Local medical assistant featured tonight at WNP

Local poet and medical assistant Lydia Kae Chambers will be featured at Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave.

The regular open mic session for all poets, musicians, and storytellers will begin at 6:30 p.m. today. Chambers will begin her feature set at 7:15 p.m., followed by another round of open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages. All are welcome.

Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Chambers is the third-oldest of 11 siblings. She moved to Hot Springs National Park in 2015. “I came here looking for a fresh start to life, and boy did I find one!” she said in a news release.

“I work as a medical assistant at Hot Springs Pediatric Clinic. I live with my partner Steve and my two boys Nicolas and Nathan. My hobbies include painting, poetry, gardening and the long-lost art of letter writing through pen pals,” she said.

“I started writing poetry as a teenager while looking for an outlet to express my many feelings. Writing could always say what I struggled so hard to verbalize. My poetry deals a lot with real life. Family, trauma and mental health. Writing about everyday life reminds us that each day is a blessing. Wednesday Night Poetry is my church. It’s the community I searched for when I was new and alone,” Chambers said.

“I am so excited to highlight Lydia for her first feature poet showcase. I know that she has been writing about some personal and powerful issues lately, and her work is sure to inspire our community, as well as help others navigate the sometimes difficult world,” WNP Host Kai Coggin said in the release.

“I want to also say her brother Luke will be with us in spirit. Lydia is an inspirational woman, a server to our local community in her career as a medical assistant, and a beautiful and loving mother. I delight in the fact that she brings her little boys to WNP, and they are so well-behaved and curious. Her older son even said he will get up and read a story one day — that is because he has such a brave example as a mother. I know it will be a special night,” Coggin said.

This week marks 1,737 consecutive Wednesdays of open mic poetry in downtown Hot Springs since Feb. 1, 1989. “WNP is the longest-running consecutive weekly open mic series in the country, now recently in partnership with Arkansas Learning Through the Arts, to share in the mission to spread arts awareness in our local community,” the release said.

For more information about WNP, email [email protected]