Ciona Rouse is a poet, editor, and educator based in Nashville. The author of the chapbook Vantablack (Third Man Books, 2017), her poetry also appears in Oxford American, Poem-a-Day, NPR Music, The Slowdown, Booth, and other publications. Ciona Rouse will host a “A Celebration of Tennessee Poets for National Poetry Month,” part of the TN Writers | TN Stories series, at the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville on April 13.

James E. Cherry is a native of Jackson, Tennessee. His books include the short fiction collection Still a Man and Other Stories and the novels Shadow of Light and Edge of the Wind. He is president of the Griot Collective of West Tennessee. A book launch event for his fourth poetry collection, Between Chance and Mercy, will be held at Turntable Coffee Counter in Jackson on April 13.