Join us for an evening with a few of our favorite poetry pros from across northern Illinois. WNIJ’s Poetically Yours host Yvonne Boose will lead a discussion with Karen Fullett-Christensen, Christopher D. Sims and Rhonda Parsons on writing poetry during a pandemic and tips they have if you are looking to turn your ideas into stanzas. Plus, our poets will share examples of their work live!
Learn more about these poets whose work has appeared on Poetically Yours Fridays at 12:31 p.m. and 6:18 p.m. on 89.5.
Karen Fullett-Christensen has been writing poetry and memory stories since high school, and credits two of her English teachers, Mr. Vespo and Mr. Brown, for their encouragement and support. She has self-published over 20 manuscripts. She is the current poet laureate for the city of Aurora. She was born and raised on the North Side of Chicago, in the Albany Park and Budlong Woods neighborhoods. She is a 1968 graduate of Mather High School and a 1972 graduate of Northern Illinois University.
Rhonda Parsons discovered she had a talent for writing when she elected to take creative writing at Hononegah High School. Since then, she has received an award from Rock Valley College and the Rockford Writers' Guild, for her book, “If A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words.” She’s also shared her vision in newspaper editorials and performed publicly at Holy Day celebrations.
Christopher D. Sims is from the West Side of Rockford and first shared his poetic gifts onstage at Haskell Elementary School thanks to Dorothy Paige-Turner. Rooted in Black joy and celebration, his poems wind through the landscapes of this country's past and present. He hopes they will inform, engage and entertain. Sims, who originally wrote rap and hip-hop lyrics, said his poetry has a bebop cadence.
