A Celebration of Poetry Month with the Knoxville Writers Guild

A Celebration of Poetry Month with the Knoxville Writers Guild and KMA

Knoxville Writers Guild Partners with the Knoxville Museum of Art for April 2 Literary Celebration
Thursday, April 2, 2026 | 6:30 PM

The Knoxville Writers Guild proudly announces a special partnership event with the Knoxville Museum of Art on Thursday, April 2, 2026, beginning at 6:30 PM. Doors open at 6pm. Refreshments and a cash bar will be available.

The evening opens with featured readings from the winners of the 2026 Knoxville Writers Guild Poetry Contest, followed by a special presentation from newly appointed Knoxville Youth Poet Laureate, Nia Thompson. These voices represent both emerging and established excellence within our regional literary community.

Following the readings, award-winning poet and scholar Natalie J. Graham will lead “Making Concrete Float: Metaphor and Photography.” This interactive workshop explores poetic strategies and forms that use photography as a gateway into memory, metaphor, and personal narrative. Participants are encouraged to bring a photograph—personal, historical, or found—and come prepared to draft short poems during the session.
Dr. Graham is the author of Begin with a Failed Body, selected by Kwame Dawes for the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. She currently serves as Professor of Africana Studies and Interim Department Head at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Natalie Graham’s presentation is inspired by the photographs in the spotlight exhibition Raking Light: Photographs of East Tennessee and the American South, part of Higher Ground: A Century of the Visual Arts in East Tennessee at the KMA.

This event is free and open to the public, continuing the Guild’s long-standing commitment to making literary arts accessible across Knoxville and surrounding counties.
Writers, readers, students, educators, and arts supporters are warmly invited to attend this evening where visual art and written word meet in community.

Thank you to the Knoxville Writers Guild and Natalie Graham for partnering with the KMA on this event.