The 14 April ECPP Second Sunday Salon at OCA MOCHA café in Arbutus, MD, will feature poet, songwriter, and singer Kristin Kowalski Ferragut. Kristin is the author of the poetry collection Escape Velocity and the children’s book Becoming the Enchantress and has appeared in journals including Beltway Quarterly, Bourgeon, and Fledgling Rag, among others, and has featured in poetry readings in and around the DMV. She has appeared in The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress among other interviews and is an avid blogger. Kristin hosts the DiVerse Gaithersburg Poetry Reading and performs original songs on guitar at local taverns and open mics in the area. Kristin lives in Gaithersburg, MD and more information on her many creative activities can be found at https://www.kristinskiferragut.com/.

The 14 April ECPP Second Sunday Salon will be hosted by Clifford Bernier. Clifford’s The Silent Art won the Gival Press Poetry Award. He is also the author of the chapbooks Dark Berries and Earth Suite. A new chapbook, Ocean Suite, is forthcoming in 2024. He appears in The Write Blend poetry circle collection among other print and online journals and anthologies. In addition, Clifford appears on harmonica in the Portuguese Accumulated Dust world music series and is featured on the EP Post-Columbian America. He is a member of the Washington Writer’s Collection and has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and a Best of the Net Award. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

This month at OCA Mocha Kids Club, we are partnering with Macaroni Kid South Baltimore. Come and join us in making Handprint Tulips and Coffee Filter Butterflies!

We’re back! EC Poetry and Prose Second Sunday Salon Series. Join us for a new salon series every second Sunday at Oca Mocha Cafe in Arbutus MD. Open Mic 🎤 to follow featured author. More info at ecpoetryandprose.org or text for info:4109291669.

This month at OCA Mocha Kids Club, [COMING SOON]

Laura Shovan is Pushcart Prize-nominated poet whose work appears in journals and anthologies for children and adults. Books include Mountain, Log, Salt, and Stone (Harriss Poetry Prize winner), The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, Takedown, and A Place at the Table (Sydney Taylor Notable), written with Saadia Faruqi. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools for the Maryland State Arts Council and teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Her latest publications include: Welcome to Monsterville (Apprentice House, 2023)/"Hawk," Greening the Earth: A Global Anthology of Poetry ( Penguin Random House, 2023)/"Music and Matzo," On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024)

This month at OCA Mocha Kids Club, we will learn about Lunar New Year and make Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day crafts. We hope to see you there!

EC Poetry and Prose Presents ~ Second Sunday Salon Series at Oca Mocha January 14, 2024

Rebecca Moon Ruark's writing draws on the performing arts, on parenting, and on her native Rust Belt. In addition to writing, she serves as associate editor for Parhelion Literary Magazine and runs her own blog, Rust Belt Girl. Rebecca is working on a novel about the healing power of song. Rebecca' writings can be found in Great Lakes Review, CutBank, Belt Magazine, and many more literary journals. IG: @MoonRuark; Twitter: @MoonRuark; FB: Rebecca Moon Ruark