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, April 8 at 4:30pm, Amy Lemmon, UC alumna along with five undergraduate student poets: Madison Crock, Grace Harsh, Nate Murphy, Iris Rokvić and Madeline Schrand.
Amy Lemmon is the author of the poetry collections Saint Nobody (Red Hen Press) and The Miracles (C&R Press) and coauthor, with Denise Duhamel, of the chapbooks ABBA: The Poems (Coconut Books) and Enjoy Hot or Iced: Poems in Conversation and a Conversation (Slapering Hol Press, 2011). Her poems and essays have appeared in The Best American Poetry, Rolling Stone, Prairie Schooner, The Hopkins Review, The Cincinnati Review, The Journal, Marginalia, and many other magazines and anthologies. Recipient of fellowships from the Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Sewanee Writers’ Workshop, and Antioch Writers’ Workshop, Amy is Professor of English at the Fashion Institute of Technology-SUNY, where she teaches writing, literature, and creativity studies. She has performed her poetry widely including the KGB Bar-Lit series, the Montevallo Literary Festival, and the New York Public Library. She lives in Astoria, Queens.
The five undergraduate poets are all graduating in 2026, and include:
- Madison Crock is a bilingual poet from Fishers, Indiana. Her writing is featured in UC’s literary journal Short Vine and chapbook anthology, Syrinx Collective. She will graduate this May, with a bachelor’s degree in English, specializing in both creative and professional writing. Madison writes about her memories: appealing to the weird and wonderful aspects of life.
- Grace Harsh
- Nate Murphy is a Senior Creative Writing major at the University of Cincinnati. In Nate’s writing, he attempts to implement strong themes of both challenging and mundane periods of living, and the importance of making the conscious decision to persist and endure in those times. Outside of school and writing, Nate spends his time outside with his dogs and working as a care provider for adults with disabilities.
- Iris Rokvić (she/her) is first-generation Bosnian American poet from Kentucky. She is a student at the University of Cincinnati, where she earned her BA in Spanish (2022) and will complete her BA in English this May. Iris was recently accepted to the Creative Writing MFA program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and will begin this fall with a concentration in Poetry.
- Madeline Schrand holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Cincinnati, as well as an Associate of Science in Liberal Arts from Ivy Tech Community College. Schrand has been published in both creative fiction and poetry in the Short Vine Literary Journal. Schrand has also been published for her work in Her Campus Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati News, and the University of Cincinnati Foundation. Schrand worked as the poetry editor for the fall 2024 issue of the Short Vine Literary Journal, was a summer 2025 resident intern for the Women of Cincy and was a strategic communications intern at the University of Cincinnati Foundation. Currently, she works as an advancement writer at the University of Cincinnati Foundation. Schrand has been an active member of UC Choruses, UC Writers’ Circle, Her Campus Cincinnati, and the Cincinnati Poetry Collective. Contact Madeline Schrand at maddieschrand@yahoo.com.
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 engages audiences via exposure to contemporary poetry and increases 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 Following each reading, guests are invited to tour the Elliston Poetry Room.
Can’t make it to Poetry Stacks in person? It will be live streamed via the Elliston Poetry Room’s Instagram.