Nov 11, 2021
Fall 2021 Guests to the Reading Series
The聽Southern Indiana Reading Series has another fantastic virtual event coming up.聽On聽November 11th, at 6PM CST聽we will be hosting two critically acclaimed authors: poet,聽Phillip B. Williams聽and novelist,聽Jessamine Chan.聽Each will read from their new books, after which there will be a Q&A session.聽聽
The poems in Williams' second collection,聽Mutiny,聽"rebuke classical mythos and western canonical figures, and embrace Afro-Diasporan folk and spiritual imagery... Phillip B. Williams conjures the hell of being erased, exploited, and ill-imagined and then,聽through a force and generosity of vision, propels himself into life, selfhood, and a path forward."
Of聽The School for Good Mothers,聽Leni Zumas,聽writes:聽鈥淭his taut, explosive novel is all the more terrifying because it edges so close to reality.聽With the story of one woman struggling to get her daughter back, Jessamine Chan spotlights the punishing scrutiny and judgment aimed at mothers everywhere鈥攅specially those who aren鈥檛 wealthy or white. Frida鈥檚 predicament embodies the fraught question so many women are taught to ask:聽Am I good enough?鈥�
Jessamine Chan
鈥檚 short stories have appeared in聽Tin House听补苍诲听Epoch. A former reviews editor at聽Publishers Weekly, she holds an MFA from Columbia University鈥檚 School of the Arts and a BA from Brown University. Her work has received support from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers鈥� Conference, the Wurlitzer Foundation, the Jentel Foundation, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the Anderson Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Ragdale Foundation. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.
Phillip B. Williams
聽was born in Chicago, Illinois and earned his MFA from Washington University, where he was聽 a Chancellor鈥檚 Graduate fellow. He is the author of the poetry collection聽Thief in the Interior聽(2016), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and聽a Lambda Literary Award, as well as the chapbooks聽叠耻谤苍听(2013)听补苍诲听Bruised Gospels听(2011).
A Cave Canem graduate, Williams is the recipient of a Whiting Award and a Ruth Lilly Fellowship. He is聽coeditor of the online journal聽Vinyl聽and teaches at Bennington College.