
About Winter in America (Again
Poets Respond to 2024 Election
Updated April 7, 2025.
Poets from the United States and beyond respond to the 2024 Presidential election. The poems are rooted in a belief that the incoming administration will not relieve or heal us from our nation’s past: the destruction of the environment, the unbridled use of power, the pervasive narrative that Black lives do not matter, patriarchy, reproductive injustice for women, silent support for the US prison-industrial complex, and the lack of compassion for diverse gender identity, immigrants, the indigenous, and unsheltered populations. The editorial team worked tirelessly for six weeks to publish this anthology before the January 20, 2025 inauguration.
Lead Editors: Katie Sarah Zale, Paul E. Nelson
Editorial Board: allia abdullah-matta, CChristy White, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Robert Lashley, Roxi Power & Theresa Whitehill

UPCOMING READINGS
Check back for upcoming readings – see below for past readings
reader bios

allia abdullah-matta
is a poet and Professor of English at CUNY LaGuardia & The Graduate Center/Africana Studies Program. She writes about the culture and history of Black women and explores the presence of Black bodies and voices in fine art and poetry. She was the co-recipient of The Jerome Lowell DeJur Prize in Poetry (2018) from The City College of New York (CCNY). Her poetry has been published in Newtown Literary, Promethean, Marsh Hawk Review, Mom Egg Review Vox, Global City Review, the Jam Journal Issue of Push/Pull, and Queensbound. Her chapbook(s) washed clean & blues politico (2021) were published by harlequin creature (hcx). abdullah-matta has published critical and pedagogical articles and serves on the Radical Teacher and WSQ (Women’s Studies Quarterly) editorial/advisory boards. Her chapbook blackprint was published by THRASH Press (2024).

Katie Sarah Zale
believes in the power of the arts to transform and heal ourselves and the world. The Weight of a Leaf (Kelsey Press, 2024), a finalist for the Arizona Poetry Award and nominee for the social critic Eric Hoffer’s book award, offers poems about “the violence of our times…[that pave] the way to resilience.” Explain the Moon to Me (Moonstone Arts, 2022) highlights “what we do to the world—and each other.” Sometimes You Do Things (Aquarius Press’ Living Detroit Series, 2013) highlights the history and rebuilding of Detroit. The Art of Folding was inspired by her travels to Israel and Palestine (2010). In a Buddhist sense, Zale believes in tradition and that the mind and heart are one. Poetry should make the reader feel and think deeper than they may wish. Poetry should challenge our vision about our place in the world.

Paul E Nelson
is a poet/interviewer/bioregionalist based in Seattle (Cascadia) & studied Organic Poetry in the tradition of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov. He has interviewed over 100 poets: Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, Nate Mackey & Brenda Hillman among them. He founded the Cascadia Poetics Lab and his latest book of poetry is DaySong Miracle (Past 62) written on September 8, 2023.

Roxi Power
is poet, performer, and publisher whose book, The Songs That Objects Would Sing, was published in 2023. She founded the trans-genre anthology series, Viz. Inter-Arts at UC Santa Cruz where she teaches. Power received an AWP Intro Award and has been published in journals including American Poetry Review, Black Warrior Review, Puerto del Sol, Seneca Review. Roxi podcasts for The Hive Poetry Collective whose mission is to talk about all kinds of poetry by all kinds of people. In the spirit of Open Field Poetics and Buddhist notions of emptiness, she works toward an open ethos in her work as an anthologist, welcoming work from different poetic “tribes.” As a Bay area poet, her work is inspired by its experimental feminist poetics—including Lyn Hejinian and Brenda Hillman—and its tradition of working across genres: she co-founded Neo-Benshi (Live Film Narration).
Past Events & readings
Saturday, July 12, 2 PM
Columbia City Gallery
4864 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118
Readers include: Roxi Power, allia abdullah-matta, Paul E Nelson, Katie Sarah Zale, Zach Charles, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Catalina Cantú, Dion O’Reilly, Matt Trease, Robert Lashley, Terran Campbell and other poets. Reading from the book and Q&A about creative resistance. Link to Columbia City Gallery.
Thursday, July 10, 6:30 PM
Finnriver Farm & Cidery
124 Center Road
Chimacum, WA 98325
Readers include: Roxi Power, Holly Hughes, allia abdullah-matta, Paul E Nelson, Katie Sarah Zale, Roxi Power Anna Linzer.
Winter in America (Again Reading at Finnriver Farm & Cidery
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Lopez Island Library
2225 Fisherman Bay Road
Lopez Island, WA 98261
Readers include: allia abdullah-matta, Roxi Power, Paul E Nelson, Katie Sarah Zale, others. 2225 Fisherman Bay Rd, Lopez Island, WA 98261. Link to Lopez Island Library.
Winter in America (Again Reading at Lopez Island Library
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Trident Booksellers & Cafe
940 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO 80302
Mari Brown, Matthew Cooperman, Aby Kaupang, Paul E. Nelson, Roxi Power, and Andrew Schelling.
Link to Trident Booksellers
Winter in America (Again Reading at Trident Booksellers & Cafe

