This month the feature poet spot will be shared by three island poets. The evening will be hosted by Natalie Nickerson and an open mic will follow the feature poets.

Elisha Almeida’s poetry is inspired by being with the river, trees, soil, and plant kin. She writes about heart and ancestral re-connection. She attempts to describe the journey of soul that is tender, intimate and evolving. She finds writing to be soul’s balm and is relieved when the words have found paper. She has been revelling in human connections lately, especially communal song spaces that bring her heart joy.

Author Micki Findlay is a long-time resident of Vancouver Island. She focusses primarily on writing memoir-based stories and poetry in hopes of helping others recognize their self-worth and find hope through difficult circumstances. She also writes to heal herself.

Micki’s writing has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Van Isle Poetry Collective, Black Press Media, various magazines including Oasis Life and EyesOnBC, and several anthologies such as, Back The Way We Came by The Memory Keepers, Crone Rising by Jazz House Publications, and Grateful by Quillkeepers Press.

Two of her poems received awards, and her story, Too Late, was a finalist in the Women on Writing 2024 non-fiction writing contest. Several of her poems were recently accepted for Poetry on the Big Screen at the 2024 Poetry Festival in Perth, Australia.

Micki is currently working on an anthology with her writing group and her own memoir-based, healing journal. Creativity, collaboration, and coffee are her love languages.

Erica Keen (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ territory (Ucluelet) and K’omoks territory (Cumberland). A recent graduate of SFU The Writer’s Studio, Erica writes poetry and creative non-fiction. Their work can be found in Sea and Cedar Literary and Arts Magazine, the Comox Valley Collective, and forthcoming in PRISM International.

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