Join us on September 24, 2026 for poetry and community! Arrow Broken Poetry Collective is honored to welcome Lester Batiste as our featured artist.
Lester Batiste is a savage writer in living color who writes for political, social, economic change and Black futures. Born in Chicago, IL, he holds an MFA from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program, and an M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania. Influenced by Gwendolyn Brooks, Carl Sandburg, and Toni Morrison, Lester strives to weave traditional forms and techniques with the vibrancy of African American experience and speech. Rich details are enhanced by the musical tones from Lester’s childhood on the Southside of Chicago to his present on the Northside of Minneapolis. Lester’s work has appeared in print in The Stone House Anthology (2014), the Southern Griot Journal (2012), Tulane Review (2017), A Garden of Black Joy (2020), and digitally in the Brushfire Literary and Arts Journal (2020), Hidden Peak Press (2022), The Indianapolis Review (2023), and The Bitchin’ Kitsch (2023). In 2025, he received the BIPOC Emerging Writer award from Blue Earth Review. Lester’s debut poetry collection, Angel and Night’s Youngest, is forthcoming with the Black Spring Press Group (UK).
The free event will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the The Village Hall in Marine on St Croix. Open Mic will begin at 8:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to share their work and will be allotted three minutes to perform.
September’s theme is Wóokiya—Being Helpful. From ... view more »
Join us on September 24, 2026 for poetry and community! Arrow Broken Poetry Collective is honored to welcome Lester Batiste as our featured artist.
Lester Batiste is a savage writer in living color who writes for political, social, economic change and Black futures. Born in Chicago, IL, he holds an MFA from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program, and an M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania. Influenced by Gwendolyn Brooks, Carl Sandburg, and Toni Morrison, Lester strives to weave traditional forms and techniques with the vibrancy of African American experience and speech. Rich details are enhanced by the musical tones from Lester’s childhood on the Southside of Chicago to his present on the Northside of Minneapolis. Lester’s work has appeared in print in The Stone House Anthology (2014), the Southern Griot Journal (2012), Tulane Review (2017), A Garden of Black Joy (2020), and digitally in the Brushfire Literary and Arts Journal (2020), Hidden Peak Press (2022), The Indianapolis Review (2023), and The Bitchin’ Kitsch (2023). In 2025, he received the BIPOC Emerging Writer award from Blue Earth Review. Lester’s debut poetry collection, Angel and Night’s Youngest, is forthcoming with the Black Spring Press Group (UK).
The free event will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the The Village Hall in Marine on St Croix. Open Mic will begin at 8:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to share their work and will be allotted three minutes to perform.
September’s theme is Wóokiya—Being Helpful. From birth Dakọta people are taught their role in the family and community. Each person is bestowed special gifts from the creator that are nurtured and honed into strengths that need to be exercised. Each gift is also a responsibility, the proper use of these gifts support a healthy and well-working family and community. –Dakota Wicohan
This event is sponsored by the St. Croix Valley Foundation and Marine Library Association, with support from the Brookside Bar & Grill, Christ Lutheran Church, and Marine Mills Folk School.
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