Ross Gay

Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: Against Which; Bringing the Shovel Down; Be Holding, winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. In addition to his poetry, Ross has released three collections of essays—The Book of Delights was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller; Inciting Joy was released in 2022, and his newest collection, The Book of (More) Delights was released in September of 2023.

Jane Wong

Jane Wong is the author of the debut memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, out now from Tin House (2023). She is also the author of two books of poetry: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything from Alice James (2021) and Overpour from Action Books (2016). She holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University. Her poems can be found in places such as Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019, Best American Poetry 2015, The New York Times, American Poetry Review, POETRY, The Kenyon Review, New England Review, and others. Her essays have appeared in places such as McSweeney's, Black Warrior Review, Ecotone, The Common, The Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and Want: Women Writing About Desire (Catapult).

She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Artist Trust, Harvard’s Woodberry Poetry Room, 4Culture, the Fine Arts Work Center, Bread Loaf, Hedgebrook, Willapa Bay, the Jentel Foundation, Ucross, Mineral School, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Loghaven, and others.

The recipient of the James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award for Washington artists, her first solo art show “After Preparing the Altar, the Ghosts Feast Feverishly” was exhibited at the Frye Art Museum in 2019. Her performance and installation work has also been exhibited at the Richmond Art Gallery and the Asian Art Museum. A scholar of Asian American poetry and poetics as well, you can explore "The Poetics of Haunting" project here. She grew up in a Chinese American restaurant on the Jersey shore and lives in Seattle.

Vince Gotera

Vince Gotera serves as Professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa, where he has taught creative writing and literature for almost 30 years and earned the Faculty Excellence Award and the statewide Regents Award for Faculty Excellence. Gotera holds an MFA in Poetry and a double PhD in English and American Studies from Indiana University.

As an author, Gotera has published more than 300 poems in venues across the U.S. and internationally along with four collections of his poetry: Dragonfly (1994), Ghost Wars (2003), Fighting Kite (2007), and The Coolest Month (2019). He has completed three other collections that will soon be published: Pacific Crossing, about Filipino American life and culture; Corona: Virus, a collaboration with Lee Harlin Bahan about the Covid pandemic; and Aswang Love, a novel in poems about mythic Philippine monsters in love. He has also published a book of literary criticism, Radical Visions: Poetry by Vietnam Veterans (1994).

Gotera is the recipient of many awards, including a Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Global Filipino Literary Award in Poetry (from the literary magazine Our Own Voice), the Veterans Writing Prize (from the Stone Canoe journal and the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families), the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry (from The Madison Review), the Mary Roberts Rinehart Award in Poetry, and the Academy of American Poets Prize. He has been nominated for the Rhysling Award (for Speculative Poetry) for nine years and also several times for the Pushcart Prize.

From 2000 to 2016, Gotera served as Editor of the North American Review, the longest-lived literary magazine in the US. Subsequently he was Editor of Star*Line, the print magazine of the international Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (2017-2020).

Along with poetry, Gotera writes fiction and creative nonfiction and has performed as a bassist and guitarist for several decades.

Kelsey Bigelow

Kelsey Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She spends her time working as a mental health poet sharing this therapeutic tool with audiences of all ages across the world. She holds a masters in strategic communications from the University of Iowa and a bachelors in professional writing and creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. 

Her latest book, “Far From Broken,” released as an Amazon Best Seller in Family Poetry. In addition, she is the author of "The Coffee Cherry" (2023), "Depression Holders and Secret Keepers" (2021), and "Sprig of Lilac" (2018). Her work is published with Central Avenue Publishing, Pile Press, Lyrical Iowa, Backchannels Journal, Spirit Lake Review, and elsewhere. Kelsey is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2023 Button Poetry Video Contest Finalist, and a 2023 Central Avenue Poetry Prize shortlist finalist.

As a performer and speaker, Kelsey has taken stages across the country and virtually across the world. She has performed with organizations such as The Mayo Clinic, NAMI, Planned Parenthood, MercyOne, CancerCon, and more. Videos of her work can be found on Button Poetry, Write About Now, Ghost Poetry Show, and elsewhere. 

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She's the founder and leader of the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, the chair for the Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, a teaching artist for the Des Moines Art Center & ASAP, the co-tournament director for the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and more.

James Autry

We are honoring the work of James A. Autry as one of the founders of the original Poetry Festival. 

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Autry is a former Fortune 500 executive, who is also an author, poet and business coach. He lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife, Sally, and their son, Ronald.  Additionally, he has two other sons, Jim and Rick, and two grandsons, Eric and Brian.

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Autry has authored 15 books. His most recent publication is also his first foray into children's literature. Everyday Virtues: Classic Tales to Read with Kids is his first father/son collaboration, co-authored by his son, Rick. Autry's previous publications include books on servant leadership, gratitude, and business poetry (among other topics). 

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Read more about Autry at jamesaautry.com.