Carolyn Hembree Presents LeeAnna Callon, Evan Clemmons, and Nikki Ummel

This poetry reading is free of charge and open to the public.

Carolyn Hembree is the author of three poetry collections: For Today (LSU Press, 2024); Rigging a Chevy into a Time Machine and Other Ways to Escape a Plague (Trio House Press, 2016), winner of the Trio Award and the Rochelle Ratner Memorial Award; and Skinny (Kore Press, 2012). Her poems appear in Beloit Poetry Journal, Colorado Review, Copper Nickel, Ninth Letter, Poetry Daily, The Southern Review, and other publications. She received a 2016-2017 ATLAS grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents and has also received grants and fellowships from PEN, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, and the Southern Arts Federation. Hembree holds an M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona and a B.A. in English and Theatre from Birmingham-Southern College. Born in Bristol, Tennessee, she has lived in New Orleans since 2001. An associate professor in the University of New Orleans M.F.A. program, she was awarded the university’s 2017 Excellence in Teaching Award. She serves as poetry editor of Bayou Magazine.

Nikki Ummel is a queer artist, editor, and educator in New Orleans. Nikki has been published or has work forthcoming with Gulf Coast, The Georgia Review, Black Lawrence Press, and others. She is the 2022 recipient of the Leslie McGrath Poetry Prize and 2023 recipient of the Juxtaprose Poetry Award for her manuscript, Bloom. Nikki is the co-founder of LMNL, an arts organization focused on readings, workshops, and residencies. She has two poetry chapbooks, Hush (Belle Point Press, 2022) and Bayou Sonata (NOLA DNA, 2023), funded by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. You can find her on the web at www.nikkiummel.com

Evan graduated from UNO with a masters in poetry. She currently teaches English at Southern University in Baton Rouge. She lives in Covington with her husband, a sassy cat, and a loving dog. When she’s not writing or teaching, you can find her at music festivals and trivia nights!

L. Callon (she/her) is a Mississippi native, but has called New Orleans home for over a decade. She manages a local independent bookstore. Her poetry has appeared in the Tilted House Review, Nurture, Lucky Jefferson, Lit.202, Ghost Girls, and Trampoline. Her poem Reverie was featured as a broadside by Lucky Bean Press in March 2022.

Host or Publisher Nikki Ummel