Lisa Ann (LA Marks) Markuson
(she/her)
LA Marks has never been particularly interested in poetry behaving itself.
As a poet, cultural entrepreneur, and the founder and Chief Poetic Officer of Ars Poetica, she has spent more than a decade releasing poetry from its usual habitats and putting it back where people live: around dinner tables, inside museums, across stages, at weddings, in hotels, throughout conferences, and into the hands of complete strangers.
Since founding Ars Poetica in 2012, LA has grown the company from an experiment in typewriter poetry into the largest international community of experiential poets.
Together, they create experiences that invite people not merely to observe poetry, but to enter it—to offer a story, receive a reflection, speak aloud, listen differently, and leave holding something that did not exist before.
Her work is literary, participatory, occasionally theatrical, and always grounded in the belief that beauty is a path to liberation. She is also a performer, facilitator, polyglot, collector of typewriters, and recovering aspiring diplomat.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband, stepchildren, and two adorable cats. When she is not on the road, she can be found wandering in nature, dipping dates in chocolate, and finding poems in places no one thought to look.
Co-Facilitator of: The Poetry of Intersectional Matriarchy: New (Timeless) Systems for Supporting Life and Creativity
If not patriarchy... what else instead?
Let's poetically co-create the answer to this question.
Dionne Hunter + Lisa Ann LA Marks Markuson (with special interdisciplinary guests) will facilitate a live workshop for participants to experience the gentle healing power of matriarchy and the balancing of feminine and masculine elements of all individuals and systems.
Dionne + LA will share through poetry and discussion their distinct backgrounds and journey into matriarchal creative leadership. Different generations. Different circumstances. Different dreams. United through the power of matriarchy and poetry.
Then, they will lead the group in an individual and collective visioning and intuition exercise. Participants will discover their gifts and their potential for positive impact through their work, play, and creativity, and come away with a clear poetic mantra or empowerment statement that can become each of our north stars as we bring about peace, clarity and transformation in our forthcoming age of ascendant matriarchal leadership in society.
Prepare to awaken a new part of your heart and deepen your confidence in the truth that our time is now.