Event Report: True Stories at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Last night I had the honor of taking the stage at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival’s True Stories storytelling event. It was one of those nights that reminded me why we make art in the first place, and why we keep telling our stories even when the world feels heavy.

I want to thank Kai Coggin, Poet Laureate of Hot Springs, Arkansas, for inviting me and for creating such a generous, electric space. Kai’s work in Arkansas and beyond, building community through poetry, activism, and love, continues to inspire me. To share a stage under her guidance felt like coming home. Plus, as she says, she's "super gay."

The audience was the best kind of audience. I told my poetry origin story. From the moment I said the name Maya Angelou, I could feel the energy shift—the room leaning forward, breathing with me. They were in it with me, and I loved every second. I knew we were connected through something larger than words.

The piece I performed, "I Remember the Exact Moment I Fell in Love with Poetry,” began as an essay, became a speech, and eventually transformed into a poem, proof that stories live many lives. It’s about loss and language, about finding our voices again in a time of censorship and fear, and about remembering that art always survives. It's my true story.

Thank you, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, for celebrating truth-telling in all its forms. Thank you, Kai, for holding the space. And thank you, to everyone who came, for hearing us, for responding, for reminding me what community feels like.