Doors at 6 pm, Reading at 7 pm

Open mic prompt: Write a poem that reaches deep for roots. 

Read a poem or short piece that is 317 words maximum, and challenge yourself to share new work!

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About Kneeland:

Thomas Kneeland is a California-native, Mississippi-raised, African American poet, educator, and multi-hyphenate artist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. He holds a BA in English from DePauw University, an MA from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Butler University. This summer, Kneeland joined the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) Aspects of Leadership Summer Institute—LEDA Scholars Program—at Princeton University this summer to serve as a Writing Faculty member. Recently, Kneeland joined the Department of English and Modern Languages at Anderson University (Anderson, IN) as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of English.

His poetry has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in Modern Language Studies, Southern Humanities Review, The Amistad, The Rumpus, Good River Review, Vagabond City Lit, Up the Staircase Quarterly, South Florida Poetry Journal, and elsewhere. His poetry submission, “Anchorman Sings the Blues,” earned a finalist place in Frontier Poetry’s 2022 Global Poetry Prize for the African continent. Although he has published several self-published titles, Kneeland is most proud of his transition into hybrid and traditional publishing.

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NIGHTJAR creates an inclusive space for all by bringing together spoken-word performers and page-based poets writing in narrative, lyric, and experimental forms. Every third Wednesday, C.S. Carrier and Michelle Niemann host a reading and invite audience members to share their own poetic responses.