The Sundress Academy for the Arts is pleased to announce the guests for the March installment of our reading series, poets Alayna Powell and Rhea Melina. Join us at Pretentious Beer Co. from 7-9PM for this free reading with an open mic hosted by Shira Haus to follow. Open mic sign-up starts promptly at 7PM is limited to 10-12 readers, so come early!
Alayna Powell (she/they) is a biracial Black writer with roots along the Southern East Coast and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She identifies strongly as a poet, though she writes across and through genres. Alayna’s debut chapbook, After Forgiveness (2024), was recently published by Bottlecap Press. She is a third-year MFA student at the University of Alabama, where she’s also pursuing a certificate in Archival Studies and serving as the current Poetry Editor for Black Warrior Review.
Rhea Melina (she/her) is a multi-ethnic poet who lives in Seattle. She is an educator, birth-worker and herbalist who has been writing and putting out poetry since the early 2000’s. Her chapbooks include Fireant (SSO Press, 2005), These are not secrets (XYZ Animal Stars, 2009), a place to put things (Bottlecap Press, 2023), and Not My Wasteland (Bone Machine, 2024). Her poems have been published in Fiilthy Glo Zine, Hare’s Paw Literary Journal, Anarkiss Zine, Papers Pub, Rising Phoenix Review and Text Power Telling Magazine, among others. found confetti is her first full length collection and it is available now from Carbonation Press.
Our community partner of the month is United Way Greater Knoxville. United Way Greater Knoxville works to provide connections between individuals, businesses, and organizations to ensure success and support for all. Their work includes efforts to support early education, economic mobility, health communities, and community schools. Since 1922, they have worked to foster connections to provide resources that allow every child, person, and family to succeed by raising awareness and money for programs that align with community needs.
This event is brought to you in part by a grant provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.