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March 2025
This issue from The Lily Pad includes:
FALL | WINTER 2024
Late Night Poetry Practice Returns to the Writers House this Fall & in 2025!
Late night poetry workshops have returned this fall. We’re honored to be able to provide a safe space for writers of all skill levels to speak their minds through poetry, especially in such polarizing times. Some of the most recent prompts from the workshop that have produced thought-provoking poetry have been “Facing fears,” and “Life and death,” in honor of Halloween and Dia de Muertos respectively and “The right to choose,” after the recent US presidential election.
As always, we’ve brought back local poets as features of the night to read their poetry throughout the workshops to help orient the group and encourage more attendees to share their own work.
Thank you so much to everyone who came out to share poetry and write in community with others. If you were unable to attend our most recent session on November 23rd, there are three more sessions on the calendar before the end of 2024:
December 7th
December 21th
January 4th
Relive the moments here on Instagram.
We’re also excited to announce our partnership with Rutgers University Camden and the Rutgers Writers House next year to bring the Midnight Notes to campus on four select dates throughout 2025. Stay tuned for updates.
Thank you to our featured poets:
• Noely (Natalie Picardo)
• Kate Skins
• Destiny Karizma (Johnson)
• Pauline Monter
• Dimitri Reyes
A special thank you goes to our host/community organizer Reet Starwind, and to our returning South Jersey-based tea vendor, Hush Herbals. And to our sponsor the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission (CCCHC) for helping us keep this program free for attendees.
Meet us at the Writer’s House at 1801 Broadway in Camden, NJ from 10:30 PM EDT – 12:00 AM EDT for all sessions. Join our host’s live stream of this session on Instagram @mrstarwind. Because of the late start time, this event is exclusively for poets and poetry lovers who are age 18 or older.
Follow us on social media for all updates on the Midnight Notes!
This issue of From the Lily Pad includes:
Photos from the grand opening of the Nick Virgilio Writers House.
Updates on the programming we’ve been offering this year.
Thoughtful commentary on the legacy of Nick Virgilio in Camden and beyond.
Please sign up to receive our newsletter by email using the form on this webpage.
Copyright © 2025 Nick VIrgilio Haiku Association. All rights reserved.
Alfred taught English to junior and senior high school students in New Jersey and Massachusetts prior to working for the municipal government of the City of Camden, New Jersey. He began working with the City of Camden Department of Planning & Development, Division of Housing Services, as a Cost Estimator for Property Improvement in 1984.
He spent the next thirty-eight years working in both the Division of Housing Services, and the Finance Department Bureau of Grants Management, helping the City administer state and federally funded affordable housing projects in Camden.
Alfred spent ten years working with the Bureau of Grants Management, where he reviewed and evaluated grant applications and proposals for funding from non-profit and for- profit housing developers. These agencies included St. Joseph’s Carpenter Society, Heart of Camden, Camden County OEO, Habitat for Humanity,
Camden Lutheran Housing, RPM Development and others. He also worked with social service agencies such as Dooley House, Respond Inc., Sikora House, Center for Family Services, and Volunteers of America, that applied for grant funding.
He also played a significant role in the planning and implementation of the Annual Consolidated Plan grant application submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development each year. The Bureau holds an annual grant funding seminar along with public meetings and technical assistance sessions concerning the C-Plan.
Working for the City of Camden Division of Housing Services Alfred also served as the coordinator of the federal funded HOPWA housing Program for 14 years.
HOPWA funds provided safe, affordable, secure, housing for persons with HIV/AIDS, by issuing housing vouchers to their participants. He managed the delivery of services to 80-90 clients a year, covering Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties.
During his time working for the City of Camden Mr. Dansbury was a member of the CPAC Homeless Network Planning Committee, the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Advisory Committee and United Neighbors of Whitman Park.
Outside of his work with the City of Camden, Alfred worked as an Adjunct Instructor of Reading Skills and Writing Skills at Camden County College, teaching at both the Camden and Blackwood campuses. In 2022 Alfred published,
“The Strength of Courage” a novel he embarked on as a graduate student in Rowan University’s M.A. in Writing program in 2014-2018.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism from Rutgers University, a Master’s of Arts degree in Business Administration from Eastern University, a Master’s of Arts in Education from Eastern Michigan University and a Master’s of Arts in Writing from Rowan University.
