To showcase the poetry of those of us who believe in the resilience of the queer community — and to uplift those who may not yet know how.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 12TH 2025, 7-9PM
Culp Center Room 272 East Tennessee Room
No Cost, Coffee Bar Provided by Early Bird's Coffee Company
Open Mic Signup at the Door (First Come First Served) - All Experience Levels Welcome!
*Event is 18+ and may contain sensitive content, please help us create a safe and supportive environment and take care of each other!
Our Partners
- ETSU Department of Literature and Language
- The Mockingbird
- ETSU Creative Writing Society
- Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative
- Sherrod Library Coffee and Creative Writing Club
- Dr. Patricia Robertson Pride Center
- ETSU Women and Gender Resource Center
- SAGA ETSU
- ETSU Counseling Center
- ETSU Department of Counseling and Human Services
- ETSU Equity and Inclusion Conference
- ETSU Student Government Association
- UKirk ETSU
- PEACE ETSU
- ETSU Department of Communication Studies and Storytelling
- ETSU Behavioral Health and Wellness Clinic
Selected Performers
Emma Sheedlo
Emma Sheedlo (she/they pronouns) is a undergraduate senior at East Tennessee State University, with a major in English and minors in Creative Writing and Technical and Professional Writing, on her way to finish her thesis and graduate this year. She is a three-time contributor to the Mockingbird, with poems appearing across the 49th to 51st editions. She is a proud lesbian and finds endless joy within her place in the LGBTQ+ community.
Emily Wilson
Emily Wilson (any pronouns) is a recent alum from East Tennessee State University, where they earned their MA in English. She formerly worked as one of two executive editors for the 51st issue of the Mockingbird, which aimed to amplify and uplift queer voices, and currently serves as the managing editor for the Journal of Appalachian Health. They are bigender and bisexual, and she takes great pride in being part of the Appalachian queer community.
AQ Hanna
Camille Hagelberg
Raven Rhue
Raven Rhue (She/They), is a Masters English Student at ETSU, and the president of the English Honors Fraternity Sigma Tau Delta. She graduated out of ETSU with a BA in English in Spring of 2024. In her creative writing endeavors, she writes both fiction and poetry, and in both seeks to bring further representation of the queer experience.
Polaris Storm
Polaris Storm (it/its) is a writer and current undergraduate student at East Tennessee State University, double majoring in English and Foreign Languages (German). Its first published work, “The Deer of Nightshade”, was featured in the 51st issue of the Mockingbird. Much of its work is also self-published on Archive of Our Own, and it is hoping to publish more pieces in other places soon. Its identity is complicated, but broadly, it is trigenderflux, aegosexual, and demi-homoromantic.