WORD

Walter Bargen served as the first poet laureate of Missouri, in 2008 and 2009. His poems, essays, and stories have been published in more than 300…

Iris Appelquist's latest collection of poems "where we were we were there" was published in March. It's the third book in Prospero's POP poetry series,…

Kansas City poet Xánath Caraza’s most recent book, Sílabas de viento/Syllables of Wind, received the 2015 International Book Award for Best Book of…

William Trowbridge is Missouri’s third poet laureate. He was appointed to a two-year term, and that was three years ago. But, he says, he continues to…

Mike Wilson, of Independence, Missouri, has a hectic schedule — he works long hours as a mail delivery driver, and he's married with three kids (with one…

Andrea Johnson is a Kansas City native, now studying English, creative writing and music up at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.She wrote this…

"I think once you start writing — and you really love it — you can't stop doing it," says Andrew Gordon Rogers, who graduated with a B.A. in Creative…

Sarah Smarsh has been gaining international attention for her essays about growing up poor in Kansas — they've appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's,The…

Larry Christy owns Missouri River Rafting, where he guides canoe and rafting trips. He’s logged more than 5,000 miles on the water. He’s canoed the entire…

Writer and poet Billy Brame majored in acting, and it's shaped his performances at readings and slams around Kansas City. Brame describes his style as…

Monique Gabrielle Salazar is a writer, artist and musician. A member of the Latino Writers Collective, she’s also a self-described “collector of…

Andrew Johnson had a notebook filled with descriptions of small images.He also had an interest in what he calls the tension between the monotony of daily…