Hot L Poets Series, ft. John Wall Barger & Hillary Gonzalez

Sunday April 12, 2026 at 4pm, The HOT L Poets Series continues, moving to the outdoor patio at The Ivy Bookshop (5928 Falls Rd, Baltimore) with poets John Wall Barger & Hillary Gonzalez!

The reading includes an open mic so bring a poem (1 poem, 3 min. or less).

Now in our eighth year, the reading series is the work of Smartish Pace and Baltimore Poets Theatre. Hosts: Clare Banks, David Yezzi, and Stephen Reichert.

by John Wall Barger!

by Hillary Gonzalez!

John Wall Barger has published six books of poems and one collection of essays. His next book of poems, Resurrection Pie, is coming out with LSU Press in 2026. He’s a contract editor at Frontenac House, lives in Vermont, and teaches at Dartmouth College.

Hillary Gonzalez (she/they) is a Baltimore based queer, disabled, and AuDHD poet, whose work explores themes of ecopoetry, identity, and healing. They are the authors of Seasons, and the ecopoetry collections, Wild, Unfelt World (Gnashing Teeth Publishing 2026), and Where the Osprey Nest (Palewell Press 2026). Their poems have been published by South Broadway Press, Cosmic Daffodil Journal, Canid Press, and in anthologies by Bi+ Book Gang, Yellow Arrow Publishing, Loblolly Press’ anthology: Understory, a fundraising anthology for the victims of Hurricane Helene, and In Praise of Despair, an anthology for disabled artists and writers by Beyond the Veil Press.

Hillary is a community organizer and activist, a founding board member of the Baltimore City nonprofit, Sacred Parks & Waterways, a survivor of domestic violence and CSA, and now works towards creating a better future–where all beings can flourish.

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