Mission Statement

---

Rachel R. Baum is a Best of the Net nominated poet, founder of Moving Mountains Poets, Saratoga Peace Pod, Saratoga Senior Center Poetry Open Mic, and co-founder of Capital Region Poems on Wheels. She initiated the position of Poet Laureate of Saratoga Springs, NY. Rachel's books are Funeral and Memorial Service Readings, Poems and Tributes, Richard Brautigan’s Concussion, How to Rob a Convenience Store, and Secrets She Has Saved. She is the author of the long-running blog Bark! Confessions of a Dog Trainer. For more information, visit https://rachelrbaum.net.

Kim Bolan has spent her career helping communities reimagine what a library can be. As Executive Director of the Southern Adirondack Library System, she leads a cooperative network supporting 34 public libraries across four counties. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer of the Allen County Public Library (IN) and founded Kimberly Bolan & Associates, a consultancy that guided libraries nationwide through transformative building and strategic planning projects. A nationally recognized author and speaker, Kim brings both big-picture vision and on-the-ground expertise to everything she does — including her commitment to expanding access to the written word.

Lâle Davidson’s novels Blue Woman Burning (2021), Against the Grain (2022), and Beyond Sight (2023) were published by Emperor Books. Against the Grain won two National Indie Excellence Awards in 2023. Her collection of experimental short stories, Strange Appetites, won the Adirondack Center for Writing’s People’s Choice Award in 2016. She is a distinguished professor of writing at SUNY Adirondack, where she won the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Visit laledavidson.com for more.

Elaine Handley is a poet, writer, and longtime educator living in Middle Grove, NY. A Professor Emeritus of Empire State University, she has spent her career cultivating language, imagination, and the courage to speak plainly about what matters.

A three-time winner of the Adirondack Center for Writing’s Best Book of Poetry Award (with Mary Sanders Shartle and Marilyn McCabe), her poetry book, Heartbreak Grass, will be published in Spring 2026. Elaine’s work reflects her deep engagement with place, memory, and the inner life.

She now brings that same commitment to community workshops, where she helps writers experience the page as a democratic space — open to every voice, every season of life, and grounded in the conviction that creativity fosters healing, connection, and resilience.

Kristina Kulin is the founder and creative director of Lit Night, a literature appreciation series that brings classical and diverse contemporary voices into conversation through live readings and lectures. Growing up in a family of artists, writers, teachers, and musicians in Brooklyn, NY, she developed a fascination with and appreciation of human expression from an early age. Kulin has explored the art of performance as a dancer, actress, singer, public speaker, and musician. Drawing on a deep knowledge of literature and culture, she started Lit Night as a way to draw community together around enjoyment of the arts and continual learning.

Debra Nicastro is a recently retired educator from the Schenectady City School District, She holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Science in Literacy from SUNY Albany. In addition to her work in public education, Debra founded School Solutions, an educational consulting and tutoring business focused on supporting student success. Most recently, she co-founded the Saratoga Children’s Literacy League, a local nonprofit organization that refurbishes gently used children’s books and redistributes them to children in the community through a free book mobile program. Debra resides in Saratoga Springs, New York, with her husband, Paul Nicastro. Together, they have four children and two dogs. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Jay Rogoff is Saratoga Springs Poet Laureate for 2026-27. He has published seven books of poetry, most recently Loving in Truth: New and Selected Poems, from LSU Press. Other collections include The Cutoff, The Long Fault, The Art of Gravity, Venera, and Enamel Eyes. His latest book, Becoming Poetry: Poets and Their Methods, also from LSU, won the Lewis P. Simpson Award for outstanding literary criticism. In addition to organizing the Laureate Poetry Series of readings by featured poets and conducting poetry workshops, he hosts a monthly Poetry Repair Café at Northshire Bookstore.

Michael Walterich is a local writer and teacher who has been immersed in the written word for over thirty years. Michael's first novel was published in 2013. He continuously writes in a variety of genres, including: fiction, poetry and drama. As a teacher of high school English, Writing, and AP Literature he has worked with thousands of students over two decades to encourage a love of the written word. He is active in the Saratoga community, participating in many local initiatives that celebrate writing.