Join us for a reading featuring Kevin W. Burke, Rachel Wiley, Ronnie K. Stephens, and Lacey Roop (pictured below, left to right), four talented slam poets from Austin’s Timber Mouse Publishing.
Kevin W. Burke was born and raised in the aged suburban stretch, industrial parks, and haunted forests of the Chicago Southland. He has found work in a grocery store, animal shelter, power plants, scaffold yard, coffee shop, windshield warehouse, film studio, bar, classrooms, the back of an ambulance, a fire engine, and the poetry of the homemade flyers, frayed cables, and broken nosed laughter between punk-rock and hip-hop. He likes hugs, Radiolab, “big-fat-dirty-bass”, and making people realize there is electricity in their chests. When he’s not doing poetry things, he is working as a firefighter and resides in South Austin with a wonderful lady and their three big dogs. Here’s some other stuff Kevin’s done: 2011 Austin Poetry Slam Champion, 2011 Austin Poetry Slam Team, 2011
Southwest Shootout Individual Slam Champion, 2011 Texas Grand Slam Poetry Festival Champion, 2012 Austin Poetry Slam Team, 2013 Austin Poetry Slam Team, 2013 Texas Grand Slam Poetry Festival Champion, collaborated with Grammy winning Conspirare, shared stages with fancy people like Derrick Brown, Anis Mojgani, Buddy Wakefield, and Cristin O’keefe Aptowicz. Also, he has upcoming work published in Into Quarterly and Freeze Ray Press.
Rachel Wiley is known for her honest, witty, and sometimes sassy poetry that touches body image, romance, and feminism. From Columbus, Ohio, she attended the Theatre Studies program at Capital University. She tours colleges and slam venues nationwide. Her work has been featured by the Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, Frigg Magazine, Drunken Boat, and Nailed Magazine. Her first full length poetry collection, Fat Girl Finishing School, was published by Timber Mouse Publishing in October 2014.
Ronnie K. Stephens is a full-time English teacher and the father of identical twins. His poems often explore vulnerability in its many facets. His first collection, Universe in the Key of Matryoshka, was published by Timber Mouse Publishing in 2014. Individual poems have previously appeared in Rattle, Paper Darts, Weave Magazine, DASH, and PANK, among others.
Lacey Roop has a kaleidoscope of work that is sure to make the heart shout, stomp, and stutter. As a slam poet, Lacey has previously placed 6th at the Women of the World Poetry Slam, been a two-time member of the renowned Austin Poetry Slam team, and ranked several times as a top-scoring poet at the Individual World Poetry Slam. Lacey has also opened for the Grammy Award winning band The Wailers, performed her poetry with the Grammy Award winning and transformative musical group Conspirare, and been a featured performer at the sold-out Desert Rocks Musical Festival. Lacey was also featured on PBS’s highly acclaimed show, Roadtrip Nation. Lacey’s work has also been published by A Light, Ascent Aspirations Magazine, and The Sunday Poem. She is also the author of a full-length book of poetry, And Then Came The Flood. In addition to sharing stages with bands, Lacey has performed alongside acclaimed poets such as Derrick Brown, Andrea Gibson, Staceyann Chin, Anis Mojgani, Ebony Stewart, and Lauren Zuniga. As an advocate and ally, Lacey’s work discusses gender & sexuality, marginalized voices, and women-empowerment. Lacey’s work also focuses on soaking up and sharing the hope and magic that exists all around us every day. She writes because it hurts not to, and greets life with a high-five, a pen, and a key that unlocks the bottom of the ocean (really, it does). She also gives the most incredible hugs. Ever.