Dasha Kelly Hamilton
Dasha is a Creative Change Agent based in Milwaukee and Anchorage, Alaska. She tours the country with Makin' Cake, a stage production and film she wrote and performs about American history, race, class, and equity. When she was Wisconsin Poet Laureate (2021-22), she started an inclusive poetry exchange called A Line Meant. The website explains that "[o]ne line of poetry can work like a spell, conjuring a memory for one person and pulling gospel from someone else." With single lines from published poems, she prompted people around the state to write new poems and, in the process, to connect with strangers. To make sure that everyone felt welcome to participate, there were options for people who didn't or couldn't use computers, including people in Wisconsin's prisons.