Slamlandia – ft. Valerie Yvette Peterson

Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. This mic provides a creative, fun, and welcoming space for all literary communities in Portland. We encourage poets new and old to come share their work. We strive towards a safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate in community.

[Featuring: Valerie Yvette Peterson

Valerie Yvette Peterson; Poet, Playwright, native and current resident of Portland, Oregon, has been writing for over 35 years, performing her work across the country. Her Poetic work has been performed for many organizations and festivals, including Juneteenth of Oregon, World Arts Foundation Inc.’s Annual MLK Jr. Tribute (The 2nd Largest Celebration in the Nation for Dr. King), the G.A.R.E. (Government Alliance on Race and Equity) Network’s Annual Conference. Her Poems have been featured in: the Nashville Herald, Kontrol Magazine, NOWPRmagazine.com, Stereotypeco.com, Dr. Melinda Silva’s Podcast for Mental Health, Ethically Immoral Podcast, and many others. Her work can also be read in four Anthologies: The first, titled Los Angeles Poets for Justice; A Document For The People, published by the L.A. Poet Society Press and three Anthologies: Protest 2021; 100 Thousand Poets for Change Vol.2, Remembering Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Struggle For Liberty, all three published by Moonstone Press. Her poem titled: To Fly High in Formation was selected by Sims Library of Poetry for a feature in their Poem-A-Day. Valerie’s upcoming NOVEL-IN-VERSE will be released soon and published by TBN Christian Publishing. Valerie has worked with the Poetry Society of New York’s Advisory Council, as well as the Fertile Ground Festival of New Work’s GROW Award Panel, where she helped to create a shift toward equity and inclusion in all aspects of BIPOC Artistry. With her newly released Musical POEMS singles, she infuses a rich musical backing to her POEMS as she has turned the power of words into her source of strength and fortitude. Singles from this debut spiritual album include WHEN SHE DANCES, EARTH’S HUE, GOD’S SEASONS and many others. Her Lyrical Poems can be found on most streaming platforms, Sundays from 9 am-1 pm on the Numberz Radio Station 96.7FM and you can purchase her album this evening as well during our break.]

This event takes place in-person. Proof of Covid-19 vaccine or a negative PCR test is required for admittance. Please see our Covid-19 guidelines for in-person events at Literary Arts.

Hosted by Julia Gaskill.

Julia Gaskill

Julia Gaskill is a professional daydreamer hailing from Portland, Oregon. Her poetry examines the tightrope we sometimes walk of feeling our voices censored and also being unabashedly ourselves. Her poems touch on everyday misogyny, parental loss, praise of femininity, mental unrest, found healing, and her deep love of being a geek. Julia has competed multiple times on national stages with her work, and she has been the featured reader on poetry mics all across this country. Her work has been published on FreezeRay Poetry, NAILED, Ink&Nebula, Rising Phoenix Review, Knight’s Library Magazine, and more, and videos of her poetry have been featured on both Write About Now and SlamFind. Her poem ‘i will not beg for scraps’ was nominated for Best of the Net in 2015. Julia is the author of four chapbooks, runs the mic Slamlandia, and co-founded the Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam in 2019. Find Julia at facebook.com/jgaskpoetry