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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260830T130000
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SUMMARY:Fermentation: A Natural History -- Sandor Ellix Katz in conversation with Yarrow Koning & Julia Skinner
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required. Register here – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/fermentation \nCharis welcomes Sandor Ellix Katz in conversation with Yarrow Koning & Julia Skinner for a celebration of Fermentation: A Natural History. \nA thoughtful introduction to the wonders of fermentation from the James Beard Award and a New York Times bestselling author of Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation. \nFermentation is a magical collaboration between people and bacteria. This book illuminates the natural history of fermentation as a process and concept\, covering practices used in cultures around the world with many practical benefits\, as well as scientific and mythological understandings\, and cutting-edge experimentation. \nThe Studies in Nature series offers close observations\, passionate research\, and natural obsessions on a variety of nature-related topics. Featuring illustrations by Stacy Hsu and black and white photography\, they offer big ideas in a small\, giftable\, and collectible package. \nAbout the Author \nSandor Ellix Katz is a fermentation revivalist. A self-taught experimentalist who lives in rural Tennessee\, he is the author of many books. His bestseller\, The Art of Fermentation\, received a James Beard award\, has been widely translated\, and was selected by the New York Times as one of “The 25 Most Influential Cookbooks From the Last 100 Years.” Sandor’s books\, along with the hundreds of fermentation workshops he has taught around the world\, have helped to catalyze a broad revival of the fermentation arts. For more information\, check out his website www.wildfermentation.com \nAbout the Conversation Partners \nYarrow Koning (they/them) is a queer\, trans\, and non-binary environmental educator\, climate justice organizer\, multimedia storyteller\, and bookseller based in Decatur\, GA. Yarrow holds a Master of Education in Environmental Education from Florida Atlantic University and specializes in education that centers equity\, justice\, queer ecologies\, and multispecies liberation. Alongside their work as a full-time bookseller at Charis Books and More\, Yarrow is the Co-Director and Impact Campaign Coordinator for the Queers 4 Climate Justice documentary Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines. In their free time\, Yarrow enjoys hosting queer ecologies outings\, workshops\, and events\, including the monthly Queer Ecologies Book Club at Charis Books and More. \nDr. Julia Skinner is a food writer whose work includes the award-winning book Our Fermented Lives\, and The Fermentation Oracle. Her next book\, Essential Food Preserving\, will be published by Storey publishing in May 2026. She is the founder of The Culinary Curiosity School\, and also runs Root\, a food-focused community and consulting organization offering classes\, consulting on creative projects\, a weekly newsletter\, and more. She’s also the founder of Roots and Branches\, where she coaches other writers to help them find their voice and share their most important work with the world. \nShe is also a nature lover\, a teacher\, and a traveler who firmly believes in finding\, and sharing\, the magic of everyday life. She has a PhD in Library & Information Science\, and lives between Atlanta\, GA and Cork\, Ireland. You can follow her work in her newsletter or find her on socials. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/fermentation-a-natural-history-sandor-ellix-katz-in-conversation-with-yarrow-koning-julia-skinner/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Books
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260902T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260902T203000
DTSTAMP:20260810T162556Z
CREATED:20260810T162556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T162556Z
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SUMMARY:Archaeology of Self: The Introspective Educator's Guide to Racial Literacy -- Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz in conversation with Bettina L. Love
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/archaeology-of-self \nCharis welcomes Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz in conversation with Bettina L. Love in celebration of Archaeology of Self: The Introspective Educator’s Guide to Racial Literacy\, an invitation to dive deep into the heart of teaching and the sacred work of self-awareness. \nArchaeology of Self: The Introspective Educator’s Guide to Racial Literacy is an invitation to dive deep into the heart of teaching and the sacred work of self-awareness. It calls educators–and professionals from all walks of life–to embark on a lifelong journey of racial literacy\, healing\, and the pursuit of a bias-free existence. Blending personal narrative\, poetry\, and guided reflection\, Archaeology of Self offers both a mirror and a map that takes readers through Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz’s framework for excavating one’s racial identity\, confronting internalized bias\, and teaching from a place of critical love\, justice\, and truth. \nThis is more than a book. It is a living\, breathing guide for transformation. Included within are:\n– Lesson plans designed by educators across the country and adaptable for K-12 and beyond.