Purple: poetry of Spirituality and Majesty, a DC Poet Project reading

Join poets Ishanee Chanda, Jenn Koiter, and Nico Penaranda for a reading and open mic, including a $250 open mic prize

This is the fourth event in Day Eight’s 2026 DC Poet Project reading series and competition. Each event includes about thirty minutes of poetry by the featured poets and equal time for reading by open mic participants. A $250 open mic prize, selected by the featured poets, is awarded at the end of each reading.

Anyone can perform in the open mic; Only DC residents are eligible to win the cash prize.

Founded in 2017, The DC Poet Project is a poetry series and open-to-all poetry competition culminating in publication of a new book of poetry by a DC author. Each event includes reading by featured poets and an open mic. And at each series event a judge awards a $250 cash prize to a winning open mic participant. Those winners are invited to compete in the culminating event to win a $1,000 book contract.

The 2025 DC Poet Project series is curated by Regie Cabico, and hosted by Aaron Holmes, and is produced by Day Eight through the support of individual donors and support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and partnership with the Anacostia Coordinating Council.

ABOUT THE FEATURED POETS

Ishanee Chanda is a prose writer and poet from Dallas, Texas. She has been published on The Huffington Post, the Eckleberg Project, and ThoughtCatalog. Ishanee is a past winner of the Gordone Award for Creative Writing, and has participated in the Blackbox Writer’s Residency program. In 2024 she was one of five writers commissioned by Day Eight as part of the “DC AAPI Voices” project, created through support from the DC Mayor’s Office of AAPI Affairs.

Jenn Koiter is the 2021 winner of the DC Poet Project and the author of So Much of Everything (Day Eight, 2021.) She wrote and produced the short film “Birds of the Air,” which screened at twelve film festivals, won three awards, and will be distributed by iWomanTV. Her poems and essays have appeared in Barrelhouse, Copper Nickel, Smartish Pace, the Mid-Atlantic Review, and other journals. She is an ADHD and writing coach specializing in writer’s block.

Nicholas (Nico) Penaranda is a Lecturer in Writing at Howard University. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing at American University in May 2022, and his Bachelor’s degree in English with a focus in Creative Writing from James Madison University in 2020. As an undergraduate student, he earned the Stanley Rhy Say Scholarship in 2019 and the Award for Excellence in the Study of African American Literature in 2020.

THE CULMINATING EVENT OF THE 2026 DC POET PROJECT: SUNDAY MAY 3, 2-3:30PM At THE ANACOSTIA LIBRARY

​​The 2026 DC Poet Project series will culminate in person at a special reading Sunday, May 3 at 2:00 pm, including the open mic winners as selected at the prior events. At the conclusion of the event, attendees will live vote to select one poet to receive a $1,000 book contract.

PAST WINNERS OF THE DC POET PROJECT

2025 DC Poet Project winner Malachi Byrd, author of Before We Gone

2024 DC Poet Project winner Amuchechukwu Nwafor, author of Salt Water Roots

2023 DC Poet Project winner Brandon Douglas, author of Dipped in Cerulean

2022 DC Poet Project winner Dominic McDonald, author of I’d Rather Be Called a Nerd

2021 DC Poet Project winner Jenn Koiter, author of So Much of Everything

2019 DC Poet Project winner Kevin Wiggins, author of Port of Exit

2018 DC Poet Project winner John Johnson, author of Love for Her

2017 DC Poet Project winner Susan Meehan, author of Talking to the Night