112 W 6th St on the square in Bloomington IN
Featuring poets Dan “Sully” Sullivan, Siren Hand, Adam Henze
OPEN MIC to follow
BEER & WINE available for purchase
Sponsored in part by the Bloomington Arts Commission and the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association.
DAN “SULLY” SULLIVAN is a poet and educator based in Bloomington, Indiana, with nearly two decades of experience in performance and teaching. Known for his work exploring masculinity, vulnerability, and resilience, Sully creates spaces where poetry and human experience intersect, inviting audiences to engage deeply with their own stories. Through international performances and community workshops, he empowers participants to find their voice and connect authentically through language. Whether on stage or in the classroom, his poetry resonates as a call for self-reflection and connection. His poems have appeared in Guernica Magazine, the Chicago Reader, and The Golden Shovel Anthology: New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks. Sully is co editor of Respect the Mic: Celebrating 20 Years of Poetry from a Chicagoland High School. His performances have been featured on HBO Def Poetry Jam, WGN Morning News, and National Public Radio. His latest book, O BODY released from Haymarket Books in February 2024.
SIREN HAND is an Indianapolis writer and disabled Army veteran who has always played with poetry to process the world around them. Siren acknowledges written and spoken word for being the connection between all meaningful experiences in their life, and wants to pass that love onto others. They are currently attending IUPUI for Creative Writing and Sociology, with the goal of a Masters in Poetic and Narrative Therapy. Additionally, Siren develops community interfaith discussion spaces through Hallowed Ground, is the Access & Disability Chair for Southern Fried Poetry Inc., and is the Founder & Curator of Observe the Word Poetry which examines how poetry and poets give back to our communities for positive, lasting change. They would be remiss to leave unmentioned their three wonderful (though troublemaking) dogs: Meeko, Domino, and Hippo.
DR. ADAM HENZE is a researcher, educator, and spoken word artist, and has shared his poetry in over 30 states, as well as Puerto Rico, Canada, England, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates. He is a co-director of Slam Camp, a summer writing academy for teenage poets, and founding director of Power of a Sentence, a prison literacy program in Indiana. Adam received his PhD from the Literacy, Culture, and Language Education department at Indiana University. He is a Bureau Speaker for Indiana Humanities and was the Official Poet of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Adam an Siren recently opened Indy Type Shop, a lit space for rad people, offering typewriters, rare books, vintage cameras, inkwells, ephemera, and other literary keepsakes.