\n– Multimodal resources\, including video suggestions\, journaling prompts\, mindfulness practices\, and companion readings.\n– A chapter-themed music playlist that sets the emotional and intellectual tone\, inviting deep listening\, feeling\, and reflection. \nAt its core\, Archaeology of Self: The Introspective Educator’s Guide to Racial Literacy is a blueprint for healing and for the collective reimagining of education as a liberatory and humanizing force. \nAbout the Author \nYolanda Sealey-Ruiz\, Ph.D. is a Professor of English Education at Teachers College\, Columbia University\, and the 2024 Dorothy Height Distinguished Alumni Awardee from New York University. Her research\, published in leading academic journals\, centers on racial literacy and educational equity. \nShe is co-editor of five books\, including All About Black Girl in Education: bell hooks and Pedagogies of Love (2024)\, and co-author of the multiple award-winning Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces (2021)\, where she introduces her Archaeology of Self® concept and Racial Literacy Development Model (RLDM). Her most recent book\, Archaeology of Self: The Introspective Educator’s Guide to Racial Literacy\, was released by Routledge in Summer 2026. \nFor five consecutive years\, Yolanda has been named an EdWeek EduScholar Influencer\, recognizing her among the top 1% of education research scholars in the country. She is the founder of the Racial Literacy Project @TC and the Racial Literacy Roundtable Series\, which for 19 years has convened scholars\, educators\, and students for critical dialogue on race and diversity. \nHer work has been featured in the documentaries 2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright (2016) and Defining Us: Children at the Crossroads of Change (2022). She is also the author of two poetry collections\, Love from the Vortex & Other Poems (2020) and The Peace Chronicles (2021) and is currently writing a third collection reflecting on her childhood in the South Bronx during the 1980s. In 2022\, Yolanda delivered her TEDx Talk\, Truth\, Love & Racial Literacy\, at the University of Pennsylvania. \nConnect with Yolanda on BlueSky (@sealeyruiz.bsky.social) and Instagram (@yolie_sealeyruiz). \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nDr. Bettina L. Love holds the esteemed William F. Russell Professorship at Teachers College\, Columbia University\, and is the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal. This groundbreaking work garnered the prestigious Stowe Prize for Literary Activism and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award. Recognized by the Kennedy Center in 2022 as one of the Next 50 Leaders dedicated to fostering inspiration\, inclusivity\, and compassion\, Dr. Love’s impact extends far beyond academia. In 2024\, she received the Truth Award for Excellence in Education from Better Brothers Los Angeles and The Diva Foundation. \nDr. Love actively contributes to its mission of nurturing and empowering educators and parents committed to combating injustice within their educational institutions and communities. Additionally\, Dr. Love played a pivotal role as a founding member of the Task Force behind the groundbreaking program “In Her Hands\,” a significant guaranteed income pilot initiative disbursing more than $13 million to support Black women in Georgia. \nRenowned as a highly sought-after public speaker\, Dr. Love covers a wide range of compelling topics in her engagements\, including abolitionist teaching\, anti-racism\, Hip Hop education\, Black girlhood\, queer youth\, educational reparations\, and the use of art-based education to foster youth civic engagement. Her profound insights and expertise have earned her recognition in various news outlets\, including NPR\, PBS\, The Daily Beast\, Time\, Education Week\, The Guardian\, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In 2018\, the Georgia House of Representatives honored Dr. Love with a resolution for her impactful contributions to the field of education. Her bestseller We Want To Do More Than Survive has sold close to 200\,000 copies and has become a staple in classrooms around the country. She is a leading voice in the field of education. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines below to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually.\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions at https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/10538231?hl=en. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, whether in person or virtually\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/archaeology-of-self-the-introspective-educators-guide-to-racial-literacy-yolanda-sealey-ruiz-in-conversation-with-bettina-l-love/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260903T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260903T203000
DTSTAMP:20260804T183016Z
CREATED:20260804T183016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260804T183016Z
UID:10051061-1788462000-1788467400@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Queer Ecologies Book Club Reads: Scapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong
