Highland Bowl, 1137 South Ave, Rochester, NY 14620
Rain Venue: Third Presbyterian Church: 4 Meigs St, Rochester, NY 14607
ASL interpreted; accessible venue
Gift Economy Tickets, priced FREE – $50
Willa Carroll is a writer, performer, filmmaker, and interdisciplinary artist. She’s the author of Nerve Chorus (2018) and Demolition Suite (2023). Her poems and multimedia collaborations have appeared in AGNI, Poem-A-Day, The Slowdown, Tin House, TriQuarterly, and elsewhere. She’s the recipient of awards from Bennington College, Narrative Magazine, and Tupelo Quarterly. Her poetry films have been honored at the International Migration & Environmental Film Festival and the Tokyo International Cinema Awards, and have screened at festivals in seven countries. After twenty-five years in New York City, she’s now based in her hometown of Rochester, NY. www.willacarroll.com
Aries J is a literary arts curator, poet, and community-centered storyteller dedicated to creating brave, welcoming spaces for writers. She is the author of the poetry collection Journey to Womanhood: A Poetic Rite of Passage, as well as numerous poems published in various anthologies. Through writing circles, seasonal workshops, and poetry gatherings, she cultivates spaces rooted in reflection, courage, and community care.
Sarah Freligh is the author of eight books, including the recently-released short story collection Other Emergencies; Sad Math, winner of the 2014 Moon City Press Poetry Prize, and the 2015 Whirling Prize from the University of Indianapolis; and Hereafter, winner of the 2024 Bath Novella-in-Flash contest. Her work has appeared many literary journals and anthologized in New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction (Norton 2018), and Best Microfiction (2019-22). Among her awards are poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Saltonstall Foundation.
For more than three decades, Dead Metaphor Soirée has gone about setting poems on fire and keeping vigil at the ash. Drawing from blues, folk, cabaret, and art song traditions, Curt and Nani Nehring Bliss adapt poetry into original music and adventure out into the witching borderlands between music and the spoken word. Playing with language worn smooth by overuse, they instigate a kind of linguistic resurrection—familiar texts rise again in strange and luminous ways. Twice Rochester Fringe Festival Critics’ Picks, they convene now and again for themed performances at readings, benefits, and small festivals.
