When women speak of what they have witnessed, mountains metaphorically move.
Patricia Starek began writing poems as a teenager before becoming a member of the Asheville, N.C., slam team in 1996. She co-wrote and performed Stepsisters, a two-woman dialogue on race, womanhood, and friendship with Peace Center Poet-in-Residence Glenis Redmond. Currently, she develops intervention programs for struggling readers for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Sabrina Hayeem-Ladani is a multi-genre performer. She studied theater at Marymount Manhattan College, trained as a flamenco dancer in Spain, coached a team to the National Poetry Slam, and opened in concert for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Her poems can be seen in various publications, including in the anthology So Much Things To Say: One Hundred Poems of Calabash and The Wide Shore, a journal of global women's poetry.
Poetic Conversations feature readings, conversations, and talkbacks with esteemed poets, moderated by the Peace Center’s award-winning Poet-in-Residence, Glenis Redmond. Poetic Conversations welcome literary giants to the stage and embrace topics that reflect the diversity of our communities. Events are free of charge, reaching a broad audience brought together through the power of the written and spoken word.
The program underscores the need for intimate, relevant, and meaningful interactions impacting our community and the world today. Poets share stories of the human condition and invite the community to gather, listen, and reflect in a robust talkback about the poetic exchange they witnessed. It is a place for all to speak and be heard.
Poetic Conversations celebrate inclusivity by exploring one’s own value and voice.