Open Mic following the Featured Readers — feel free to share one poem, one page.
Free and you’re welcome to just walk but if you get tickets on Eventbrite, it would help us know how many people will attend https://www.eventbrite.com/e/diversecasey-poetry-nights-tickets-321426253577
Casey Community Center, 1 mile north of Shady Grove Metro on 355.
810 S Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20877
Jeffrey Banks is poetically known as “Big Homey.” His credits include ESSENCE Magazine, Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, Radio-One Inc., the CBS Early Show, BLACK ENTERPRISE Magazine, performing nationwide, international broadcasts, multiple grant awards & publications through DC Public Libraries, the National Association for Poetry Therapy, Paris Lit Up, and Day Eight.
Maritza RiveraMaritza Rivera is a Puerto Rican poet and Army veteran who has lived in Rockville, MD since 1994. She has been writing poetry for over fifty years; is the creator of a short form of poetry called Blackjack; and is the publisher of Casa Mariposa Press. In 2011, Maritza began hosting the annual Mariposa Poetry Retreat, “where the magic of poetry happens,” which takes place in Puerto Rico in 2022. Maritza is the author of About You; A Mother’s War, written during her son’s two tours in Iraq; Baker’s Dozen; Twenty-One: Blackjack Poems; and creator of the Blackjack Poetry Playing Cards. Her work appears in literary magazines, anthologies & online publications and in the public arts project, Meet Me at the Triangle in Wheaton, MD.
DiVerse Gaithersburg 