February BONK! to be Hosted and Featured by Dasha Kelly

Dasha Kelly Hamilton is a writer, performance artist and creative change agent, applying the creative process to facilitate dialogues around human and social wellness. She is the author of two novels, three poetry collections, four spoken word albums and one collection of personal vignettes. She has taught at colleges, conferences and classrooms and curated fellowships for emerging leaders. An Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy, Dasha has facilitated community-building initiatives in Botswana, Toronto, Mauritius and Beirut. Her touring production, Makin’ Cake, uniquely engages communities in a forward dialogue on race, class and equity. Dasha is a national Rubinger Fellow and a National Laureate Fellow with the American Academy of Poets. She is concurrently, Poet Laureate for the City of Milwaukee and for the State of Wisconsin.

Charles Payne is a South Madison transplant, a certified teacher, and a self-taught social artist from Michigan. As a child, he loved hearing the sound of Paul Harvey’s voice, their innate ability to describe every intricate detail truly inspired Charles to tell stories himself. And, yes, Charles can’t wait to give you the rest of the story. Charles believes good stories foster empathy and help people see the world from different perspectives. Charles has won the Arts + Literature Laboratory’s inaugural ALL Originals Prize competition for his poems and the Moth’s Inaugural Central GrandSLAM storytelling competition. His work has also been featured in issue 7 of the River South Review, issue 1 of Soulin Space Magazine, Madison Magazine, The Madison Isthmus, and Arts + Literature Laboratory’s ALL Review.