CommUNITY: A Canvas of Greenville Cultures Event

CommUNITY: A Canvas of Greenville Cultures 2026 at Greenville Center for Creative Arts

Gloria Bayne FOLLOW

Gloria Bayne is a poet, writer, community leader originally from Mexico whose work explores identity, belonging, and the stories that connect us across cultures. Through poetry, she seeks to provoke curiosity, create opportunities for reflection, and build bridges between people whose paths might not otherwise cross. As part of Greenville’s-Spartanburg diverse community, Gloria brings a perspective shaped by both her Mexican heritage and her experiences of finding home between cultures. Her work celebrates resilience, honors cultural richness, and invites audiences to discover the common threads woven through our differences.

Pêl Doski FOLLOW

Born in a refugee camp and raised across New York and Nashville, Pêl Doski “Bunny” is a Kurdish-American poet, community organizer, and fiber artist. Her creative practice is an intentional act of preservation—weaving together the threads of Kurdish culture and life in the diaspora to honor ancestral survival. She brings a perspective honoring her Kurdish heritage while exploring topics of displacement and longing.

Sahn ‘the Poet’ Dove FOLLOW

Sahn ‘the Poet’ Dove is a teaching and performing spoken word artist who makes her home in Moore, SC. Sahn ‘the Poet’ Dove is a first generation Jamaican born in America, whose mission is to provide a safe space for others to gain freedom through expressive testimony. Sahn believes there is strength in vulnerability and aims to re-fragment the negative connotation attached to that very word. Sahn believes one can only truly love their neighbors when one listens to understand them. At the CommUNITY event, she aims to provide a snapshot into “her world” in hopes to create space for grace, unity, and understanding.

Kimberly J Simms FOLLOW

Event curator Kimberly J Simms (Gibbs) is an acclaimed Greenville poet, literary organizer, and educator. Kimberly is a former Carl Sandburg National Historic Site Writer-in-Residence, a TedX speaker, SC Poet Laureate finalist, and a slam pioneer turned literary curator. As the founder of the nonprofit Wits End Poetry—a thriving organization she has led since 2002—Kimberly has made significant contributions to the literary arts, organizing major literary festivals and fostering community engagement. She is a first generation American and a dual British-American citizen. Learn more at www.kimberlysimms.com @kimberlyjsimms

Renee Kalagayan FOLLOW

Renee Kalagayan, a Filipina-American writer and editor, was born and reared in Greenville. Recent work is featured or forthcoming in, among others, Carolina Quarterly, The MacGuffin, HAD, About Place, and the inaugural GVL Poetry Trail in downtown Greenville. She is an MFA candidate in poetry and nonfiction at Converse University in Spartanburg, SC, where she is the assistant poetry editor of South 85 Journal. A second-generation American and granddaughter of immigrants, Renee hopes her poetry can contribute to the rich tapestry of Filipino voices in the South, bolster the Filipino arts community in the Upstate, and resonate with the growing Filipino population in South Carolina.

Sergiy Pustogarov FOLLOW

Sergiy Pustogarov is a Ukrainian immigrant, poet, medical student, and advocate whose work explores identity, belonging, healing, and the complexities of the human experience. Their poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Rattle, San Pedro River Review, and Sand Hills Literary Magazine, among others. Their chapbook, My Papers Here Were Never Real, is forthcoming from Quillkeepers Press in fall 2026. Their writing explores their own personal experience as an immigrant and how to navigating that intersection of culture, identity, medicine, and art. They believe poetry can serve as a space where overlooked stories can be witnessed, shared, and held in community.