Yolanda Wisher is the author of Monk Eats an Afro (Hanging Loose Press, 2014) and the co-editor of Peace is a Haiku Song (Philadelphia Mural Arts, 2013).

 

Wisher was named the inaugural poet laureate of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in 1999 and the third poet laureate of Philadelphia in 2016. A Pew and Cave Canem Fellow, she has been a Writer in Residence at Hedgebrook and Aspen Words.

 

Currently the Curator of Spoken Word at Philadelphia Contemporary, she also performs a unique blend of poetry and song with her band The Afroeaters.

 

This is Yolanda’s first Festival as a participating writer and she will be offering the Writing Workshop, “RAG & RIFF: The Poetics of the Quilt”

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