Poetry in the Park: Shelly Conley, Brenda Cárdenas, Nico Moore, and Ilysium Nollie *IN PERSON*

Bring your blankets and chairs, snacks and drinks, and friends, and join us at the Solomon Juneau statue for this beloved summer reading series, now entering its eleventh year. Poetry in the Park takes place in Juneau Park on the second Tuesday of the summer months (with rain dates on the second Wednesday of the month). This season of outdoor readings are made possible with support from Juneau Park Friends.

In person at Juneau Park, 900 N. Prospect Ave.

(RAIN DATE: WED. JULY 9)

Current Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas, has authored Trace (Red Hen Press), winner of the 2023 Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry and silver winner of Foreword Review’s Indie Poetry Prize; Boomerang (Bilingual Press); and three chapbooks. She also co-edited Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems to the Resistance and Between the Heart and the Land: Latina Poets in the Midwest. Her poems have been published in such venues as Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Braving the Body, and Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Anthology, and Kinship: in a World of Relations. Cárdenas has served as Milwaukee’s Poet Laureate and is Professor Emerita of English at UW–Milwaukee. You can find her at brendacardenas.net.

Milwaukee native, Shelly Conley, is Milwaukee’s newest Poet Laureate. She has always had a love for words. Her writing is reflective, forgiving, and creates a call to action for her listeners. Shelly is a 7-time member of Milwaukee’s National Poetry Slam Team. Her talent has led her to numerous shows, panels, documentaries, and musical collaborations with local and national talent. She recently released Rewind: A Cathartic Autobiography, a magical blend of childhood journal pages, poetry, an amazing soundtrack and more, available at shellyconley.com. With more than 20 years of experience working with youth and young adults in various capacities, Shelly encourages individuals to be honest and introspective in their writing, to forgive themselves and others, and to operate from a space of love, especially when it’s difficult. Since 2014, Shelly has served as Program Director and Co-Facilitator for My Sista’s KeepHer (MSK). 

Nico Moore is the current Kenosha County Poet Laureate. Born in Racine and raised in Kenosha, Nico—who also goes by the name Speak Free—is a poet, spoken word artist, hip hop artist, musician, fashion designer, and educator who studied theater at UW-Parkside and Columbia College Chicago. As a teenager, Nico began writing poetry as a way of healing and processing the world. Poems became spoken word, and spoken word became songs, and songs became mantras and prayers. He has spent the last twenty years of his life using these creative expressions as connection points for community engagement, education, personal growth and healing, and as a foundation to build a life upon. 

Ilysium Nollie has struggled with a lisp his whole life. For a long time they didn’t think they would ever be understood properly. With over 3 years of performance history, he has grown into a dynamic storyteller, and an impressive spoken word artist. He still struggles but poetry helps. Ilysium was a 2025 Milwaukee Youth Poet Laureate Finalist.