Writers Guild at Bloomington

presents

Last Sunday Poetry Reading and Open Mic

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28

7-8:30pm EST

Morgenstern’s Bookstore & Café

849 S Auto Mall Rd

Bloomington IN 47401

The Writers Guild at Bloomington presents Last Sunday Poetry Reading & Open Mic, featuring Lisa Kwong and Thomas Kneeland.

LISA KWONG is the author of Becoming AppalAsian (Glass Lyre Press, 2022) and a member of the Affrilachian Poets. Born and raised in Radford, Virginia, Kwong identifies as “AppalAsian,” an Asian from Appalachia. A first generation college student, she received her BA in English from Appalachian State University and earned an MFA in poetry from Indiana University. Her poem “Searching For Wonton Soup” was the 2019 Sundress Publications Poetry Broadside Contest Winner, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Weatherford Award in Poetry. Her poems have appeared in About Place Journal, Women Speak, Best New Poets, A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia, and other publications. Kwong is also a multidisciplinary educator. She has taught courses in Asian American studies, creative writing, English composition, and student success at Indiana University and Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Indiana. Additionally, she has taught poetry workshops for Writer’s Digest University, The Appalachian Symposium, and The Makery at Hindman Settlement School.

THOMAS KNEELAND is a poet, educator, community leader, and visual artist. He is author of the chapbook, We Be Walkin’ Blackly in the Deep (Marian University Department of Media, Communication, and Design), and one of ten 2022 Frontier Poetry Global Poetry Prize finalists for the continent of Africa. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Elevation Review. His poetry is published or forthcoming in Up the Staircase Quarterly, South Florida Poetry Journal, the INverse Poetry Archive, Rigorous Magazine, and elsewhere. Kneeland holds a BA in English from DePauw University, an MA in Ministry from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Butler University, and was recently awarded a Speculative Play and Just Futurities Residency from the Indianapolis Arts and Humanities Institute at Indiana University-Indianapolis.

You are encouraged to come early to sign up for open mic.