The first Nexus Poets poetry open mic of the year will feature the judge and winners of the fourth annual Robert Golden Poetry Contest. The judge, Jose Hernandez Diaz, will share his poetry followed by contest winners reading their poems and the traditional open mic. The event is an in-person meeting and it is also webcast on Zoom. To receive the link or sign up for the open mic, email nexus@nexuspoets.com. All listeners and poets are welcome.

The contest is named in memory of poet and scholar Robert Golden who lived in New Bern.

Adult contest winners include Frances Klein of Indianapolis; Jo Ann Hoffman of Cary, NC; and Marty Pitcairn of New Bern, NC. Winners in the student category will also read. All of the winning poems are published on Nexus Poets’ web site, along with the judge’s comments. https://nexuspoets.com/

Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow and author of the books "The Fire Eater" (Texas Review Press, 2020) and "Bad Mexican, Bad American," forthcoming from Acre Books in 2024. His work appears in over 60 publications, including The American Poetry Review, Boulevard, Huizache, The Missouri Review, Poetry, The Southern Review, and Yale Review. He has served as poetry editor for Lunch Ticket. He lives and teaches in Southern California.

Nexus Poets is a collective which has promoted poets and poetry in Eastern North Carolina since 2014.