Sequelitis. After the success (and many, many hours of editing out my ums and ahs) of our pilot, the pressure was on to make a great follow-up episode. We were incredibly lucky to get two amazing poets from The Writer’s Den slam team.

Roscoe is the coach, the founder. Now the official emcee for TWD slams, Roscoe is the voice and the tone-setter. A teacher by day, poet by night, father and husband all the time, Roscoe is incredibly community-driven. In our recent episode featuring two other Writer’s Den team members, Michelle Dodd and Rob Gibson, Michelle speaks to Roscoe taking her under his wing, extending a sense of family and familiarity amongst this intimate team of performers.

Listening to this episode now, almost a year after we recorded, Monica’s performances still give me chills. She wields her rhythm, cadence and emphasis to imbue a lasting impact on everyone who has the great fortune to hear.

The Writer’s Den slams happen on the last Thursday of every month at Infuzion in Scott’s Addition. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend these events as a chance to see for yourself some of the best up-and-coming poets in Richmond.