A Reading and Conversation With Local Poets

Join us at The Pocantico Center to celebrate and honor local poets, including new Westchester Poet Laureate Phylisha Villanueva; Westchester Youth Poet Laureate Harmony Hopwood; and Greenburgh Youth Poet Laureate Asa Miller. They will be joined by Westchester poets Jared Harél, author of Let Our Bodies Change the Subject, and Nina Robins, author of Supermarket Diaries, for a reading and a conversation about what makes them passionate about writing, reading, and presenting poetry to audiences all over the county.

This event will be followed by a reception, which includes access to the exhibition in the DR Center gallery. Presented in partnership with the Hudson Valley Writers Center.

Harmony Hopwood

Poet, Student

Harmony Hopwood, a junior at New Rochelle High School, was appointed Westchester youth poet laureate in March 2023. She has enjoyed creative writing her whole life, as it has helped create a window of expression for those around her. As Westchester youth poet laureate, she hopes to create more opportunities within her community for people like her.

Phylisha Villanueva

Poet, Writer, Educator, and Activist

Phylisha Villanueva, the Westchester County poet laureate, is a Belizean American writer, educator, and cultural activist. She is a teaching artist for ArtsWestchester and a member of the Jazz and Poetry Choir Collective. Phylisha's work delves into identity, colorism, motherhood, resilience, and mysticism. She cofounded The Yonkers Writing Group and is the coordinator of the Yonkers Future Stars Talent competition. She is pursuing an MFA in poetry at Saint Francis College.

Jared Harél

Poet, Author

Jared Harél is the author, most recently, of Let Our Bodies Change the Subject, which Kwame Dawes selected as the winner of the Prairie Schooner Raz/Shumaker Book Prize in Poetry. Awarded the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from American Poetry Review and the William Matthews Prize from Asheville Poetry Review, Jared lives with his family in Westchester, NY.

Nina Belén

Poet, Grocery Store Employee

Nina Belén Robins is a poet and grocery store employee. She has been published in various journals and has six chapbooks of poetry. She spent 17 years living in various institutions and has finally broken free. Her life goal is normalizing and destigmatizing mental illness. She was a finalist for poet laureate of Westchester County and lives with her husband and cats.

Asa Miller

Poet, Student, Varsity Athlete

Asa Miller is a senior at Edgemont Jr./Sr. High School in Scarsdale and the first youth poet laureate of Greenburgh. His coral reef restoration work in Cuba and Israel won him the prestigious Brower Youth Award, the NMEA Youth Leadership in Marine Conservation Award, and the Blue Hatchling Youth Award. He is a classical pianist who has performed across Europe and at Carnegie Hall. Asa is captain of his varsity lacrosse team.