Blank Verse is a reading series that supports diverse writers of all ages, levels, genres and performance styles including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and spoken word. Each event will feature local poetry and prose writers, and time for open mic and conversation.

Blank Verse is sponsored by Cracked Walnut, a chapter of the League of Minnesota Poets, which aims to generate love for live literature, community, and creativity.

June's Featured Readers are: 

Annette Gagliardi is an author and a poet. Some of her honors and awards include: a two-year term (2025 to 2027) serving as Poet Laureate for the League of Minnesota Poets, Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence for her historical fiction, titled: “Ponderosa Pines: Days of the Deadwood Forest Fire”. Her newest chapbook, titled: “Caffeinated” has won both the Literary Titan Award and the International Impact Best Book Award.  Annette has poetry in over fifty anthologies, has work published in hundreds of magazines online and in-print, including Lit Shark, Motherwell, St. Paul Almanac, Eye-to-the-Telescope, Wisconsin Review, The Soliloquist Magazine, Sublimation, American Diversity Report, Origami Poems Project, Amethyst Review, Door IS A Jar, Trouble Among the Stars, Sylvia Magazine, and others. More of her work, can be found at https://Annette-gagliardi.com

Jacob Robinson started writing poetry as a young musician while growing up in the twin cities area.  He is a writer and visual artist who is always creating.  He is passionate about nature and loves hiking and camping.  Jacob became a part of the Minnesota writing community through the evolution of, what is today, the Cracked Walnut Writing Collective which is ever changing and growing.  Some of his biggest influences have been Bill Anderson, Michael Keisow Moore, Barry and Elizabeth, who have been mentors, points of inspiration and kind friends.  Jacob's poetry is free form and covers a wide variety of topics.  He is grateful for the strong poetry community in the twin cities and the sense of belonging it has afforded him; hoping his participation helps propagate that experience for others. 

Christy Merry has two musical EPs and six published poetry collections to her name, with her next book, All Your Faces, soon on the horizon. Her work is often noted for its combination of vulnerability and hope – despite cathartic elements and having been compared to Blanchot’s ‘open wound in language’ (blood on the floor, as it were), there is often a glimmer of something better to come. Her poems have also been published in Lake Country Journal, Teen Quest, Zelos, Go! Magazine and Saltsite.com. Christy is a native Minnesotan who’s also lived, written and performed in Chicago, Hollywood, and Brooklyn before coming back to Minnesota in 2010 and staying for love.
She and her husband live in a small house in NE Minneapolis with their two black cats, Audrey and Ramona.

Taylor Paige Westerberg came into this world only weighing 2 pounds; she was strong from the beginning!  She was named after her adopted Mother's favorite author Taylor Caldwell. She was adopted when she was two years old by a family who was/is white. This unique perspective helped make her into the strong, creative, and insightful person she is today. Her sister whom she grew up with, was influential, as she was a published writer herself! In school, Taylor's favorite subjects were English and Creative Writing. As a teenager she often wrote short stories and poems for fun! She had a poem published in The National Library of Poetry when she was 18. Having been in the Army for 37 years, she learned quite a bit about herself and others, and the appreciation of life. She received her BS in Health Administration from the University of Phoenix. She works as a Paraprofessional for the School District, working with Middle School kids, who have Special Needs. 

Barry MacDonald goes by the dharma name “Tekkan,” which means “Iron Man” in 13th century Japanese. Tekkan indicates a “settled practitioner of great determination.” He was given this name when he took Buddhist vows. He lived in Japan for 9 years, teaching English at the Berlitz Corporation in Kyoto. He practiced Zen at Hosshin-ji, a Zen temple in Obama — a small town on the coast of the Sea of Japan. He is the president of the Crack Walnut Branch of Twin Cities Poets and Writers Group. He has written 70 books. He was the featured poet in the 2022 volume of Startled by Laughter — New Poetry in Traditional Forms; and was in the top ten of 2,000 poets published by the first issue of Maplestaple in a literary contest in 2023. He has also been published in numerous anthologies, including Agates, Rewilding Hope, The Nations Underground — Writing with Our Ancestors, and Little by Little the Bird Build’s It’s Nest.

Anoka County Library strives to ensure that all visitors are able to access library resources, services, and programs. Assistive technology and program accommodations are available at many library locations as outlined here. Please call the library branch hosting the program at least two weeks prior to an event if there are additional accommodations we can provide for you to fully participate.