2025 Festival Artists
Our footprint logos.
Our footprints were designed by Shay Alexi.
Shay Alexi is an interdisciplinary artist and storyteller based in Atlanta, GA. Their full-length poetry collection unbridled was nominated for Georgia Author of the Year, and their writing has been featured in WUSSY magazine and Apogee Lit amongst other journals. Shay holds a BFA in Acting and videos of their performance poetry have garnered over 5 million views. Their graphic design has been featured by publications like The Rumpus and utilized in social media campaigns, logos, and book covers. Shay is earning a master’s degree in Strategic Communications from Agnes Scott College. These intertwined pursuits articulate Shay’s focused curiosities: narrative power, precise language, and the poetics of design. Connect at shayalexi.com or on social media @_shayalexi_
The Bigfoot Poetry Festival’s 2025 Poster.
This year’s festival poster was designed by Isaiah (@from_is_w_love)
Doug Furr and our First Place Bigfoot Trophies.
The creator of our mascot, Douglas Furr, as well as our 1st Place Giant Bigfoot trophies is Cassandra Eggert.
Cassandra (she/her) is a wife, millennial, #boymom, and the upbeat creative who makes toys and artwork. She loves keeping her hands busy and expressing her creativity. It makes her feel fulfilled and purposeful! She started Calou (kah-loo) Shop shortly after becoming a mom as a way to reclaim this creative part of herself. As Calou Shop and her talents have evolved, she’s started to identify as both a toy maker and an illustrator. Check out her web-site to browse her work, as well as see her statement on her commitment to social justice, anti-racism, and eco-consciousness.
Mason Granger of SlamFind will be filming at the Bigfoot Poetry Festival this year!
Mason Granger is a spoken word poet with over 20 years of experience as a writer/performer working primarily in educational settings. He spent seven years in the arts nonprofit space, serving as Executive Director at Bowery Poetry in NYC and Deputy Director at Get Lit-Words Ignite, an LA-based organization dedicated to impacting literacy, wellness, creativity, and workforce development through spoken word poetry and media. In his current role as Poet in Residence of the Schwarzenegger Institute at USC, his artistic work focuses on issues that impact all Angelinos–environmental sustainability, air pollution, and mental & physical wellness.
Right around 2013, poetry videos online started going viral, proving a mainstream hunger for this artform and demonstrating to all the power and reach that one voice can have. In 2014, Mason created SlamFind, the world’s first mobile app dedicated to spoken word poetry. The mission was to connect poetry fans, many of whom had only recently discovered spoken word via YouTube videos, with the existing live poetry venues across North America where those videos come from so that everyone everywhere could experience the human connection that occurs in the rooms where it happens. At its height, the SlamFind app had thousands of downloads on iOS & Android devices with links to hundreds of poetry-friendly open mics across the USA & Canada. Today, SlamFind continues to live as a YouTube channel with hundreds of poetry videos from all over the country for the world to enjoy.
slamfind.
Our musician welcoming everyone into Finals Stage before the show kicks off will be Amber Russell.
Amber Russell is a Portland-based experimental fingerstyle guitarist known for her theatrical style, inventive techniques, and captivating melodies. Her music has earned her partnerships with Ibanez, Halland Guitars, DiMarzio, and more. Amber has performed alongside artists like Kaki King and Yasmin Williams and released music through Candyrat Records. She created a 30-lesson course for JamPlay and has appeared on KGW8 and Shady Pines Radio. Amber co-owns Rose City Guitar Company with her wife and remains an active performer and educator.