Shogofa Amini is a poet from Afghanistan. She began her life as a young girl living under Taliban rule wearing a burqa. She is now an accomplished poet and she holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health. Shogofa works as a case manager at Seattle Children’s Hospital, helping underserved children and families navigate difficult circumstances. […]
Categories:
Tasneem, “Ms. Taz” is a Sudan born, Florida raised, and now Seattle based spoken word artist. Her voice is gentle when it needs to heal and fierce when it needs to shake the room. Her poetry lives at the crossroads of revolution and reflection, weaving stories of identity, resistance, mental health, and the politics that shape […]
Categories:
Najib Abbi is a Somali-American poet, educator, and founder of The Gaas Collective, a nonprofit literary organization dedicated to uplifting underrepresented voices through poetry, storytelling, and community. Born in Minnesota and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, his work explores identity, migration, belonging, faith, memory, and the power of language to connect people across cultures. Drawing inspiration […]
Categories:
Ada Safi is from Afghanistan. She is a first generation college student pursuing her degree in biology. Her poems speak about her experience as a first generation student, how she navigates her world, and how we can see that world through her poetry. Word Travels: Uplifting Voices
Categories:
Diane Nguyen is a transgender multi-genre, multi-talented artist based in Seattle. Identifying primarily as a musician, she briefly attended McNally Smith College of Music for guitar performance before transferring to complete her Bachelors of Music in piano performance and composition from Cornish College of the Arts. Her creative work is informed by her Trans- and […]
Categories:
Natalie Pascale Boisseau is a bilingual Québec writer from Montréal, living near Seattle. She is writing the autofiction novel Exiles and Desire (4Culture Awards 2023) and a collection of essays, To Arrive Where My Mind Lives, of reflections on road trips through North America. Her work appears in Isele Magazine and Crab Creek Review and is anthologized in This […]
Categories:
Maiah A Merino, a first and second-generation Mexican-American/Chicana Poet, mixed-genre writer, teaching artist. and therapist, has poems in A New Season: Poems from a World in Flux Anthology; In Xóxitl, in cuícatl: Flor y Canto, Antología de poesía; I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State; and Windblown I, and is a regular contributor and […]
Categories:
Sayantani Roy has placed work in several journals including Emerge Literary Journal, Grist (forthcoming), MAYDAY, TIMBER, West Trestle Review, and Wordgathering. She is an MFA candidate at the Rainier Writing Workshop, and her work has been supported by AWP. 2026 Writers Program
Categories:
BeeLyn Naihiwet is a nonfiction writer and poet with roots in Tigray. She is the author of two poetry collections, Plenty. and Moonful (Finishing Line Press). Her work explores memory, wilderness, and the shaping of the self. BeeLyn is currently working on a collection of personal essays. She enjoys all forms of art, especially motherhood. 2026 Writers Program
Categories:
Gabriella Garcia is a writer from the Sonoran Desert. Her chamber opera, A Spring Like This, a collaboration with composer Nehemiah Jones, was developed and performed in 2025 with the support of the Seattle Opera’s Jane Lang Davis Creation Lab. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and lives in Seattle, WA, where she teaches […]
Categories:
Interested in working with Jack Straw as a resident artist, volunteer, teaching artist, or staff member?
|
Here you’ll find past podcasts from our Soundpages, Artist of the Week and Writers Programs. |
