The Poets of 2019 Q2
J Fielding Pierce
J Fielding Pierce realized early in life that sitting in a tree in his backyard in Selma Alabama was a comfortable place to catch a cool breeze in July. He married AnneLawrence from Montgomery and they have 5 children. Retired now he’s back on the limb.
He enjoys writing encouraging words, poetry and his version of the Tao te Ching, racquetball, the Gulf of Mexico, Whidby Island, LA, Annes’ cooking, grandkids and roller coasters.
Amy Roberts
Amy Roberts is an artist and literary enthusiast from Nashville, Tennessee. Her unwavering love of stories drives her work in poetry and her aspirations in academia. She lives on three acres with her husband in their hometown, where they both contribute to their vibrant creative community. When she’s not writing, Amy works in the garden, restores her 1961 farmhouse, and volunteers for her local arts advocacy group.
Ben Thomas
Ben Thomas earned a BA in English Literature from Belmont University, where he won the James and Sarah King Writing Award. He is currently living, working, and writing in East Nashville.
Rhett Noland
* FEATURED POET - SEE “FEATURED POET Q2” FOR MORE INFORMATION ON RHETT NOLAND *
Rhett Noland is a musician and writer who found artistic refuge in Nashville in 2011 from the scorching plains of Texas. Rhett tours full time playing drums for Capitol recording artist and rapper NF. Rhett also releases music under his own name that is available on all music platforms. Rhett self published a collection of poetry in his first book "Few and Far Between" in the spring of 2019. Few and Far Between is available on his website listed below.
Kenzie King
Kenzie King is a Tennessee native who made Nashville her home in 2016, and she cherishes its diverse yet close-knit community. At her core, she is a pursuer of people and an advocate for the marginalized. She embodies compassion, joy, and authenticity no matter the opposition. She is acquiring a degree in Social Work and International Human Rights and will be running in the 2036 United States presidential election.
Marlena Jenkins
I’d like for you to meet Marlena Jenkins, a 23 year old college student and Nashville Native. Since being diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at 2 years old, she has dealt with both physical and emotional side effects. Throughout her life, hitting the pause button became her own kind of normal. Writing and horses have played major roles in helping her to continue to lead an extraordinarily wonderful, yet normal life. We all have a story.
J. Riley Henderson
Riley Henderson, a student at Belmont University, is honored to be included in this quarter’s publication. His previous credits are few, as this is his first work in print, and he does most of his work as an actor in the Nashville area. He is an avid outdoorsman, an amateur chef, and he hopes you enjoy his work.
Jennifer Pirecki
Jennifer Pirecki's poetic volumes, Reckoning with Dust and Anthroprose, blend the inspiration she receives through her vocation as psychotherapist with lessons from her own journey towards a deepening connection to the Beyond within our Selves.
Jennifer maintains a private therapy practice, which has served the greater Nashville area, since 2001. She resides in Franklin, Tennessee, with her husband, Bruno, and ridiculously spoiled animals, Totem, and Town.
Meagan Irby
Meagan Irby is a 22 year old student from Franklin. Due to the progression of a disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis, she was forced to discontinue her lifelong pursuit of dance. Meagan threw herself into her poetry as a way to heal and keep her artistic voice alive. She runs an Etsy shop entitled "scribbledneat" where she sells handmade chapbooks of her poems. She is ecstatic to see her words in official print, thanks to NPQ!
Tess Jones
Tess Jones is one of the many radiant humans living and loving in Nashville. She believes that writing can be used as a form of healing and self expression. Tess owns Tulip Hill Recovery, a substance abuse treatment center along with her husband, Ben. She teaches yoga and also works part time as a massage therapist. She is passionate about helping her community restore balance to their nervous system in an often unbalanced world through writing, movement and other preventative measures.
AE Forderhase
Six years ago, AE Forderhase escaped to Nashville in similar manner as Dorthy to OZ. Since then, Forderhase has been everything from ELL teacher to a non- profit coordinator to barista. Whatever the day job, Forderhase is a poet and writer who uses writing to process trauma and betrayal, as a tool to dissect experiences with gender and loneliness, and as means to celebrate love and peace. Writing is not pronouns and commas, but rather a form of human connection.
Megan Martins
Megan Martins is a native of the Boston suburbs but a Nashvillian at heart, having been here almost 7 years. She is a graduate of Belmont University and works as a labor and delivery nurse at Vanderbilt. The poem featured in NPQ is her first published work, as she only started writing more seriously in the last year. It was inspired by childhood, our desire to wish it away, and the nostalgia for it as adults.
Shaun Barber
Shaun Barber is an artist in Nashville, Tennessee.
His work reflects a flow of words intended to invoke an emotion in the reader through a stream of conscious style, true in colloquialism.
Described as, ‘Melancholy with a twist of hope,’ a slight whit tends to show up in each poem.
Shaun’s pieces are intended to give the reader a brief insight into this existentially curious man, who is overly conscious with his surroundings.
Suitin Li
Elliot Tolar
Elliot Tolar is a Nashville based freelance filmmaker, writer and director. As a filmmaker and director Elliot works with talented artist to create music videos and short films. As a writer he spends his time working on screenwriting and other creative writing.
Alexandria Rowland
Alexandria M. Rowland was born in Panama City, Panama to a shy Panamania woman, and a gruff American Naval Officer. Due to her upbringing, she spent most of her life believing that she should push down her emotions, which often spilled out as panic attacks. Alexandria’s poetic voice came during a period of spiritual healing, as a way to express her inner “secret” self. She is originally from Texas, but calls Nashville home
Felix Snow
Felix Snow is a musician who hates poetry and lives in Nashville with his soulmate and two bulldogs.
2019 Q2 poets not featured:
Lara Sand
Ron Brooks