A poet laureate of Kansas and a diverse artist will be the next to read at the SPARK Artist Resource Exchange.

Kevin Rabas and Jeanette Powers will read from their latest collections Friday at SPARK Artist Resource Exchange, 146 S. Santa Fe. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Poetry begins at 7 p.m. The event is open to the public at no charge.

Following is artist information from SPARK.

Poet Laureate of Kansas (2017-2019) Rabas teaches at Emporia State University, where he leads the poetry and playwriting tracks and chairs the Department of English, Modern Languages, and Journalism. He has eleven books, including Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano, a Kansas Notable Book and Nelson Poetry Book Award winner; All That Jazz; and Everyone Just Wants to Drum. Rabas’s plays have been produced across Kansas and in North Carolina and San Diego, and his work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize six times. He is the recipient of the Emporia State President’s Award for Research and Creativity and is the winner of the Langston Hughes Award for Poetry, the Victor Contoski Poetry Award, the Jerome Johanning Playwriting Award, and the Salina New Voice Award.

Powers is a poet, painter, philosopher, and a working-class, anarchist queer. Powers is a founder of Stubborn Mule Press, and FountainVerse: KC Small Press Poetry Fest which happens every October. Powers has traveled far and wide on poetry tours and to residencies, and has seven full length books of poetry, including America Stabbed James T Kirk in the Arm with a Number 2 Pencil. Powers’ work can also be found in numerous print journals and online sites, including Thimble Lit Mag, Chiron Review, the Wild Word and many more. Find more at jeanettepowers.com or @novel_cliche.