J. Joy

J. Joy "Sistah Joy" Matthews Alford was appointed as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Prince George's County, Maryland in September 2018 to serve a 3-year term supporting and promoting poetry as well as cultural and literary arts in Prince George's County. She is an author and arts advocate and produces and has hosted the award-winning poetry-based cable television show, Sojourn with Words, since its inception in 2005. Sistah Joy received the Poet Laureate Special Award (2002) for "her outstanding contributions to the art of poetry" in her native Washington, DC. She is an alum of the Mariposa Writers Retreat and an alum of the late Washington, DC Poet Laureate, Dolores Kendrick's "Poets in Progress" series.

In 1995 Sistah Joy founded the socially-conscious poetry ensemble, Collective Voices, which has performed nationally and internationally (London, England/UK) and continues to perform in the U.S., primarily along the East coast. Since 2003 Sistah Joy has served as the President of the Poetry Ministry of Ebenezer AME Church, a mega-church in Fort Washington, Maryland, where she was also appointed as Church Poet Laureate in 2016. Sistah Joy is the author of one book, "Lord I'm Dancin' As Fast As I Can," (2000), and two chapbooks, "From Pain To Empowerment - The Fabric of My Being" (2009), and "This Garden Called Life" (2011). A much sought-after poet by electronic and print publications, her work appears in several anthologies, most recently in response to the coronavirus pandemic, "Singing In The Dark - A Global Anthology of Poetry Under Lockdown" (India, 2021), the inter-generational "Book of Hope" (Ireland, 2021), and "Remembering Lucille Clifton" (USA, 2021), and in online issues of “Poetry X Hunger” (2019 – 2021), and North of Oxford (2020).

Sistah Joy served as Poetry Editor during the 5-year run of the nationally distributed quarterly publication, ACE Dialogue, which was designed to be a resource on African American art, literature, film, and other cultural issues. Sistah Joy is a Board Member of The InkWell, a Washington, DC-based non-profit dedicated to social improvement through creative writing and guided reflection. She is a Founding Board Member of CAAPA, (Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts), and a Lifetime Member of PGAAMCC (Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center). Visit her website htt's://www.sistahjoy.com for more information and to view samples of her poetry.