Poets In The Round Bios

Dani Putney

Dani Putney is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race Filipinx, & neurodivergent writer originally from Sacramento, California. They’re the author of Mix-Mix (Baobab Press, 2025)

& Salamat sa Intersectionality (Okay Donkey Press, 2021), finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Poetry. They’re also the author of the poetry chapbook Dela Torre (Sundress Publications, 2022) & the creative nonfiction chapbook Swallow Whole (Bullshit Press, 2024), & they’ve received support for their work from the Nevada Arts Council, Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, & Association of Writers & Writing Programs.

Their poetry appears in outlets such as Bennington Review, Cream City Review, Foglifter, Grist, Hayden’s Ferry Review, & Puerto del Sol, among others, while their creative nonfiction can be found in journals such as Crab Creek Review, Glassworks Magazine, Quarterly West, & So to Speak, among others. In May of this year they were a spotlight feature artist, sharing an extended set from their most recent book release with Monday Night Poetry as well as the featured poet of study for May of 2025 in the Collective Breath Poetry Book Club. They received their PhD in English from Oklahoma State University & MFA in Creative Writing from Mississippi University for Women. They live in Reno, Nevada.

Courtney Kelly

Courtney Kelly is a queer educator and writer based in Northern Nevada. She is a regular poet at Monday Night Poetry. Her poetry has featured at the Utah Arts Festival, She’s On Fire Art and Music Festival, Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl, Dinner for the Revolution, and Radical Cat Grand Reopening. She is the founder of Reno’s Generative Poetry Workshop and co-founder of the Queerest Little Bookclub and has volunteered as a judge for the Washoe County Poetry Out Loud semi-finals since 2024. She was hired as the editor for “The Illusion of Choice” the debut choose your own adventure poetry book by M. Colton Brodeur  published in 2024.

Iain Watson

Iain is the Founder of Spoken Views Collective (2006) Which is the longest standing, continuously running spoken word and written word poetry organization outside of Las Vegas in the entire state of Nevada. He is a governing member of the Reno Arts and Culture Commission as well as the Nevada Poetry Society in addition to being a public educator in the Washoe County School system of many years. He is the special event touring acts booking agent and promotional organizer for, as well as co-founder of, Monday Night Poetry. He was the opener and host of the world premiere for Insomnia, a spoken word play written by season 15 winner of AGT Brandon Leake. He is a local DJ and Photographer in addition to being a proud cat Dad and Husband to Jamie. Godfather to the spoken word scene in the Biggest Little City. 

Griffin Peralta

Griffin is a Spoken Word Poet, Public Educator, and radio host. He grew up in Reno, Nevada (Reno did most of the growing). He hopes to support his community in any way he can.

Griffin is a 4 time poetry slam champion, taking the title in both Reno and Tahoe.

He teaches English Language Arts  in Washoe County, receiving the Outstanding Educator Award and a commendation from Senator Catherine Cortez Masto in 2018.

Griffin is a long time member of the Spoken Views Poetry Collective, working with the group to create, promote, and perform poetry in Northern Nevada.

Nikki Leialohalani Herschend

Nikki Herschend is a spoken word poet, writer, and performer whose work explores trauma, resilience, political defiance, and ancestral legacy. Drawing from a rich blend of personal experience and cultural heritage, Nikki crafts emotionally charged, rhythmically driven poetry that speaks truth to power and reclaims voice in the face of silence. Their performances are known for their intensity, vulnerability, and unflinching honesty—whether confronting domestic violence, imperialism, or the complexities of identity.

Nikki’s poetry has been featured in competitions, community events, and activist circles including the annual She’s On Fire Festival here in Reno. Their current body of work includes a three-part series on survival and reclamation, as well as pieces that challenge colonial narratives and honor ancestral strength. Nikki’s debut chapbook, She Didn’t Know She’d Live Again, is forthcoming. Nikki is passionate about using language as a tool for liberation and connection.

Michelle Meyers

MICHELLE is an award-winning poet, community activist, and educator. As a founding member of the Asian American female spoken word poetry group Yellow Rage, she was one of the first Asian American women to appear on HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry; in the first live Def Poetry Jam show presented at the 2001 HBO U.S.

Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado; and in the Def Poetry Jam College Tour. For over 20 years, Michelle has featured at hundreds of college campuses as well as at many distinguished venues around the country, including the Kennedy Center, BAMcafé, Bowery Poetry Club, Asian American Writers Workshop, Sierra Arts Foundation, Japanese American National Museum, and the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience.

Employing multiple poetic forms and delivery styles-including narrative, folk arts/storytelling, hip-hop-influenced rhyme, and song-Michelle attempts to employ the raw and intimate power of spoken word poetry in the hopes of taking audiences on an unforgettable journey that educates, challenges, and inspires.

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“I wish for a heart you can see straight through, for a voice

that glows in the dark, and a few really good friends to say, That’s the way to go?”

– Andrea Gibson

“I have never met a heavy heart that wasn’t a phone booth with a red cape inside. Some people will wever understand the kind of superpower it takes for some people to just walk outside. Some days I know my smile looks like the gutter of a falling house, But my hands are always holding tight to the ripchord of believing.”

– Andrea Gibson