DESCRIPTION:THIS BOOK CLUB HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND WILL GO THROUGH OCTOBER 2026. Check back in the fall to see if it will continue in 2027! \nThis group will meet regularly in-person at Charis on the first Thursday of each month at 7pm. \nAbout the book club:\nQueer Ecologies is an emerging field that illuminates queerness in the natural world. Through a mix of non-fiction\, speculative fiction\, and poetry\, the Queer Ecologies Book Club introduces readers to the queer\, non-binary\, and downright bizarre beings found all over planet Earth. Simultaneously\, we consider what it means to live queerly on and practice care for this rapidly transforming planet we call home. The Queer Ecologies Book Club centers queer\, trans\, and gender expansive people\, ideas\, experiences\, and ways of being\, but is open to all community members. Participants are encouraged to read the month’s book before our gatherings. However\, doing so is not required – come as you are\, regardless of how much you’ve read! Participants are expected to treat each other with respect in all group conversations and interactions. This book club is facilitated by Charis bookseller & queer ecologist\, Yarrow Koning. \nAbout our September book: \nScapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong by Clare Follmann \nA caste of plants and animals labeled “invasive” are villainized as primary drivers of habitat degradation that must be eradicated at any cost–an ethically fraught and often futile approach. Fanatical intervention efforts lay waste to local ecosystems\, yet this outdated narrative of “species management” persists in both public belief and conservation policy\, distracting from and even justifying a far greater threat to biodiversity: the global capitalist system that is destroying our planet. \nDrawing on environmental science and semiotics\, Scapegoat recounts how the rhetoric of war between “native” and “invasive” species provides cover for business and political interests and their social and ecological consequences. In her clear-eyed polemic\, Clare Follmann challenges received wisdom in light of the true ecological crisis we face. The choice is simple: we can have capital\, or we can have life. \n2026 Books:\nJanuary: Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer\nFebruary: Fearless\, Sleepless\, Deathless: What Fungi Taught Me about Nourishment\, Poison\, Ecology\, Hidden Histories\, Zombies\, and Black Survival by Maria Pinto\nMarch: Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian\nApril: Unfurl: Survivals\, Sorrows\, and Dreaming by Eli Clare\nMay: What A Fish Looks Like by Syr Hayati Beker\nJune: Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead\nJuly: Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love by Lida Maxwell\nAugust: Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History by Caroline Tracey\nSeptember: Scapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong by Clare Follmann\nOctober: The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter\, Spacetime\, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask.\n– We will begin seating people at 6:45 PM ET.\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304 \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate online at www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nBy attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.ability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/queer-ecologies-book-club-reads-scapegoat-what-the-invasive-species-story-gets-wrong/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260908T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260908T203000
DTSTAMP:20260804T183007Z
CREATED:20260804T183007Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260804T183007Z
UID:10051062-1788894000-1788899400@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Queer Romance Book Club Reads: Oh! You Pretty Things
DESCRIPTION:The Queer Romance Book Club is a group of adults that reads and discusses queer romance stories of all kinds. From new releases to older stories\, contemporary to historical settings (with even some fantasy on occasion!)\, the books we’ll read will also feature diverse pairings/configurations\, sexualities\, and gender expressions. Join us on the second Tuesday of every month to go deep on the themes\, tropes\, and emotions that connect the titles we read\, or drop in for your favorite books or sub-genres! All are welcome! \nRegistration is required\, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/TXMhbVCETAamP-iws1Kg9g \nThis Month’s book is Oh! You Pretty Things by Jane Hadley \nSummary: \nBy the time imaginative Arthur Ohashi starts his junior year at the University of Minnesota in 1970\, he’s made an art of forging conventionality into armor. That is\, until Eve Clark turns his careful world upside down. Beautiful and enigmatic\, Eve pours her considerable charisma into fronting a local rock band called The Tarts – and she wants Arthur to play keys for them. As he is absorbed into the band\, their parties\, and their giddy world of subversive rock ‘n’ roll\, Arthur is increasingly drawn to the Tart’s guitarist\, James Novak\, whose appreciation for underground records and androgyny unlocks long-suppressed desires in him. \nAs Eve and James strip Arthur’s armor away (and replace it with lush red lipstick)\, he embarks on a path of self-discovery entirely outside his expectation or experience\, tapping into a well of bombshell energy he never knew