Day Eight is pleased to announce a new partnership with the University of the District of Columbia and within our programming to support the literary community of Washington, D.C. Join UDC community members Friday, October 23, 2026, for an afternoon of poetic exploration, including a poetry workshop with Robert Bettmann, 2-3:15pm, and a poetry reading and open mic featuring Rebecca Bishophall, Anne Becker, and Regie Cabico, 3:30-4:30pm. At the end of the open mic one UDC poet will win a $100 open mic prize. The events will be hosted by UDC faculty member Craig Wynne at the UDC Van Ness campus Building 71 on the 4th floor in the Dean’s event space.
The workshop and reading/open mic are free and open to anyone in the UDC community, from complete beginners to experienced and published poets. Writing produced at the workshop and read at the open mic may be submitted for publication to the literary magazine, the Mid-Atlantic Review, published by Day Eight. View the magazine site here. Advanced signup is not required but is encouraged and available using the form below.
Event leadership bios:
Robert Bettmann is managing editor of the Mid-Atlantic Review and serves as publisher and lead editor for the majority of books published by Day Eight. He is author of the book Somatic Ecology: Somatics, Nature, Humanity and the Human Body (VDM, 2009) and contributes local arts coverage.
Regie Cabico is a Filipino American poet and spoken word artist. He was featured on two seasons of Def Poetry Jam on HBO, produced by Russell Simmons, and won top prizes in three national poetry slams. His poetry appears in over 30 anthologies including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Café, Spoken Word Revolution, and Slam. Regie directs Capturing Fire, a queer literary festival and press, and his book, A Rabbit in Search of a Rolex, was published by Day Eight November, 2023.
Rebecca Bishophall is co-author of the poetry book, Breaking the Blank, with Dwayne Lawson-Brown. Rebecca attended Trinity University graduating with a major in Communications. She has performed at Spit Dat open mic, the Afrocentric Book Expo, the Capitol Hill Book, the Gaithersburg Book Festival, and others, and works in member services for a non-profit organization.
Anne Becker is author of the books of poetry, Human Animal, The Good Body, and The Transmutation Notebooks: Poems in the Voices of Charles and Emma Darwin. She was Poet Laureate of Takoma Park, MD, and is a poetry editor of the Mid-Atlantic Review.
Craig Wynne is a Professor of English at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). He teaches a variety of writing courses at UDC. He has published a book, How to be a Happy Bachelor, and several articles in academic and popular publications.