Do you have trouble capturing the world around you in precise, evocative language? This panel examines how effective imagery goes beyond simple description to engage emotions, establish mood, and bring specific places to life. Our three panelists will draw from their varied backgrounds to offer advice on using figurative language strategically, engaging all five senses, and selecting concrete details. Learn how powerful visual writing can create impactful experiences that linger in your audience’s minds.
Speakers: Yasmin Angoe, Jeffrey Dale Lofton, Junious “Jay” Ward
Moderator: Rosa Castellano
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Eastern Time
Location: ONLINE, via Zoom
Cost: $12 Members | $17 Non-members
Registration is required.
The Writing Show includes a social time from 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm. This portion of the evening is optional. If you choose to only attend the panel discussion, please sign in to Zoom by 6:25 pm to keep from interrupting the panel discussion once it begins at 6:30pm.
SPEAKERS
JEFFREY DALE LOFTON is the author of Red Clay Suzie, which was Longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and twice named an Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association. He was also named Georgia Author of the Year for First Novel. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Red Clay Suzie go to support the important work of The Trevor Project and the Born This Way Foundation.
JUNIOUS “JAY” WARD is a poet and teaching artist. He is a National Slam champion (2018), an Individual World Poetry Slam champion (2019), author of Sing Me A Lesser Wound (Bull City Press 2020) and Composition (Button Poetry 2023). Jay currently serves as Charlotte’s inaugural Poet Laureate and is a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. Ward has attended Breadloaf Writers Conference, Callaloo, The Watering Hole and Tin House Winter Workshop. His work can be found in Columbia Journal, Four Way Review, DIAGRAM, Diode Poetry Journal, and elsewhere.
MODERATOR
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Originally from Tampa, Florida, ROSA CASTELLANO is a poet and teacher living in Richmond, Virginia. A finalist for Cave Canem’s Starshine and Clay Fellowship, and co-founder of the RVA Poetry Fest, her poems can be found or are forthcoming from RHINO Poetry, Passages North, Nimrod, The Ninth Letter, and Poetry Northwest, among others. She has an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her debut poetry collection, All is the Telling, is available from Diode editions. |