Make No Apologies For Thyself: Poetry & Conversation

"... just because people die does not mean they don't walk with you daily."
- Glenis Redmond

Join us for an evening of poetry and reflection as Glenis Redmond (City of Greenville Poet Laureate) and de'Angelo Dia (2024 Black Carolina Artist-in-Residence) explore the deeply personal journeys of healing, resilience, and connection. Through poetic dialogue, the artists weave narratives that illuminate the enduring bond between the natural world and the practices of self-care, radical tenderness, and reconciliation to the self.

You are invited to rediscover the wonders of the world, the stories that connect us, and the lessons they offer. Through their words, you'll be encouraged to embrace healing, reflection, and the beauty of our shared human experience.

The evening will conclude with a Q&A session, allowing for a deeper conversation about the role of poetry in navigating life’s challenges and finding strength in vulnerability. All are welcome.

Glenis Redmond is grounded in many worlds as a Poet, Teaching Artist, and Imagination Activist. As a Poet, her feet are firmly planted on both the page and the stage. As a Teaching Artist, her educational reach extends into the classroom, where she teaches both students and teachers to open to their own poetry within. As an Imagination Activist she uses the bright bloom of her heart and soul to unlock the doors of creativity in others in the community-at-large. She is a gentle pen pusher.

Glenis Redmond is the First Poet Laureate of Greenville, South Carolina. She is a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist, and a Cave Canem alumni. She has authored six books of poetry: Backbone (Underground Epics, 2000), Under the Sun (Main Street Rag, 2002), and What My Hand Say (Press 53, 2016), Listening Skin (Four Way Books), Three Harriets & Others (Finishing Line Press), and Praise Songs for Dave the Potter, Art by Jonathan Green, and Poetry by Glenis Redmond (University of Georgia Press). The Listening Skin was shortlisted for the Pen America Open Book Award and the Julie Suk Award.

Glenis received the highest arts award in South Carolina, the Governor’s Award and was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors.Glenis is an Army Veteran Reservist. She is living with cancer and was diagnosed with Stage 3 Multiple Myeloma in July of 2019. Glenis is a cancer advocate, as she works to help improve the lives of people living with cancer. Her motto is Bloom Anyhow.

She is a "Charlie Award" recipient awarded by the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival and was recently a recipient of the Peacemaker Award by the Upstate Mediation Center in 2022. Glenis is the mother of twin daughters, Amber Sherer and Celeste Sherer Farmand. She is the Gaga of Julian, Paisley and Quinn. Other than poetry her passions are gardening, dancing and collecting art and Fluevogs.

Learn more about Glenis at glenisredmond.com.

Theopoet and mystic Rev. Dr. de'Angelo DIA examines culture and moral imagination through poetry, performance art, and photography. His work is grounded in the aesthetic of neo-Appalachian art, the charismatic nature of the Black church, mythology, and a multitude of theologies that inspire mysticism.

DIA holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Communication and Sociology with a minor in Photography from Appalachian State University, a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies: Literature from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Master of Divinity and Doctorate of Ministry from Union Presbyterian Seminary.

DIA's poetry collection include bifurcation (Union Presbyterian Seminary, 2022), sacred | spaces (Theurgical Studies Press, 2024) and nightshade (Bottlecap Press, 2024). His current manuscripts Cocktails with Jesus and Postcolonial Trap House Theologians are elegies exploring grief, desire, and radical tenderness. Dia’s poems have appeared in BLACK BOY Journal, The Skinny Journal, Artists Writing on Liberation, and Cru Arts & Culture. He is the recipient of awards and fellowships from Cave Canem, The Watering Hole, the Hurston/Wright Foundation, the McColl Center for Art + Innovation, and The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. DIA is the Community Relations Manager of Goodyear Arts based in Charlotte, NC.

Learn more about de'Angelo at dia1518.com.