Monday, May 5, 3-5 PM
Artful: The Gallery
526 Cumberland Rd, Courtenay, BC V9N 2C7, Canada
HEAR AUDIO FROM THE READING BY CLICKING HERE
Ann Graham Walker, Carla Stein, Daphne Marlatt, Dion O’Reilly, Lorin Medley, Paul E. Nelson, Robert Lashley, Scott Lawrence, and more! Link to Artful: The Gallery

Thursday, May 1, 7pm
Elliott Bay Book Company
1521 10th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
Listen to the audio of the reading: Part 1 Part 2
Editors, Katie Sarah Zale, Paul E Nelson, Publisher Greg Bem, Tetsuzen Jason Wirth, Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Matt Trease, Robert Lashley, Zach Charles, Stacey Jones, Terran Campbell, Catalina Cantu. Link to Elliott Bay Book Company.

Sunday, April 27
Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
269 4th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
The poets reading include: John Maney, Aida Zilelian, Keisha Gaye Anderson, Cynthia Manick, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Sarah Katie Zale, Paul E. Nelson, allia abdullah-matta and Kim Brandon. Link to Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture.
April 27, 2pm PST.
Lit Balm Interactive Livestream Reading Series.
https://litbalm.org/
allia abdullah-matta, Petra Kuppers, Bill Lavender, Roxi Power, Fred Wah
April 26, 2pm PST.
Lit Balm Interactive Livestream Reading Series: https://litbalm.org/
Matthew Cooperman, Aby Kaupang, Paul E. Nelson, Mark Nowak, Rodrigo Toscano
April 15, 7pm
Inter Act Poetry at Satori Arts
Santa Cruz, CA
Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Veronica Eldredge, Dane Cervine, Julia Chiapella, Roxi Power, Dion O’Reilly, David Sullivan.
April 1, 7pm
Bookshop Santa Cruz
https://bookshopsantacruz.com/winter-in-america
Paul E. Nelson, Matt Trease, Dane Cervine, Julia Chiapella, Dion O’Reilly, Roxi Power. Audio: 4.1.2025 Bookshop Santa Cruz Winter in America (Again reading audio
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Off-site AWP at Cal State
5151 State University Dr
Los Angeles, CA
L.A.Music Hall, Theater Building. (Uber Drop off at Circle Drive).
Readers included: Rodrigo Toscano, Elizabeth Robinson, Cynthia Manick, J.P. Howard, M.A. Nicholson, Susanne Dyckman, Mark Scroggins, Angelica Recierdo, Mark Scroggins, Katie Sarah Zale, Roxi Power, Paul E Nelson, Dion O’Reilly, Holly Hughes, Matt Trease and Brenda Hillman Winter in America (Again: Poets Respond to 2024 Election (Carbonation Press, 2025).
Audio from this reading is available!
Part 1:
Part 2:
February 15, 2025 Tucson Readers

Saturday, March 1, 7pm
Et. Al. Books
2831A Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Maxine Chernoff, Susanne Dyckman, Paul Hoover, Roxi Power, Elizabeth Robinson & Kit Robinson (FLYER)

Photos, Chernoff, Hoover, Dyckman, E. Robinson, K. Robinson:
Past Readings Audio and Video
- Audio from KPFK-FM Bibliocracy Radio March 20
- Audio from KPFK-FM Bibliocracy Radio March 13
- Audio from KPFK-FM Bibliocracy Radio March 6
- Audio from KPFK-FM Bibliocracy Radio Feb 27
- Audio from KPFK-FM Bibliocracy Radio Feb 20
- Audio from KPSK-FM Bibliocracy Radio program Feb 13
- Audio from KPFK-FM Bibliocracy Radio program Feb 6
- Video from February 4, 2025 Seattle U reading
- Zoom Video from January 20, 2025
- Zoom Video from January 19, 2025
If you resonate with this effort:
Consider joining the Poetry Postcard Fest, July 4-August 31, 2025, or the online workshops.
