THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13th @ 6pm EST
Featuring Poets Mary Sexton and Lylanne Musselman
OPEN MIC to follow
BEER & WINE available for purchase
featuring poets Mary Sexson and Lylanne Musselman
music by Jason Fickel
open mic to follow
Sponsored in part by the Bloomington Arts Commission and the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association
MARY SEXSON is author of the award-winning book 103 in the Light: Selected Poems 1996-2000 (Restoration Press) and co-author of Company of Women: New and Selected Poems (Chatter House Press). She has recent work in Reflections on Little Eagle Creek, Anti-Heroin Chic, and Last Stanza Poetry Journal. Her latest book is Her Addiction: An Empty Place at the Table (Finishing Line Press). She has three Pushcart Prize nominations and is part of the INverse Poetry Archives for Hoosier Poets.
LYLANNE MUSSELMAN is an award-winning poet, playwright, and visual artist. Her work has appeared in Poetry Breakfast, The Tipton Poetry Journal, Indianapolis Review, and The Ekphrastic Review, among others, and many anthologies. Musselman is the author of the full-length poetry collection It’s Not Love, Unfortunately (Chatter House Press) and her sixth chapbook is Staring Dementia in the Face from Finishing Line Press.
Guitarist and songwriter JASON FICKEL creates music that connects the heart and soul of the blues with country music’s wry chronicles of loss and longing. Apprenticing with legendary bluesmen in Mississippi, cutting his songwriting teeth in the clubs of Chicago, he has forged a career as an engaging storyteller and skilled performer. And he is a frequent flyer at the Spoken Word Series.
Aminatta Forna
Award-winning author of several novels and the essay collection, The Window Seat: Notes from a Life in Motion
Join the Writers Guild for a special event with celebrated author, Aminatta Forna when she presents “The Power of Storytelling” at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium on Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 7pm.
Book sales/book signing/and reception to take place next door at the Monroe County History Center after the talk.
First Sunday Prose Reading – Open Mic to follow!
The Juniper Art Gallery and Cafe 615 W. Kirkwood Avenue
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11th @ 6pm EST
Featuring The Junky’s Christmas Radio Play
Extended OPEN MIC to follow
BEER & WINE available for purchase
Sponsored in part by the Bloomington Arts Commission and the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association.
The Writers Guild at Bloomington presents Last Sunday Poetry & Open Mic
featuring Hiromi Yoshida and Tony Brewer
Open mic to follow
HIROMI YOSHIDA is the author of two full-length poetry collections and six poetry chapbooks, and is a finalist for the Finishing Line Press New Women’s Voices Poetry Prize, and a semifinalist for the Silverfish Review’s Gerald Cable Book Award. She is the Poetry Editor of Flying Island Journal, and serves on the board of directors for the Writers Guild at Bloomington, while coordinating the Guild’s Last Sunday Poetry reading series. Icarus is her green brainchild.
TONY BREWER is a poet and audio artist from Bloomington, Indiana, where he is executive director of the Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, and co-producer of the Writers Guild Spoken Word Series and the Urban Deer Performance Series. He has published 13 books and chapbooks, including most recently Good Job, Lightning (Stubborn Mule Press, 2024) and Water Witch (Pure Sleeze Press, 2025). Tony has been offering Poetry On Demand at coffeehouses, museums, cemeteries, churches, bars, and art and music festivals for over fifteen years, and he is a frequent collaborator with experimental music and field recording ensemble ORTET. Tony was named Indiana’s 2024 Literary Champion by the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards.
Emerging poets who need a supportive audience, and established poets who want to promote published works: Sign up for open mic! Your words are precious. The time limit per open mic participant is 3-5 min. depending on the number signed up (e.g. 3.75 min. if 12).
Arrive 20-50 min. before the 7pm program start time so you can:
– Sign up for open mic
– Meet and greet featured poets, and each other
– Purchase the store’s books and other gift items
– Order and enjoy cafe food and beverages
More information about the Writers Guild at Bloomington:
https://writersguildbloomington.com/
The Writers Guild at Bloomington is committed to fostering diversity, and welcomes members regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and ability.
7-8:30 PM (EST)
Morgenstern Books & Cafe (849 S Auto Mall Rd, Bloomington IN 47401)