Words out Loud hosts accomplished poets, Lee Woodman and Zeina Azzam at its new venue, the Compass Art Center (https://www.thecompassatelier.com). Lee and Zeina will be followed by an open-mic. This inaugural reading will be only in person. Future monthly events may incorporate a Zoom component. This free event will be held concurrently with a Compass Art Center open house. Come for the poetry and stay for the art where you can visit the center's 16 studios and view its galleries. FREE. NO TICKETS NEEDED. Complimentary food and wine available.

Woodman, author of the Scapes book series (Mindscapes, Artscapes, and three more) is the winner of an Independent Press Award for Distinguished Favorite in Poetry and other prestigious poetry awards. Her poems have appeared in assorted literary journals, including Poet Lore, Tiferet Journal, and the Ekphrastic Review. A Pushcart Prize nominee, she has received fellowships from arts organizations in DC and Virginia. Lee has also been a featured guest on radio shows and podcasts.

Azzam, current poet laureate of Alexandria, VA, is a Palestinian American writer, editor, and community activist. Nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize, her poems have appeared in literary journals, webzines, and anthologies and collected in the books Some Things Never Leave You (2023) and Bayna Bayna, In-Between (2021). She volunteers as a mentor for We Are Not Numbers, a writing program for youth in Gaza, and holds an M.A. in Arabic literature from Georgetown University.