The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.
At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, March 8 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their work.
Felicia Zamora is the author of six books of poetry including, I Always Carry My Bones, winner of the 2020 Iowa Poetry Prize (University of Iowa Press, 2021) and the 2022 Ohioana Book Award in Poetry, and Body of Render, Benjamin Saltman Award winner (Red Hen Press, 2020). She won the 2022 Loraine Williams Poetry Prize from The Georgia Review, a 2022 Tin House Next Book Residency, and a 2022 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day, AGNI, The American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2022, Boston Review, Georgia Review, Guernica, Kenyon Review, The Missouri Review, Orion, Poetry Magazine, The Nation and others. She is an assistant professor of poetry at the University of Cincinnati and associate poetry editor for the Colorado Review.
Caroline Plasket’s work has been published or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including, Gulf Coast, Sycamore Review, Pleiades, Copper Nickel, The Cortland Review and Threadcount Magazine. She was a mentee in the AWP Writer to Writer Program. She currently teaches writing at Northern Kentucky University. She is working on three books and is fulfilled sharing her love of writing (and the power that lies within it) with others. She lives in Northern Kentucky.
Hussain Ahmed is a Nigerian poet and environmentalist. He holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Mississippi and is currently a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati. His poems are featured in AGNI, Poetry Magazine, The Kenyon Review, A Public Space, The American Poetry Review and elsewhere. He is a winner of the 2022 Orison Poetry Prize, 2022 finalist for the University of Wisconsin Press’s Brittingham Prize and Felix Pollak Prize poetry competition, 2021 Semi-finalist Cave Canem Poetry Prize, and several others. He is the author of a chapbook “Harp in a Fireplace” (Newfound, 2021) and a debut collection “Soliloquy with the Ghosts in Nile” (Black Ocean Press, 2022). He is currently an Editorial Assistant for Seneca Review and Cincinnati Review.
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This session of Poetry Stacked will feature College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) students who will each perform an interpretive dance of one of the poet’s readings. The dancers are:
Sydney D’Orso is a fourth-year Ballet and English student at the University of Cincinnati. Her choreography has been featured in numerous UC CCM Student Choreographers’ Showcases and her writing has appeared in Short Vine and The Colored Lens.
Emilia Mieczykowski is a second year Ballet & Contemporary major with the College-Conservatory of Music with a focus on Pre-Physical Therapy. She danced with Cincinnati Ballet Academy for 15 years, spending summers there as well as many main stage productions with their company and academy. At CCM, she’s danced in works such as Giselle, Raymonda and Fall Dance Works. She hopes to continue her studies and pursue a career in dance as well as in healthcare.
Gracie Zamiska is a third-year student at the University of Cincinnati where she is earning her BFA in Ballet and a BA in Journalism. Gracie is a Louisville, Kentucky native and has spent her years training in a multitude of dance styles ranging from Ballet and Contemporary to Afro-Cuban and Tap. She has performed in a variety of productions here at the Conservatory of Music, such as Giselle, Paquita, La Bayadere and Fall Dance Works. Gracie is an aspiring choreographer, debuting her work in the 2021 Student Choreographer’s Showcase at CCM. She is excited to be a part of this multi-media project and collaborate with others outside of her art form!
The mission of Poetry Stacked is to celebrate poetry and raise awareness of the collections of both UC Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room. Each reading will engage audiences via exposure to contemporary poetry and increase appreciation for both the talents of UC and community poets, as well as for poetry itself. Poetry Stacked is free and open to all to attend. Following each reading, guests are invited to tour the Elliston Poetry Room.
The intent of the series is to enrich and engage the UC campus and Cincinnati communities in accordance with the Libraries’ Strategic Framework and the Next Lives Here Strategic Directions in support of Academic Excellence and Community Engagement. It aligns with the Libraries’ vision as the globally engaged, intellectual commons of the university – positioning ourselves as the hub of collaboration, digital innovation, and scholarly endeavor on campus and beyond.
Can’t make it to Poetry Stacks in person? It will be live streamed via the Elliston Poetry Room’s Instagram.
The final Poetry Stacked of the semester is scheduled for April 12.