Dolly Parton once said, “The real sparkle doesn’t come from the rhinestones on your dress, it comes from the light in your heart.” I love that!  Poets Playground’s Sparkle Page is dedicated to showcasing the talent of Poets Playground’s consistent members.

Open Mic

Features (4 in total)

I. Buenaventura (a.k.a Patrick)

I. Buenaventura (a.k.a Patrick) is a New Jersey-based poet whose work draws from their lived experience as a trans person to advocate for the queer community. Holding an MFA in Design + Technology from Parsons School of Design, Patrick uses poetry, film, and spoken word to explore themes of identity, transformation, and empowerment. They authored and illustrated “Your Body Is Your Weapon: The Little Self-Defense Handbook”—a free verse guide for all women that earned a Writer’s Digest Book Award Honorable Mention. Patrick also serves as a producer for the Jersey City Poetry Festival and on the Newark LGBTQ Film Festival selection committee, aligning their creative practice with LGBTQ+ activism aimed at fostering authentic storytelling.

Ann E. Wallace

Ann E. Wallace, PhD served as 2023-24 Poet Laureate of Jersey City, New Jersey. She is author of three full-length collections: Keeping Room (Nixes Mate, 2026), Days of Grace and Silence: A Chronicle of COVID’s Long Haul (Kelsay Books, 2024), and Counting by Sevens (Main Street Rag, 2019). Her work is anthologized in The Nature of Our Times (Paloma Press), The Big Brutal Act (Harbor Editions), The Long COVID Reader (Long Hauler Publishing), and other collections, and her essays have appeared in Huffington Post, USA Today, and other media outlets. Wallace hosts and produces The WildStory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants by the Native Plant Society of New Jersey. She holds a doctorate in English Literature from The Graduate Center of The City University of New York and is Professor of English at Kean University—Jersey City. Her work is online at AnnWallacePhD.com.