he had. But when Arthur finds himself caught in the middle of Eve and James’ complicated relationship\, he realizes that he can’t continue to contort himself to fit into other people’s expectations. Not if the cost is himself. \nGrounded in local LGBTQIA history\, Oh You Pretty Things is a story of self-actualization\, love\, and rock ‘n’ roll. Fans of the Velvet Underground\, Ziggy Stardust\, and T.Rex will find themselves at home in the rich soundtrack of this novel set to music. \nIdentities/Themes/Tropes: Historical\, drag\, m/nb \n2026 Books: \nJANUARY – When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley \nFEBRUARY – Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao \nMARCH – Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell \nAPRIL – The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow \nMAY – I Think They Love You by Julian Winters \nJUNE – Moonlighters: A Novella Collection by Anita Kelly \nJULY – A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander \nAUGUST – Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory \nSEPTEMBER – Oh! You Pretty Things by Jane Hadley \nOCTOBER – Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti \nAbout the facilitators: \nKira Apple (she/her) has been a bookseller at Charis since the summer of 2020. Originally from Pennsylvania\, she first discovered a love of romance through fan fiction and fantasy novels. Now\, she reads broadly across fantasy\, sci-fi\, and romance\, and is a huge fan of queer lit and media. In addition to swooning over romantic things\, Kira enjoys tabletop roleplaying\, video games\, crocheting\, writing\, and wrangling her three cats. You can find her on Instagram – @kiapple. \nKate Harlan (she/her) is an aspiring librarian who has lived in Atlanta her whole life. She loves queer stories\, devouring queer romance\, fantasy\, and sci-fi books with both her ears and her eyes at what some say is an alarming rate. When she’s not reading (and\, honestly\, sometimes while she’s listening to books)\, she’s gardening with children in her neighborhood\, doing jigsaw puzzles\, petting dogs\, or knitting. You can find her on Instagram- @meetingmeonce \nThe event is free and open to all people\, especially to those who have no income or low income right now\, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate via this link: www.chariscircle.org/donate \nCharis Circle’s mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities\, work for social justice\, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. \nBy attending any Charis Circle virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/queer-romance-book-club-reads-oh-you-pretty-things/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260909T200000
DTSTAMP:20260810T162546Z
CREATED:20260810T162546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T162546Z
UID:10051460-1788976800-1788984000@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Monthly Sapphic Writing Group
DESCRIPTION:This is an in-person only event\, which takes place at Charis Books and More. This space is free. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. \nCharis Books and More & Sapphic Creative Writing Group are excited to bring our community a monthly space for sapphic\, trans\, and non-binary people to write and socialize. This space will include writing prompts and time to share your work and receive feedback from fellow participants. No prior writing experience is necessary – all skill levels are welcome. Our aim is to create a safe space for sapphic\, trans\, and non-binary people to foster creativity\, encourage self-expression\, and a sense of community. The Sapphic Writing Group will meet at Charis on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. Join us on Wednesday\, September 9th at 6:00pm EST! \nSeptember’s meeting will be hosted by Kait. Kait (she/they) is a queer writer and actor based in Atlanta\, GA. Their independent study in magical realism earned them the Anne Rivers Siddons prize for short fiction in 2019\, and their films can be found on various streaming platforms. Kait is fascinated by people\, personal expression\, and is passionate about connecting to and uplifting her local queer community. \nFollow @charisbooksandmore\, @sapphiccreativewriting\, and @scw.atl on Instagram to stay updated. \nEvent Details\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 5:30 PM.\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nAccessibility \nCharis has both stairs and an elongated ramp at the entrance. Accessible parking is to the left of the building. Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Most of our shelves are on wheels and can be moved to provide additional access. The insides are all level and flat with ramps to access various areas of the space. Our bathrooms are wheelchair accessible and gender neutral with motion activated fixtures. Both bathrooms have wheelchair accessible baby changing tables. Our directional signs are written in braille. Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nBy attending this event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/monthly-sapphic-writing-group-13/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.artsatl.org/wp-content/uploads/September-2026.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T203000
DTSTAMP:20260810T162535Z
CREATED:20260810T162535Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T162535Z
