The Sundress Academy for the Arts is pleased to announce the guests for the April installment of our reading series, poets Christian Collier and Mandy Shunnarah. Join us at Pretentious Beer Co. on April 16th from 7-9PM for this free reading. The sign-up for our open mic starts promptly at 7PM and is limited to 10 readers, so make sure to come early!
Christian J. Collier is a Black, Southern writer, arts organizer, and teaching artist who resides in Chattanooga, TN. He is the author of Greater Ghost (Four Way Books, 2024), and the chapbook The Gleaming of the Blade, the 2021 Editors’ Selection from Bull City Press. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, December, and elsewhere. A 2015 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellow, he is also the winner of the 2022 Porch Prize in Poetry and the 2020 ProForma Contest from Grist Journal.
Mandy Shunnarah (they/them) is an Alabama-born Appalachian and Palestinian-American writer who calls Columbus, Ohio, home. Their essays, poetry, and short stories have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, and others. They won the Porter House Review 2024 Editor’s Prize in Poetry and are supported by the Ohio Arts Council, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Sundress Academy for the Arts. Their first book, Midwest Shreds: Skating Through America’s Heartland, was released in 2024 from Belt Publishing, and their second book, a poetry collection titled We Had Mansions, is forthcoming from Diode Editions in 2025. Read more at mandyshunnarah.com.
Our community partner of the month is Blount County Pride Foundation, whose mission is to
uplift and celebrate LGBTQ+ people in Blount County, Tennessee. Their work includes events
for the queer community to provide opportunities for connection, celebration, and support.
Blount County Pride Foundation also engages in activism work to fight anti-drag legislature to
protect the community’s right to expression and celebration, creating a safe space that uplifts the LGBTQ+ community. Click here to visit their website!
This event is brought to you in part by grants provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.
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