Michelle Antoinette Nelson, also known as LOVE the poet, is a prominent indie artist/author/teacher on the national performance and literary art scenes, and in the field of creative writing education. She has appeared on CNN as a speaker at the Jena 6 rally in Washington, D.C., authored the book “Black Marks on White Paper”, is the recipient of the 2011 Baker b-grant award, released multiple spoken word CDs, and has performed at the Smithsonian & college campuses nationwide. Michelle is also a guitarist, a Punany Poet (as seen on HBO), an active member of the Maryland Speaker’s Bureau, a member of Artist U, the creator of Live Lyrics! Creative writing workshops, co-creator of 'Red Flags', founder/host of BE FREE Fridays (monthly open mic series), and an active member of Poetry for the People Baltimore.