UID:10051461-1789068600-1789072200@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Meet Me There: Featuring Cavar and Max Delsohn
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place on crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. Register here – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/septmeetmethere \n“Meet Me There” is a monthly intergenerational poetry\, fiction\, and creative non-fiction experience curated by trans/genderqueer poet and sound artist Samuel Ace. Writers exploring genre and gender boundaries will be a special focus of this series. Some months our readings will take place at Charis Books with an option to watch virtually\, and some months the event will be fully virtual\, so be sure to check the listing! \nSeptember’s featured writers are Cavar and Max Delsohn in celebration of their books\, Differential Diagnosis and Crawl: Stories. \nFeatured Writers \n[sarah] Cavar is the author of the novel Failure to Comply (featherproof books\, 2024) and the poetry collection Differential Diagnosis (Northwestern University Press\, 2026). They edit manywor(l)ds.place\, and have had work featured in Electric Lit\, Passages North\, The Rumpus\, The Offing\, and elsewhere. Cavar holds a PhD in Cultural Studies and Science & Technology Studies from the University of California\, Davis\, and can be found online at www.cavar.club. \nMax Delsohn is the author of CRAWL\, a short story collection about trans men living in Seattle during the 2010s. It was a November Indie Next List pick and a Best Book of 2025 from Vulture\, Them\, Electric Literature\, Debutiful\, and Chicago Review of Books. His writing has appeared in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern\, VICE\, Joyland\, Triangle House and elsewhere. He currently lives in Los Angeles. \nHost & Curator \nSamuel Ace is a trans/genderqueer writer and sound artist. His latest books are I want to start by saying (Cleveland State University Poetry Center 2024)\, Our Weather Our Sea (Black Radish 2019)\, and Meet Me There: Normal Sex & Home in three days. Don’t wash. (Belladonna* 2019). Ace is the recipient of the Astraea Lesbian Writer Award and the Firecracker Alternative Book Award in Poetry\, as well as a repeat finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and the National Poetry Series. Recent work can be found in Personal Best: Makers on Their Poems that Matter Most\, Essential Queer Voices of U.S. Poetry\, Fence\, BathHouse\, The Texas Review\, Poetry\, We Want it All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetry\, Best American Experimental Poetry\, and many other journals and anthologies. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/meet-me-there-featuring-cavar-and-max-delsohn/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260915T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260915T210000
DTSTAMP:20260810T162527Z
CREATED:20260810T162527Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T162527Z
UID:10051462-1789498800-1789506000@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Splendor: Trans Poets -- A Writing Workshop with Samuel Ace
DESCRIPTION:This workshop is free and takes place at Charis Books & More (184 S. Candler St. Decatur\, GA 30030). Register to confirm your spot as spaces are limited – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/splendor-trans-poets-a-writing-workshop-with-samuel-ace-tickets-1996018531158?aff=oddtdtcreator \nPLEASE NOTE: This will be an intimate class with a small group of students. If you register and are unable to attend\, please release your ticket so that someone else can register. \nCharis welcomes Samuel Ace for Splendor: Trans Poets\, a writing workshop in celebration of SPLENDOR: TRANS POETS\, published by Two Lines Press. \nAbout the workshop: \nit’s not a question of becoming something else* \nOr is it? In this generative two hour workshop\, we will explore the borders of our lives by looking at selections from trans and gender non-conforming poets\, and employing their words as prompts for our own writing. No prior writing experience necessary! \n*from Luka Holmegaard’s “The Ocean in Your Mouth\,” translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell\, included in Splendor: Trans Poets\, a new anthology published by Two Lines Press. \nWhat to expect:\n– This class is exclusively for trans & gender non-conforming writers. Please do not register for this class if you are not trans/ gender non-conforming. No prior writing experience necessary!\n– Attendees will have the opportunity to build community with other trans writers in Atlanta\n– Attendees of this class are invited to join as readers for our monthly open mic on Wednesday\, September 16th at 7:30pm ET\n– All attendees will receive $25 for their participation \nAbout Samuel Ace \nSamuel Ace is a trans/genderqueer writer and sound artist. His latest books are I want to start by saying (Cleveland State University Poetry Center 2024)\, Our Weather Our Sea (Black Radish 2019)\, and Meet Me There: Normal Sex & Home in three days. Don’t wash. (Belladonna* 2019). Ace is the recipient of the Astraea Lesbian Writer Award and the Firecracker Alternative Book Award in Poetry\, as well as a repeat finalist for both the Lambda Literary Award and the National Poetry Series. Recent work can be found in Personal Best: Makers on Their Poems that Matter Most\, Essential Queer Voices of U.S. Poetry\, Fence\, BathHouse\, The Texas Review\, Poetry\, We Want it All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetry\, Best American Experimental Poetry\, and many other journals and anthologies. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you have any questions or need to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/splendor-trans-poets-a-writing-workshop-with-samuel-ace/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.artsatl.org/wp-content/uploads/Facebook-Splendor-Workshop-9.15.26-Charis-.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260916T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260916T203000
