The anchor night of Free Verse will feature celebrated Trinidadian poet Cheryl-Boyce Taylor, award-winning New York slam poet Mike Rosen and Jacksonville, Fl. poet Tyquan Morton.  Following the reading, there will be an afterparty in the Memminger courtyard curated by Illvibe.

About Cheryl Boyce-Taylor

Born in Trinidad and raised in Queens, New York, Cheryl is the founder and curator of The Calypso Muse Reading Series and The Glitter Pomegranate Performance Series.

She is the mother of the late Malik Taylor (aka Phife Dawg) from the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Her fourth collection of poetry, Arrival, was published by Northwestern University Press and was reviewed by the New York Times.

A graduate of Stonecoast MFA Poetry Program, her poetry has been widely published in literary journals such as: Callaloo, Caribbean Erotica, So Much Things to Say: 100 Calabash Poets, Adrienne, Bowery Women’s Poetry, Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The Mom Egg Review and Pluck! Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture.

Boyce-Taylor was a finalist for the 2018 Paterson Poetry Prize and the winner of the 2015 Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Award.

About Mike Rosen

Poet and Mental Health Advocate Mike Rosen is on a mission to normalize the less than perfect.  His work focuses on exploring mental health, grief and healing without stigmatization or shame.  In addition to performances at The Whitney Museum, Yale University and across India, Rosen has twice finished in the Top-10 at College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational, was a Grand Slam Finalist at Rustbult Regional Slam, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Urbana Poetry Slam and Intangible Slam and was named Best Male Poet at the Wade-Lewis Poetry Slam.  Mike’s work has been published in Upworthy, Write About Now, Button Poetry, Chronogram, and Insight.

About Tyquan Morton

Tyquan Morton, born in Charleston, South Carolina, is a poet, an English teacher, and an anti-Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence advocate.  He paints the world with words to empower himself and anyone who’s willing to listen.  Tyquan’s first book of poetry Remembering Pluto, explores themes of joy and trauma, love and heartbreak, and discovering what it means to be human again.