Joanne V. Gabbin, Ph.D.
Executive Director

Joanne V. Gabbin is a professor of English at James Madison University where she is Executive Director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center. She is author of Sterling A. Brown: Building the Black Aesthetic Tradition, editor of Furious Flower: A Revolution in African American Poetry and The Furious Flowering of African American Poetry, and executive producer of the Furious Flower video and DVD series. A dedicated teacher and scholar, she has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching and scholarship. Among them are the College Language Association Creative Scholarship Award for her book Sterling A. Brown (1986), the James Madison University Faculty Women's Caucus and Women's Resource Network for Scholarship (1988), and the Outstanding Faculty Award, Virginia State Council of Higher Education. Recently, Dr. Gabbin was the recipient of two faculty awards: the Provost's Award for Distinguished Service and the JMU Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award.  In October 2005, Dr. Gabbin was inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent. She is also founder and organizer of the Wintergreen Women Writers' Collective, owner of the 150 Franklin Street Gallery in Harrisonburg, and author of the children's book I Bet She Called Me Sugar Plum.

For more information on Dr. Gabbin, please visit her faculty homepage at www.jmu.edu/english/faculty_gabbin.html

Kalela Williams
Assistant Director

A native of Georgia, Kalela Williams recieved her B.A. in English from the University of Mary Washington, and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She loves writing and reading in whatever spare time she has.

Clarissa Shoecraft
Editorial Assistant

Clarissa Shoecraft has been with the Furious Flower Poetry Center since June 2008.  Prior to coming to Harrisonburg in 2005, she hailed from Washington State.  

Bejonty Richardson
Summer Program Assistant

Bejonty Richardson is a Harrisonburg High School 2008 graduate and is currently a Virginia State University Engineering student.  She has been returning as a Summer Programs Assistant volunteer since 2008.

Ivaco Clarke
Student Program Assistant

Ivaco Clarke has been working with the Furious Flower Poetry Center since January 2007.  She is a junior at James Madison University and plans to major in Social Work with mutiple minors. In Fall of 2007 Ivaco began launching a student sector of the Furious Flower Poetry Center.  As a result of her commitment to increasing student awareness and involvement, the "Word is Born Poets Society" is now becoming officially recognized by the University. Ivaco has also been a driving force in promoting the Association of College Unions International Qualifying and Regional Poetry Slam Competitions.  During the summer of 2008 she served as a teacher for the Furious Flower Poetry Center's Children's Poetry Camp.  Ivaco does not have a lot of time to pursue her hobbies but enjoys reading, writing and dancing.