DTSTAMP:20260810T162440Z
CREATED:20260810T162440Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260810T162440Z
UID:10051463-1789587000-1789590600@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Cliterati Open Mic -- In Celebration of Splendor: Trans Poets
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis. \nCharis and Cliterati pair up to present an inviting and fierce open mic & reading series that celebrates new voices and seasoned veterans alike. Co-hosted by Karen G. and Theresa Davis\, all are welcome to come and share their work. If you would like to participate as a reader or performer\, all you need to do is arrive by 7:15 pm ET to sign up on the list. If you are a non-acoustic musician and would like to plug your instrument into our sound system\, please contact info@chariscircle.org ahead of time to let us know so we can have the right setup for you! There are no genre\, style\, or form requirements\, but please keep your set to under five minutes to allow everyone to have a turn! \nThis month’s featured poets will be students of Samuel’s Ace’s writing class\, hosted in celebration of Splendor: Trans Poets. \nIn celebration of the collection Splendor: Trans Poets\, poet Samuel Ace is hosting a writing workshop at Charis for trans & genderqueer writers. The students in this class will be the featured readers for September’s open mic and will each share one poem. Learn more about Splendor below: \nIntroducing readers to five trans and nonbinary poets Splendor is an ode to queer bodies\, with previously unpublished translations from Argentina\, Denmark\, Korea\, Norway\, and Quebec. From the irreverent and irresponsible to the quiet and meditative these poems decentralize our ideas of trans experience and poetics. \nSplendor presents a sliver of the wide possibilities of what trans literature can offer. This is trans literature that transcends borders and binaries in order to engaging with a messy world. As Camila Sosa Villada writes\, “Let us keep loving one another in this swamp of contradictions.” \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nEvent guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you have other accessibility needs please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/cliterati-open-mic-in-celebration-of-splendor-trans-poets/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260916T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260916T203000
DTSTAMP:20260817T153857Z
CREATED:20260817T153857Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T153857Z
UID:10051881-1789587000-1789590600@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States -- Molly M. Brookfield in conversation with Cristen Conger
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required. Register here – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/watching-the-girls-go-by \nCharis welcomes Molly M. Brookfield in conversation with Cristen Conger for a celebration of Watching the Girls Go By: A History of Street Harassment in the United States\, the first book-length history of the phenomenon we know today as street harassment. \nOgling\, catcalling\, wolf-whistling: such everyday intrusions from male strangers have greeted American women from their first forays into urban space. Watching the Girls Go By is the first book-length history of the phenomenon we know today as street harassment. Spanning more than a century\, from the 1860s to the 1980s\, this book reveals how street harassment became normalized as part of urban life and restricted women’s freedom of movement through the city. \nHistorian Molly M. Brookfield charts how American social and cultural discourses cast behaviors like catcalling as the natural entitlement of white\, middle-class men\, while scapegoating and punishing men of color and working-class men as the stereotypical–and supposedly more dangerous–harassers. She mines a rich archive of newspaper reports\, popular culture\, women’s writings\, public policy\, and more to uncover how class\, race\, and gender shaped Americans’ experiences of public space\, including who claimed a “right” to women’s bodies\, who was seen as a sexual threat\, and how women fought back against harassment. Watching the Girls Go By challenges readers to reckon with how the long history and lasting impact of the seemingly trivial intrusions that constitute street harassment continue to shape public space today. \nAbout the Author \nMolly M. Brookfield is assistant professor of history and women’s and gender studies at The University of the South. \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nCristen Conger is the creator\, host and executive producer of Unladylike. Her accidental podcast career began in 2009 when she launched Stuff Mom Never Told You and co-hosted it through 2016. She’s also the co-author of Unladylike: A Field Guide to Smashing the Patriarchy and Claiming Your Space\, which Kirkus Reviews called “a must-have feminist survival guide for the Trump era.” \nWhen she’s not making Unladylike media\, Cristen’s probably bingeing Real Housewives with her rescue maltipoo\, Brewster. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/watching-the-girls-go-by-a-history-of-street-harassment-in-the-united-states-molly-m-brookfield-in-conversation-with-cristen-conger/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260917T203000
