March 18, 2021 | Poetry Café

San Miguel Poetry Café Presents “A Sense of Place”:
Poetry by Three Powerful Regional Voices

By Catherine Marenghi

The San Miguel Poetry Café will feature three outstanding poets with powerful regional voices spanning North Dakota, Florida, and Louisiana. Bonnie Larson Staiger, MaryKatherine Wainwright, and Dalt Wonk will read via Zoom on Thursday, March 18, 2021, 5:00-6:00 PM CST. The online event is free of charge; pre-registration is required.

Bonnie Larson Staiger is a North Dakota Associate Poet Laureate and ND Humanities Scholar. She is a recipient of the Poetry of the Plains and Prairies Prize from North Dakota State University Press for her debut chapbook Destiny Manifested, which also received the Independent Press Award: Distinguished Favorite. She recently received awards from Flying South Literary Magazine, Persimmon Tree, and The MacGuffin’s Best of the Year Anthology, and was a finalist for the Julia Darling Poetry Prize and the Great Midwest Poetry Prize. Her second book, a full collection titled In Plains Sight, is forthcoming from NDSU Press in 2021. Her poetry book Destiny Manifested may be purchased at Amazon.com.

Mary Katherine Wainwright is the author of A Taste of Salt: Poems and a former professor of American literature. From her childhood in North Florida, Mary Katherine takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery. Her writing often traces significant moments in her life that intersect with the larger cultural context of the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements. Mary Katherine is a world traveler who has lived in New York, Europe, and Mexico, and has now returned to her native Florida. Her collection of personal essays, En Route, was published in 2019. Her poetry book A Taste of Salt may be purchased at Amazon.com.

Dalt Wonk is a writer of plays, poems, and fiction. His best-known work is French Quarter Fables, which he wrote and illustrated. New Orleans, where he has lived for 40 years, has inspired much of his writing. Dalt has worked with New Orleans artists on several book projects including Nocturnes, which combines his poetry with photogravures by Josephine Sacabo. A co-founder of the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, Dalt has taught graduate-level playwriting at the University of New Orleans, as well creative writing to inmates at Orleans Parish Prison. He has collaborated with musician Charles Neville of The Neville Brothers and New Orleans jazz composer Alvin Batiste, among others. For The Laughing Lady, his children’s picture book set in New Orleans, he created the full-color illustrations. Dalt’s books can be purchased from Luna Press at lunapress.com.

Founded in January 2016, the San Miguel Poetry Café convenes monthly, September through April, and also holds special events. The all-volunteer organization presents both established and emerging poets. To be considered for an upcoming reading, please submit sample poems and a brief bio to poetrycafe@sanmiguelliterarysala.org.