Ken Arkind is a National Poetry Slam Champion, Nuyorican Poets Café Grand Slam Champion, published author, and featured Tedx Speaer who has performed his work in 49 States, Australia, New Zealand Ireland, the UK, and at over 150 colleges and universities. He is the Executive Director and head Brave New Voices coach for The Denver Minor Disturbance Youth Poetry Project, an independent literary arts organization dedicated to helping Colorado youth find their voices through the mediums of poetry and performance, and current Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Champions. For more about Ken see here.
Carrie Rudzinski, named “Best Female Poet” and “Best of The Rest” at her first national poetry competition in 2008, is a full time performance poet who has performed her work across the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and India. She represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam, twice at the National Poetry Slam (2010/2011), and ranked 14th at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam. Most recently, she represented Denver’s Mercury Café at the 2013 Women Of The World Poetry Slam. Her newest collection of work, The Shotgun Speaks, will be published in May 2013. For more about Carrie see here.
An evening of poetic magic is being held as a fund-raising effort for The Ashburton Art Gallery. Revel in the captivating lyrical rhymes and admire the creative talent in the Ashburton area.
Sip on a freshly brewed coffee or hot chocolate from The Coffee Guy, while surrounded by beautiful illustrations and artwork by renowned artist Graham Percy. Enjoy the readings from the invited poets and perhaps join in the open mic session. If you, or someone you know, are interested in reading then feel free to contact the Gallery for further information.
Packing a Bag for Mars 
David Eggleton is a poet and writer whose articles, reviews and essays and short stories have appeared in a wide variety of publications. He has had published six books of poems and a book of short fiction, and has written or contributed to many works of non-fiction. He has also released a number of poetry recordings featuring his collaborations with musicians. He has also released a number of poetry recordings featuring his collaborations with musicians, and been involved in poetry text collaborations with practitioners of a variety of other art forms, from sculpture to film to fashion design. His first collection of poems was co-winner of the PEN New Zealand Best First Book of Poems Award in 1987. He has performed his poetry widely, both in New Zealand and overseas. His most recent book of poems is Time of the Icebergs, published by Otago University Press in 2010. His most recent book of non-fiction, published in 2007 by Raupo Publishing, is Towards Aotearoa: A Short History of Twentieth Century New Zealand Art. He currently edits Landfall and Landfall Review Online, and is the Ursula Bethell Writer-in-Residence at the University of Canterbury for the second part of 2012.