DTSTAMP:20260812T194750Z
CREATED:20260812T194750Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T194750Z
UID:10051474-1789673400-1789677000@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:You Are Protected: Invoking Spiritual Support to Sustain Your Energy -- Michelle Cassandra Johnson in conversation with Octavia F. Raheem
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/you-are-protected \nCharis welcomes Michelle Cassandra Johnson in conversation with Octavia F. Raheem in celebration of You Are Protected: Invoking Spiritual Support to Sustain Your Energy\, a powerful collection of spiritual practices and tools to support readers in standing strong amidst whatever the world throws at them. \nRevered educator and activist Michelle Cassandra Johnson knows firsthand that we can’t pour out of an empty cup—that we can’t show up fully in our lives\, care for others\, or hold space for change if we’re not strong within. In You Are Protected\, she shares the resources and guidance that are available to protect us at any time. She writes\, “We have an entire team of guides\, allies\, ancestors (both blood and otherwise)\, deities\, archetypes\, elemental energies\, plant spirits\, and many more supports to help protect us and our energy.” This heartfelt book helps us recognize and connect with that support. \nThroughout the book\, Johnson offers a range of potent protection practices and tools—from somatic practices to natural curios. She helps readers determine which resources feel aligned to them to build an effective daily spiritual hygiene practice. She also offers guidance for various situations\, including computer work or what to do before\, during\, and after leading or participating in a meeting or group. \nDrawing from ancestral wisdom\, various spiritual lineages\, and nature-based traditions\, Michelle urges us to consider how we can pour into ourselves as much as we pour into others and the world\, inviting us to engage in a wealth of practices to sustain our spirit\, souls’ work\, and highest good. \nAbout the Author \nMichelle Cassandra Johnson is a beloved teacher\, activist\, and clinical social worker with a background of over two decades of practice. She has led dismantling racism work in many settings and her work centers on healing from individual and collective trauma\, coming back into wholeness\, and aligning the mind\, body\, spirit\, and heart. She is the author of several books\, including Illuminating Our True Nature. \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nOctavia F. Raheem teaches both sacred and strategic rest practices to leaders and transformational organizations worldwide. As founder of Pause\, Rest\, Lead® School of Sacred Studies\, she trains rest facilitators and works with companies to bring sacred rest practices to hundreds of leaders and employees. \nAn award-winning author of three books (Rest Is Sacred\, Pause Rest Be\, and Gather)\, Octavia has 10\,000+ documented teaching hours and over 20 years of experience weaving yogic practices\, Black American Southern wisdom\, and trauma-informed somatics into leadership development. \nIn 2021\, Yoga Journal recognized Octavia as one of fifteen experienced professionals who have elevated the field on a global scale. \nShe holds advanced certifications in Restorative Yoga\, Yoga Nidra\, and meditation\, plus 10+ years developing innovative curricula for K-12 education. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines below to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/you-are-protected\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nBy attending our event\, whether in person or virtually\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/you-are-protected-invoking-spiritual-support-to-sustain-your-energy-michelle-cassandra-johnson-in-conversation-with-octavia-f-raheem/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.artsatl.org/wp-content/uploads/Facebook-You-Are-Protected-9.17.26-Hybrid-1920-x-1080-px.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T200000
DTSTAMP:20260526T134250Z
CREATED:20260526T134250Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260526T134250Z
UID:10049253-1789758000-1789761600@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:The Disappearers: Marlon James in conversation with Doug Jones
