Roots & Wings: Stories of Survival and Soaring
2026-03-12 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Detroit) | KNAC, 315 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007-5007, United States
SIGN UP USING THE EVENTBRITE LINK BELOW:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/roots-wings-stories-of-survival-and-soaring-tickets-1980840583508?aff=oddtdtcreator

Paint + write poems on “Beyond Resilience,” creating a split-canvas of roots (strength) and wings (future growth).

This 2-part workshop series meets twice- March 5 &19, 2026, hosted in the new Kalamazoo Poetry Festival space at the Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition in downtown Kalamazoo. Sessions run 6pm–7:30pm.
*PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP IF YOU CANNOT MAKE BOTH SESSIONS.
March 5, 2026 at 6pm, doors at 5:30pm
March 19, 2026 at 6pm, doors at 5:30pm
This workshop blends painting and poetry to explore the theme of ‘Beyond Resilience.’ Participants will reflect on their personal journeys, creating poems that capture their ‘roots’ (sources of grounding and strength) and their ‘wings’ (aspirations and thriving futures). Through guided writing prompts and painting, each person will design a split-canvas artwork that visually represents both resilience and growth beyond it. The session closes with an optional share-circle where participants can read excerpts of their poems or describe their artwork, fostering community connection and collective inspiration. By the end, participants will leave with both a written and visual representation of their journey from survival toward soaring.
Bio:
Erica Smith is a creative wellness practitioner and founder of Fortunate Fourth Creations & Media, where art meets healing. She empowers communities through therapeutic art, storytelling, and transformative art experiences.
Headshot Photo Credit:
Hananiah Harden, Black Magic Media
Social Media (with space for clickable links):

Facebook: Fortunate Fourth Creations — https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560172731523
Instagram: @fortunatefourthcreations — https://www.instagram.com/fortunatefourthcreations/
TikTok: @fortunatefourthcreations — https://www.tiktok.com/@fortunatefourthcreations
LinkedIn: Erica Smith — https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-smith-67038a362/

Celebration of Community Poets
2026-04-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Crawlspace Theatre, 315 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007-5007, United States
The Kalamazoo Poetry Festival Celebration of Community Poets is back for 2026! We are excited to welcome the public to this FREE event.
Doors open at 6pm, and show starts promptly at 6:30pm.
Come hear local poets and musicians perform their own work at The Crawlspace Theatre, located inside the KNAC in downtown Kalamazoo.
There will be light refreshments and a DJ for some socializing afterward. Please come out and support local art! Bring a friend or ten, and make an evening of it.
Hope to see you there!
Click the event website link below to be directed to our Facebook event.

Finale Poetry Reading and Reception
2026-04-11 17:00 - 19:00 | Epic Center, 359 S Kalamazoo Mall, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007, United States
RSVP IS NOT REQUIRED BUT IT IS APPRECIATED! RSVP HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finale-reception-kalamazoo-poetry-festival-tickets-1981453153722?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

YOU CAN ALSO FIND THE FACEBOOK EVENT HERE: https://www.facebook.com/share/17sdo9JWH2/

Help the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival welcome our 2026 featured poets jessica Care moore and Alen Hamza. This year, we will be hosted by the wonderful folks at the Wellspring Dance Company, in their Cori Terry Theatre. The theatre will house our Finale Reading, and then we will head downstairs to the Black Arts and Cultural Center for the catered reception.
The Finale poetry reading will be ASL interpreted, please spread the word!
Parking information has been made available in the information section of this event. Please read it carefully, yes, it is possible to park downtown! The Epic Center is conveniently located near two parking structures, and there is street parking available.
You can read more about our poets below.
jessica Care moore:
jessica Care moore is an award-winning poet, recording artist, book publisher, activist, cultural arts curator, and filmmaker who has become one of the leading voices of her generation; she is Detroit’s Poet Laureate (appointed in 2024), the Executive Producer and Founder of the 20-year-old rock & roll concert and empowerment weekend Daughters of Betty – Powered by Black WOMEN Rock!, founder of The Moore Art House 501(c)(3), and the founder of Moore Black Press, which has published poets including Saul Williams, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, asha bandele, and Danny Simmons; she has recorded her poetry with Hip Hop legends like Common, Nas, Jeezy, Talib Kweli, Karriem Riggins, Jeff Mills, The Last Poets, Jose James, and Roy Ayers, is the author of *The Words Don’t Fit in My Mouth*, *The Alphabet Verses The Ghetto*, *God is Not an American*, *Sunlight Through Bullet Holes* and *We Want Our Bodies Back*, and her poetry and voice are featured on the 4th floor of the Smithsonian’s New National Museum of African American History.
Alen Hamza:
Alen Hamza immigrated to the United States from Bosnia-Herzegovina as a refugee at the age of fifteen. He is the author of Twice There Was a Country, chosen by Brenda Hillman as the winner of the CSU Poetry Center First Book Award. His poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including AGNI, The Southern Review, Waxwing, Fence, and The Missouri Review. He has an MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah. He has received fellowships from the Michener Center for Writers, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the University of Utah. Hamza lives in Kalamazoo, where he is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at Western Michigan University.
