Performance poets Jeb Herrin, Ben McClendon, and Rhea Carmon push boundaries, stir the heart, and shake the stage at the Monthly Meeting of the Knoxville Writers’ Guild to take place February 2nd at 7pm.
The public is invited to the program, which will be at the Fellowship Hall of Knoxville’s Central United Methodist Church, 201 East Third Avenue. Enter at the back, where parking is free and plentiful. Admission is a suggested $2. The building is handicapped accessible.
Jeb A. Herrin was a medic with the 3rd Infantry Division in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn, and brings those experiences to his work in poetry at the University of Tennessee, where he is now an MFA candidate. The majority of Jeb’s current work focuses on the unique experiences of individual soldiers from training to deployment and to eventual reintegration into the civilian sector.
Ben McClendon says of his work: “Ecology is more than the study of ecosystems. As biological beings inextricable from the environment we inhabit, ecology is also the study of humanity, our struggle to find our niches, express our experiences, flourish and care for the ecosystem that is also us. Ecology is necessarily political, and politics are necessarily ecological. Poetry is well situated to explore, celebrate, and inquire into all things ecological because its tradition has always been to explore the human, and through us the world.”
Rhea (stage name, RheaSunshine), is a math teacher and former engineer, a poet since high school, whose work gives poetic voice to math and science. Her spoken word non-profit, Black Sunshine Arts N’Entertainment, performs at schools and universities, and sponsors the Knoxville Poetry Slam.
The Knoxville Writers’ Guild exists to facilitate a broad and inclusive community for area writers, provide a forum for information, support and sharing among writers, help members improve and market their writing skills and promote writing and creativity. Additional information can be found at www.KnoxvilleWritersGuild.org and www.facebook.com/KnoxWritersGuild
