The Green Way Reading Series Vol.4

The Green Way Reading Series is a monthly literary event based in Takoma Park, MD curated by Elizabeth Bryant and Takoma Park’s Poet Laureate Taylor Johnson. The series centers emerging and established poets and artists in interdisciplinary, intergenerational and cross-regional dialogues. We want these programs to encourage growing participation and local engagement in the evolving landscape of contemporary poetry. The intention is to bring something new to this area with offerings that provide a space for horizontal community building, the generation of new work, and the amplification of local poets. The series is made possible by generous support from the Cave Canem Foundation and the Maryland State Arts Council, in addition to our collaboration with Takoma Park’s People’s Book. The space is open from 5:00 – 7:00 pm, readings begin at 5:30 pm. We hope that you can join!

Derrick Weston Brown holds an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. He is the founding Poet-In-Residence of Busboys and Poets. He is a graduate of the Cave Canem and VONA summer workshops and is a participating author in the PEN-Faulkner Foundation’s Writers-In-Schools-Program. His work has been published and featured in such print journals and online publications as, Racebaitr, Colorlines and Bayou Magazine. His debut collection of poetry, Wisdom Teeth was released in 2011 through PM Press/Busboys and Poets Press. His second collection of poetry, a chapbook entitled On All Fronts was released along with two other poetry chapbooks in a bound series from Upper Rubber Boot Press entitled Floodgates Vol.5 , March of 2019 He resides in PG County. He was an adjunct professor of English at Prince George’s Community College in Largo MD and is currently full-time faculty of the Cinematic Arts & Media Production (CAMP) at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts. You can follow him on social media on Facebook, Instagram @theoriginalDerrickWestonBrown or through DerrickWestonBrown.com

Alexa Patrick is a vocalist and poet from Connecticut. She holds fellowships from Cave Canem, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and more. Alexa is currently the Programs Director for Shout Mouse Press. In spring 2023, Alexa made her stage production debut as Un/Sung in the opera We Shall Not Be Moved, directed by Kennedy Center honors awardee Bill T. Jones. You may find her work in publications including The Adroit Journal, CRWN Magazine, and The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic. Her debut collection Remedies for Disappearing will be published by Haymarket Books in June. Visit alexapatrick.com for more.

Clint Smith is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism, the Stowe Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2021. He is also the author of two books of poetry, the New York Times bestselling collection Above Ground and Counting Descent, which won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He is a staff writer at The Atlantic.