A Reading with Emily Decker, Michele Evans, and Amelia Franz

This will be a joint book release and reading.

Homing: Poems by Emily Decker explores the transitory nature of belonging and how we navigate our sense of place within our communities, relationships, and the natural world.

Inspired by the literary tradition established by an assembly of living legends from the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, februaries by Michele Evans reminds readers: Black History is American History, and it should be "celebrated, appreciated, and narrated" well beyond the annual 28-day observance.

Longest Man-Made Beach In The World: Biloxi Stories by Amelia Franz honors working-class lives shaped by loss, longing, and desperation in the bright sand, murky waters, and barrier islands of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

These three books provide distinct reflections around a few key themes: community, belonging, lineage, and pathways into a better future. We hope you'll join us and join in.

Order HOMING: POEMS here!

Order FEBRUARIES here!

Order LONGEST MAN-MADE BEACH IN THE WORLD:BILOXI STORIES here!

Emily Decker is a Baltimore-based writer and works in nonprofit communications. Her debut collection, Homing: Poems, was published in 2025 by Yellow Arrow Publishing. She is a 2026 Pushcart Prize Nominee, and her poems have appeared in Yellow Arrow Journal, Full Bleed, Hole in the Head Review, and Campfire Stories: Chesapeake Bay. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in teaching secondary English Education from Georgia State University. In addition to writing, Emily enjoys dabbling in the Baltimore theater scene and serves on the leadership team for Manor Mill Playhouse in Monkton, MD. You can see her on the stage this June, playing the role of Thomas Jefferson in an all-women production of 1776: The Musical as part of Towson University's Summer at the Center Arts Festival. Her other loves include singing, sailing, and exploring the nature of the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.

Michele Evans is the author of februaries (Yellow Arrow Publishing, 2026) and purl (Finishing Line Press, 2025). Before becoming an educator, this fifth-generation Washingtonian (D.C.) studied at Smith College, King's College-London, and the Graduate School at the University of Maryland. She currently teaches English and Creative Writing and serves as the adviser for Unbound, a nationally recognized high school literary magazine. This Watering Hole Fellow has been published in journals, magazines, and anthologies including Artemis, Bellevue Literary Review, Welter, and Zora's Den. Despite always wearing the color black, this Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee loves blueberries, blue hydrangeas, blues singers, and Blue Mountain coffee. She lives online at www.awordsmithie.com.

Amelia Franz was born and raised in Mississippi and now lives and works in the Baltimore area. She is the author of The Longest Man-Made Beach in the World: Biloxi Stories (Watertower Press, 2026). This collection features short stories set in the Mississippi Gulf Coast city of Biloxi, famous for seafood, hurricanes, casinos, and of course, "the longest man-made beach in the world." Her short fiction has been published widely in literary magazines. She is an active member of Baltimore's Hampden Writing Group and an editor of The Avenue Journal. Find her online at ameliafranz.com.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher The Ivy Bookshop