Equinox Poetry Showcase & Open Mic

✨YOU’RE INVITED to Equinox Poetry Showcase & Open Mic!✨On Saturday, September 27, we’re welcoming fall with fire! 🔥🎤🍂 Come through to Art Monster Studio at 6:30pm for an unforgettable night of connection, verse, and cosmic vibes hosted by Norwalk Poet Laureate Katherine E. Schneider. Meet fellow poetry-lovers, exchange stories, and experience soul-stirring sets from Monica Ong, Sahmra K. Sawyer, Dara Kalima, Jerry T. Johnson, and Nicole Caruso Garcia—a powerhouse lineup from CT to NYC. 🌟

Feeling inspired? Stick around for our limited walk-in-only open mic—first come, first signed! 🎟️ Register for FREE on Eventbrite (but space is limited—so move fast!). ✨ Light refreshments served + Spacecat Brewery next door for pre/post-show gatherings!

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✨Showcase Poet Bios✨

✨A visual poet and the author of Silent Anatomies (2015) and Planetaria (2025), Monica Ong brings a designer’s eye to experimental writing that surfaces hidden narratives of women and diaspora. Her work has been exhibited at the Poetry Foundation and her fine press visual poetry editions and literary art objects reside in over fifty distinguished institutional collections worldwide. In 2024, Ong was named a United States Artists Fellow.

✨Sahmra K. Sawyer is a Writer and Spoken Word Poet born and raised in Norwalk, CT. Sahmra Sawyer graduated from UConn Stamford in 2022 with a degree in Psychological Sciences and is now an MSW student at Fairfield University, pursuing a career in Clinical Social Work. Sahmra is passionate about promoting mental well-being through both clinical practice and creative expression. In 2023, she became the Founder and Host of We’ve Got Something To Say, a thriving poetry platform based in Bridgeport, CT. Her mission is to create safe spaces where voices are heard, using the transformative power of storytelling to foster healing and connection. Sahmra combines her passions for advocacy, mental health, and the arts to empower individuals and communities. Enter Supreme.

✨Dara Kalima, also known as The Community Poet, resides in Bronx, NY. She explores love, equity, and healing through the lens of lived experiences and personal observations. Kalima has performed internationally and Off-Broadway and hosts the On Behalf Of podcast. Kalima facilitates workshops on a myriad of topics from Poetry 101 to specific written and performance techniques. She can often be found wandering through the streets of New York City, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells while seeking that spark that will inspire her next poem. Kalima has authored four books, including Casualty of Love (2017) and Still Laughin’ (2021). She has also had her words published by Great Weather For Media, Rigorous, The Amistad, African Voices Magazine and others. Connect with her at www.darakalima.com or on BluSky or IG @DaraKalima.

✨Jerry T Johnson is a Poet and Spoken Word Artist whose poetry has appeared in a variety of literary publications worldwide. Jerry is author of 3 poetry collections: A Coldness published by Finishing Line Press, Poets Should Not Write About Politics by Evening Street Press and Bad Fruit by Gnashing Teeth Publishing. His poetry collection Poets Should Not Write About Politics was selected winner of the Evening Street Press’ 2020 Sinclair Poetry prize and his poem “The Apology” (Evening Street Press) was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021.

✨Nicole Caruso Garcia’s full-length debut OXBLOOD (Able Muse Press) received the International Book Award for narrative poetry. Her work appears in Crab Orchard Review, Light, Mezzo Cammin, ONE ART, Plume, Rattle, RHINO, and elsewhere. Her poetry has received the Willow Review Award and won a 2021 Best New Poets honor. She is an associate poetry editor at Able Muse and has served for five years as an executive board member at Poetry by the Sea, an annual poetry conference in Madison, CT. Visit her at nicolecarusogarcia.com

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Host or Publisher Norwalk Poet Laureate Katherine E. Schneider