Our Board
Charlene Pierce
President
Charlene is a poet whose work has appeared in the anthology Misbehaving Nebraskans and multiple collections of Nebraska authors. Her poem “How to Hear God While Making Thanksgiving Dinner,” published in The Good Life Review, was a finalist for Best of the Net 2025, and she was also a finalist in the 2024 BlackBerry Peach Spoken & Written Word competition. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Rebellion/Conformity, 805 Lit + Art, and Whale Road Review.
A Merit Scholar in the Pacific University MFA program, she will graduate in January 2026. In 2020, she founded the nonprofit Nebraska Poetry Society to advance accessibility and equity in poetry, and she continues to champion the literary arts across Nebraska and beyond through performance, mentorship, and her years of teaching.
Brandy Prettyman
Vice President
Brandy is the author of "Forbidden Fruit: Poems of Love, Loss, Hope, and Regret". A professional jack-of-all-trades, she earned a Bachelor in Business Administration and has spent the last decade (maybe it’s longer, but let’s not make this awkward) writing poetry that explores the dark emotions we face when confronted by our own morality and mortality. Brandy lives in Papillion, Nebraska, and like to spend her spare time traveling the world with her trusty four-legged sidekick Mary Puppins. Most days she can be found drinking a large latte at her desk, frantically writing her thoughts down in verse before they disappear.
Julie Haase
Treasurer
Julie is a freelance editor and writer and the Business and Publishing Manager for The Writer’s Ally, an editing and self-publishing services company. Julie has published in various Nebraska anthologies and The First Line as well as self-published a guide for narrative writers called Tips & Tricks for Great (Narrative) Writing. Julie is also the Publications Chair for the Nebraska Writers Guild. She lives in Omaha and is a proud cat mama.
Amy Haddad
Secretary
Amy Haddad is a poet, nurse and educator who taught in the health sciences at Creighton University where she is now a Professor Emerita. Her poetry and short stories have been published in Janus Head, Journal of Medical Humanities, Touch, Bellevue Literary Review, Pulse, Persimmon Tree, Annals of Internal Medicine, Aji Magazine, DASH, Oberon Poetry Magazine, and Rogue Agent. Her chapbook, The Geography of Kitchens, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021. Her poetry collection, An Otherwise Healthy Woman, was published by Backwaters Press, in March, 2022. The collection won first place in the Creative Works category of the American Journal of Nursing 2022 Books of the Year Awards.
Our Committees
Esman Rodas Calderon
Competition Coordinator
@thevarietyshow_
Esman Rodas Calderon received his Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in August 2022 with an emphasis in Euphonium. In his third year, he teaches at both the high school and elementary school level teaching a variety of band classes in Lincoln Public Schools.
For poetry, he has been in the Nebraska community for about a year. He has competed at slams at the national level in 2023, and won slams both in Nebraska and Iowa.
Jules Coral
Verse & Vibes Co-Host & Showrunner
@j_echo_jay
Jules Coral is a spoken word poet hoping to inspire positive change in the world around him. Jules’s pieces often challenge the theme of identity, giving his audience a chance to process the world through his various perspectives and experiences as a transgender man. His passion stems from discovering ways to express what initially seems undefinable. Jules is currently a Teaching Artist for the Nebraska Writers Collective, and a member of the Nebraska Poetry Society’s Performance Committee.
Sam Nichols
Vocal Fry Co-Host & Showrunner
@samuel_lynn17
Sam is a Nebraskan poet who believes in the community-building power of written and spoken word. Involved in the slam scene since high school, he hopes to continue celebrating performance art, expanding stage and workshop spaces, and uplifting queer and trans voices. In their off-time, Sam can be found curled up with their cats or hiking by the river.
Allen Stevenson
Vocal Fry Co-Host
@allenstevensonpoetry
Allen Stevenson is a spoken word rapper who uses thought-provoking emotions from my past present and future to reach an audience of men, women, addicts and black people to discuss struggles and successes with God, faith, and the hardships of being a black man in America.
Allen Stevenson has completed his first poetry album called Experience Points that is set to be released spring of 2025. Allen was nominated for Nebraska State Poet for 2025, and Allen has also been nominated for an Omaha Entertainment and art award three years in a row. Allen Stevenson has also partnered with the Nebraska Writer’s Collective for a summer writing workshop and the Empowerment Network to present poetry for their youth summit Striving For Success. Allen has also partnered with Black Men United, The Black Agenda Alliance, Sparks Academy, Detox Sober Longue, The Voice Advocacy Center, and various churches in the city of Omaha. Allen Stevenson and his wife operated a non-profit organization called the Light Poetic Ministry that hosted poetry nights across the city and used poetry to raise funds for organizations in the community.
Michael Meissner
Event Technician
@Axiosyncracy
Michael, lesser known by the pen name Axiosyncracy, is a Nebraskan poet, a faithful participant in Omaha open mics, and a patron of local arts. In addition to poetry, he dabbles in creative fiction writing and promises his therapist to journal more. Though it be but little, Michael's corpus displays his focus on depth and intimacy of meaning over volume.
