West-East (W-E) Poets of the Pandemic and Beyond
In Summer 2020, Lynn McGee invited her friends Susana H. Case, in New York City, and William (Bill) Mohr, in Los Angeles, to join her in presenting a virtual reading series featuring poets from both coasts.
In Fall 2021, Bill Mohr stepped down as co-host but continued to support the W-E tech support honorarium for a few months, enabling Madeleine Barnes, a poet friend in Brooklyn, to help out at readings.
Soon after that, Carolyne Lee Wright and Sandy Yannone, both poets in the Seattle area, joined the group as co-hosts.
The current W-E team includes Susana H. Case, Lynn McGee, Carolyne Wright and Sandy Yannone, who has moved from the west coast to Connecticut.
The team members volunteer their time to curate, host and promote the series, which has celebrated poets from communities across the U.S., as well as in the Caribbean, Ireland, England, Brazil and Argentina. The W-E team looks forward to hosting more readings of poets across and outside the U.S.
​
Friend the W-E hosts and our series on Facebook, to learn of upcoming events.
W-E readings have proudly presented the following poets. Click on the date to watch a video of the reading:
​
Kathy Nelson, Subhaga Crystal Bacon, Laura Smyth,
​
Sheila Black, Anna Leahy, Jason Schneiderman, Joseph Zaccardi
​
July 14, 2024
Garrett Hongo, Mary Oishi, Christina M. Rau, Alex Simões
​
Kai Coggin, Peggy R. Ellsberg, John Philip Drury, LaWanda Walters
​​
Jennifer Conlon, Letisia Cruz, Lily Greenberg, Sandra Yannone
​
Grace Cavalieri, Barbara Crooker, Ryler Dustin, Amy Holman
​​
Indran Amirthanayagam, David Goff, Gerald Wagoner and Cecilia Woloch
​
Book Launch Reading: From the Belly, Poets Respond to Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons, Vol. 1: Karren Alenier (editor), Susana H. Case, Nils Michals, Brad Richard, Carolyne Wright
​
Jennifer Franklin, Karen Friedland, Dorianne Laux
Dzinia Orlowsky, LJ Sisko, Meredith Trede
​
Risa Denenberg, Alison Hedge Coke, Mervyn Taylor, Bruce Whitacre
​
Liz Ahl, Lisa Badner, Lauren Camp, Anne Harding Woodworth
​
November 13, 2022
Susana H. Case, Andre Bagoo, Philip Memmer, Kim Ports Parsons
​
September 11, 2022
Jessica Mookherjee, Beth SKMorris, Eugenia Toledo
July 10, 2022
Abdul Ali, Judith Kerman, Susan Rich
​
Meg Kearney, Raul Sanchez, Elaine Sexton, Margo Taft Stever
​
Anna Leahy, Myra Malkin, David Rigsbee, Sean Singer
Andrea Carter, Don Krieger, Heidi Seaborn, Ravi Shankar
November 14, 2021
Kai Coggin, Ed Madden, Connie Post, Carolyne Wright
Richard Blanco, Barbara Goldberg, Gustavo Hernandez, Gail Newman
Cal Freeman, David Lehman, Michael Montlack, Hilda Raz
Kim Addonizio, Suzanne Cleary, Gary Copeland Lilly, Beth Ruscio
Grace Bauer, Carol Ellis, Erin Murphy, Sandra Yannone
Claudia Castro Luna, John Guzlowski, Dayna Patterson, Paul Vangelisti
Ellen Bass, Jessica Greenbaum, Bertha Rogers
Allison Blevins, Tina Cane, Robin Myers, Anthony Seidman
Kai Coggin, Marsha de la O, liz gonzalez, Gerry LaFemina, Mike the Poet Sonksen, Barbara Ungar
June 14, 2020
Indran Amirthanayagam, Laurel Ann Bogen, Jennifer Franklin, Alexis Rhone Fancher, Mervyn Taylor, Lynne Thompson
​
​
​