About this Event
Lines Spun Poetic
Hosted by Haley Valenta at White Lilac
Words are meant to be heard.
Lines Spun Poetic brings six distinctive regional voices to White Lilac for an evening of poetry that is honest, personal, dark, hopeful, funny and deeply human. Hosted by poet and Rabbit Ear Poetry creator Haley Valenta, the event features writers whose work draws from mental health, love, loss, identity, nature and the strange beauty found in everyday life.
White Lilac was created for experiences like this: artists sharing meaningful work in an intimate room with an audience that is genuinely present. Come listen closely, discover voices you may not have heard before and experience poetry the way it was meant to be experienced—spoken aloud and shared among people.
Meet the Poets
Nicholas Michael Ravnikar puts the overt in overthinking. His signature poetic form, The Polish Octave, has been adopted by a total of like four regionally acclaimed poets (so far) … but most likely not you! Google. That. Ish. Fr fr, he needs the search result hits. Author of six books and a couple of chapbooks, he earned an MFA from Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Since then, he’s taught college classes, edited on a newspaper deadline desk, wrote marketing copy & repaired bathtubs before a series of nervous breakdowns and psychotic episodes — God’s honest — set him back a few paces. He’s still reeling, under doctor’s orders. He likes lifting weights and at the time of writing deadlifts more than Nick Demske, with whom he constitutes one half of the Four Warm Horn Shins of tha Nickpocalypse. When he can, he volunteers to promote regional literary infrastructure for Chiwaukee corridor poets and the broader mid(we)st Lake Michigan region through The Poetry Movement and its Paper Knives publishing imprint. Learn more more about how to promote public poetry, access a database of regional literary opportunities, and navigate various pipelines to publication at thepoetrymovement.org
Shannon Vierra is a Northern Illinois author who writes under the pen name S. Black and crafts the award-winning dark fantasy series The Chimera Snare with her husband. Poetry was one of her biggest outlets before she started writing her series, centered on the push and pull of light and darkness, strength and weakness, and always grasping at hope to overcome the obstacles she faced. Her dark poetry collection, "As the Pieces Fall," is scheduled for release in the summer/fall of 2027, with the goal of highlighting the importance of mental health and reminding us that there is always hope in darkness.
Shannon is an urban gardener and an avid seed collector. In the makeup community, she goes by the moniker zoomzoommacaron and hosts an international, zombie-themed makeup collab called the #zombabescollab. She also enjoys anime, horror movies, craft bevs, cooking (and eating), sunbathing, photography, and singing badly.
Debra Hall is a Racine poet whose work explores the intersection of love, loss, and the sacred ordinary. What the Current Cannot Swallow is her debut chapbook published by Write Where We Belong Press, Canada. Hall serves as president of the Kenosha/Racine Poet Laureate program and she was Racine Poet Laureate from 2020-2022. Her poems have appeared in Bramble Literary Magazine, Moss Piglet, Wisconsin Poets' Calendar(s), and A Wreath of Golden Laurels by Local Gems Press.
Haley Valenta is a poet and author, creator of Rabbit Ear Poetry, and host of Lines Spun Poetic. Her emotionally driven poetry centers around her experience with mental illness, which has been known to make people shed a few tears. She currently has four books out with a fifth on the way and hopes to be writing and publishing poetry for the rest of her life.
MJ Lamb has lived in Southeast Wisconsin for the last 26 years. This region has given them endless inspiration and opportunities to explore their creativity. A free verse poet and abstract watercolor artist, they have more recently been performing spoken word at open mic nights and even had a set at Kenosha Pride this year. Additionally, MJ was selected for both iterations of The Poetry Movement in Racine, and has shown their original paintings at UW-Parkside and Spectrum Gallery and will be on stage with Pink Umbrella Theater this fall. MJ is deeply grateful for these opportunities, as well as the support from their partners, pets, friends, and family.
Maria Cargille grew up in Kenosha, studied creative writing at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and came back when the lake-longing proved too much for her. An active member of the Kenosha Writers Guild, Maria writes poetry and fiction about the minutia of the everyday, inspired by nature, art, history, and their many intersections; she loves the optimistically bittersweet. Her work has been featured in The Coe Review, The Pearl, and on fiftywordstories.com.
Come Be Part of the Room
You don’t need to know anything about poetry to feel its impact. You only need to arrive with an open mind and a willingness to listen.
Join Haley Valenta and this remarkable group of poets for Lines Spun Poetic at White Lilac—an intimate evening of language, vulnerability, imagination and connection. In a room built for listening, every word matters.
Event venue & nearby stays
The White Lilac, 6th Avenue, Kenosha, WI, USA, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.