Hemingway's Poetry Series: July 22, 2025 (Beeson, Davoudi, Ickes, Sineni & Walicki)

Featured ReadersClick to Enlarge - Right-Click to Download

Front Row: Bahar Davoudi, Alyssa Sineni & Joan Bauer

Back Row (L-R): Lou Ickes, Kristofer Collins, Kelley Beeson & Robert Walicki

Kristofer Collins is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Low Ghost Press founded in 2008 and the longtime Books Editor for Pittsburgh Magazine. He is also the co-curator of the Hemingway's Summer Poetry Series. His latest book, Roundabout Trace, was published in 2022 by Kung Fu Treachery Press. His latest project, The Pittsburgh Book Review can be found at https://pittsburghbookreview.blogspot.com/. He lives in Stanton Heights with his wife, son and daughter.

(Note that the following audio clip picks up part way through Kristofer's recollections about Ozzy Osbourne.)

Opening Comments by Kristofer Collins - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Joan E. Bauer is the author of three full-length poetry collections, Fig Season (Turning Point, 2023), The Camera Artist (Turning Point, 2021), and The Almost Sound of Drowning (Main Street Rag, 2008). Recent work has appeared in Paterson Literary Review, Slipstream and Chiron Review. She divides her time between Venice, CA and Pittsburgh, PA where she co-curates the Hemingway's Summer Poetry Series with Kristofer Collins.

Additional Opening Comments by Joan Bauer - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Kelley Beeson holds a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Library and Information Science from The University of Pittsburgh. She is the recipient of the 2023 Lefty Blondie Press Chapbook Award for her book, Undress. Her work appears in Kestrel, Four Way Review, Rogue Agent, Kaliope, and has been twice-nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Kelley grew up in Pittsburgh and left only once for graduate school. She lives in the city, works as a crackerjack librarian, and writes as a mad-proud member of the Madwomen in the Attic Writing Workshops since 1992.

Kelley Beeson - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Bahar Davoudi is an Iranian-Canadian poet and writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her work has been published in Voices from the Attic, The Poet, Barzakh Magazine, Writer’s Foundry Review, Fresh Air, The Gulf Tower Forecasts Rain Anthology and is forthcoming in Stone Poetry Quarterly. She is a member of (sub)Verses Social Collective as well as Madwomen in the Attic Workshop at Carlow University in Pittsburgh. Bahar is a scientist holding a PhD in Medical Biophysics.

Bahar Davoudi - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Lou Ickes Luther grew up on the tough streets of West Hempfield. He majored in Philosophy at IUP’s world renowned Philosophy and Religious Studies department. Luther has no books or publications to his name. He enjoys painting. Luther writes whenever it’s time. He once owned a bar [Brillobox], maybe he still does? For more: https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/stories-of-our-neighbors-i-miss-the-wildness/

Lou Ickes - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Alyssa Sineni is an artist and writer. She is a member of Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange, The Porch Poets, The Pittsburgh Society of Artists, and The Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh. She has poems published in The Ekphrastic Review,; They Call Us, Uppagus, Voices from the Attic Vol 28 and Vox Populi. In addition, Alyssa works as the Director of Programming for Art and Inspiration, a non-profit, which celebrates artists and writers.

Alyssa Sineni - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download)

Robert Walicki's poems have appeared in over 50 journals including Chiron Review and Vox Populi. A two-time Pushcart and a Best of The Net nominee, Robert's second chapbook. The Almost Sound of Snow Falling was included in the exhibition catalog for New York's Poet's House, and his latest full-length poetry collection is Fountain from Main Street Rag Press. His forthcoming poetry collection, Watershed, will be published by Broadstone Press.