bays. Her first chapbook, entitled Chatter in the Wind was recently published by Pennyfield Press.
Tony Iovino is the author of the collection of poems, "from the Land of Sidewalks and Lawns (Words with Wings, 2025) and the novel Notary Public Enemy (Diversion Press, 2011). His poems and essays have appeared in numerous publications. He is the founder and host of the Summer Gazebo Readings, an acclaimed outdoor series, now in its 20th year, featuring readings by distinguished poets and authors each Monday in June, July & August in Oceanside, NY. He also founded and hosts the international online series Poetry: Near and Afar featuring local NY poets and poets from around the United States and the world. He resides in Rockville Centre with his wife Angela.