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Local Authors at Star Line Books

1/21/2017

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Local Authors
Star Line Books
1467 Market Street, Suite 106
​Tuesday, January 31

6 PM to 7 PM
 
Join four local authors for a reading of their works.
 
Ray Zimmerman will serve as master of ceremonies
Ray is the Vice President of the Chattanooga Audubon Society and Editor of the Chattanooga Chat, newsletter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, Chattanooga Chapter. He served as Executive Editor of Southern Light, Twelve Contemporary Southern Poets. Finishing Line Press published his Chap Book, First Days. His work has appeared in several journals and anthologies. The Southern Poetry Anthology VI: Tennessee (Texas Review Press), included the poem “Glen Falls Trail” which received an award from the Tennessee Writer’s Alliance, and which he read at their awards ceremony at the Southern Festival of Books (Nashville, Tennessee). He is the producer and Master of Ceremonies for the Fifth Tuesday events at Star Line Books. 
 
Readers:

Kitty Forbes will Read from her chap book, Wrong Bus
Kitty Forbes was awarded a Tennessee Williams Scholarship to the Sewanee Writers' Conference. (Attended this past summer). She recently collaborated with artist Meg Aiken in Williams Street gallery show "Side by Side", featuring Meg Aiken’s paintings and her poetry.
​
Mark Anderson will read his children’s book Oh Happy Dog
Mark Anderson writes children’s books under the pen name Toshiyori; which is Japanese for “old man.” This is fitting for Mark as he is an older man who has learned in his later years that he loves tutoring children to read. He has been a carpenter since he was a young man and returned to school later in life to study the things he is passionate about; people and cultures of the world as revealed through literature and art. He writes poetry, short stories, and political essays.
 
Finn Bille will read from a new collection of poems.
Finn Bille is an active public poet, having read at a variety of venues, mostly in Chattanooga, but also in Denmark, where the International People’s College published his chapbook, Waking Dreams, in 1986. He published his book, Rites of the Earth, in 1994, and in 2011, Fire Poems. Also in 2011 his poetry was included in Southern Light: Twelve Contemporary Southern Poets.
Finn’s poetry has also been included in several local anthologies. He will read from his new collection, The King's coin: Danish American Poems.
 
Christian Collier
Christian J. Collier is a 2015 Loft Spoken Word Immersion Fellow.  This program is made possible by a major grant from the Surdna Foundation and by the generous support of Loft members.
He is an accomplished artist, public speaker, and educator who has shared the stage with several members of HBO’s Def Poetry cast, legendary poet and activist Ishmael Reed, Grammy-nominated artist Minton Sparks, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame members The Impressions, etc. Mr. Collier has also given a TED Talk and been featured on an episode of TNT’s State Farm Neighborhood Sessions with multi-platinum recording artist Usher Raymond. Repeatedly, he has been featured on the IndieFeed Performance Poetry Channel, which prides itself on featuring the best spoken word artists working today. Some of his works have been featured on The Guardian, and published in such publications as The Seven Hills Review, Dirty Chai, Freeze Ray, Voicemail Poems, Calliope Magazine, and The Origami Poetry Project to name a few, and his 2009 chapbook Ghosts & Echoes has sold hundreds of copies independently solely off the strength of readings and live performances.
In October of 2013, he released his debut EP Between Beauty & Bedlam, which he wrote and produced himself. The record fuses spoken word poetry and an eclectic mix of musical genres including Hip-Hop and ambient to make a sonic gumbo. It is available now at CD Baby, Bandcamp, at live performances, and from Christian’s website (christianjcollier.com).
 
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America United

1/16/2017

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What do you mean by that?
 
Oh January 12 of 2017, I read the following statement to an open mic group, and asked those in attendance to write their response on index cards. I collected the answers and created a response poem.
 
“He is a divider, not a uniter.” This phrase has been applied to both the current president, Barak Obama, and his predecessor, George W. Bush, but what do you mean  when you say that someone is a divider? What does a unifier look like to you?
 
I believe that the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. was a uniter when he said that he foresaw a time when his children would be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, but some people say he was divisive. (Although I did not say this at the time, my reason for calling Dr. King a uniter is because he gave a voice to the voiceless and promoted a society which extended rights and privileges which they had previously been denied, thus uniting them with the broader society.)  
 
What do you believe?
 
The president elect, on the morning of his victory speech called for unity. For some this sounded like coercion, like a veiled threat.
 
What would America look like to you if we had unity? Would this imply inclusiveness or a chest thumping victory march? State your vision for our future. Our poem, written that evening follows:
 
America United is Like Gravity
 
It is like John Lennon’s song Imagine.
No one is concerned about your religion.
Your background makes no difference.
Everyone opens doors for everyone else.
Everyone wants to be part of everyone else.
 
When an issue arises we hear each person.
Hear each voice at least once.
 
It is a place with equal rights for all
with equal access to education and health care.
 
We all connect with one another,
but still maintain our individuality.
Combine unity with diversity.

Listen to different ideas.
Grow and change.
Compassion and rationality rule.
 
We must have some ideal,
a principle which unites us
but we disagree even about that.
United we stand.
Kneeling we unite.
 
Education becomes more important
than killing brown skinned people.
 
Unity is easy to make happen.
Try to understand each culture, each perspective.
 
Erase racism and other negative isms.
 
Create a place where the people’s attitudes
toward one another are in harmony
with the powers that be.
 
I wish to see a nation united in love and harmony.
I see a nation divided by hate and greed.
 
All voices are heard.
Everyone has a place at the table.
 
I seek a place where accountability of actions
and history are openly and honestly discussed.
 

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