Just Shy of Stars

Annette Hope Billings is an award-winning poet and actress from the Midwest. Her dynamic style of reciting has led fans to dub her “the Maya of the Midwest.” Her first book of poetry, A Net Full of Hope (2015), garnered the 2015 ARTSConnect ARTY Award in Literature. Her next book, Descants for a Daughter (2016), was a collection of

affirmations. Her poetry can also appears in the following anthologies: Gimme Your Lunch Money: Heart land Poets Respond to Bullying (2016), Twisting Topeka (2016), Our Last Walk: Using Poetry for Grieving and Remembering Our Pets.(2016), and Kansas Time + Place: An Anthology of Heartland Poetry (Balkans Press, 2017). Billings’ poetry can also be found in both online and print publications including Coal City Press (2016) and Konza Magazine (2016 and 2017). To view short videos of her poetry performances, visit tinyurl.com/anfohvideos, her website at http://anetfullo ope.com /, her facebook: anetfullo ope, or on Twitter: @AnnetteBilling3