DESCRIPTION:Charis and the Georgia Center for the Book welcome Marlon James in conversation with Doug Jones for a celebration of The Disappearers. \nThis is an in-person only event and registration is required. RSVP here. This event takes place at the First Baptist Church of Decatur\, 308 Clairemont Avenue Decatur\, GA 30030. Doors open at 6:30pm. Event begins promptly at 7:00pm. \nCharis and the Georgia Center for the Book welcome Marlon James in conversation with Doug Jones for a celebration of The Disappearers\, a propulsive novel about the murder of a gay man in 1980s Jamaica and its tragic consequences. \nIn 1988\, eight men in Kingston\, Jamaica\, begin rehearsals for a play. The men are strangers to one another and each has a different reason for being involved. But they all share one inescapable truth: All of them are gay―a “battyman” in Jamaican argot―and all of them must contend with the dangers that such a truth lays bare. \nOne night a mob savagely attacks them\, killing one of the men. For the survivors\, their recovery is as much emotional as it is physical. As their bodies heal\, each man grapples with the violence\, the hatred\, and the rage that the attack made plain. Some try to ignore what the attack has unearthed\, while others double down on retribution. \nIn The Disappearers\, Marlon James has written a riveting and deeply human story of men forced to make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands. It is both a dramatic page-turner and an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s. \nAbout the author \nMarlon James is the Booker Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling author of A Brief History of Seven Killings; the bestselling and National Book Award finalist Black Leopard\, Red Wolf; as well as the bestselling Moon Witch\, Spider King; The Book of Night Women; and John Crow’s Devil. In addition to the Booker Prize\, James’s novels have won the American Book Award\, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award\, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize\, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature\, and the Los Angeles Times Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction\, and have been finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the NAACP Image Award. In 2019\, Time magazine named him one of the one hundred most influential people in the world. Born in Jamaica\, James lives in New York City. \nAbout the conversation partner \nDoug Jones is an alumnus of Morehouse College and received his MFA from Columbia University. His debut novel\, The Fantasies of Future Things (Simon & Schuster\, April ’25) was longlisted for both the 2026 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award and the 2025 First Novel Prize. His work has been included in the anthologies Black Love Letters (Zando Projects / Get Lifted Books)\, Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature & Art (Third World Press) and Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS (Other Countries Press). He has written for LitHub.com\, Black Issues Book Review and Venus Magazine. An inaugural fellow of the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices\, Doug’s early work received recognition from the Hurston/Wright Foundation. Doug lives in Atlanta\, GA. \nAbout the Event \nAll attendees must register for the event by selecting a ticket. There will be a limited number of free tickets. You may choose: a free ticket without a book\, a single ticket with a book\, or a ticket for 2 people that includes one book. \nIf you choose the book with ticket option\, you will bring your ticket (digitally or on paper) with you to pick up your copy of the book at the event. All books not picked up at the event on 9/18 will be available for pickup at Charis Books and More (184 S. Candler St\, Decatur) for 2 weeks. \nDoors open at 6:30 pm. Event begins promptly at 7:00 pm. \nCOVID 19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS + ACCESSIBILITY:\nMasks: Face masks are strongly encouraged but not required.\nSocial Distancing: Attendance will be capped below capacity to ensure social distancing. \nThe First Baptist Church is fully wheelchair accessible\, with accessible parking. Please contact us at info@charisbooksandmore.com or 404-524-0304 if you have other seating or accessibility needs or would like to request ASL interpretation. \nEvent Code of Conduct: By attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/the-disappearers-marlon-james-in-conversation-with-doug-jones/
LOCATION:First Baptist Church of Decatur\, 308 Clairemont Ave\, Decatur\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.artsatl.org/wp-content/uploads/Facebook-THE-DISAPPEARERS-9.18.26-1920-x-1080-px.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260919T203000
DTSTAMP:20260817T153848Z
CREATED:20260817T153848Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T153848Z
UID:10051882-1789846200-1789849800@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Lavender Witchcraft: Crafting Queer Magical Practice -- Sam Wise in conversation with Yarrow Koning
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually (https://www.crowdcast.io/c/lavender-witchcraft). \nCharis welcomes Sam Wise in conversation with Yarrow Koning in celebration of Lavender Witchcraft: Crafting Queer Magical Practice. This resource combines thorough research\, hands-on practical exercises\, and thought-provoking discussions to help queer witches and allies build a magical practice that is authentic to them. \nStep into the magic of your own identity and embark on an affirming spiritual practice. \nFor thousands of years\, various cultures around the world have drawn connections between magic\, spiritual power\, and LGBTQ+ identity. This guidebook retraces these ancient connections and weaves them into a secular witchcraft practice deeply rooted in modern queer history and culture. Hands-on practical exercises and thought-provoking discussions serve as guideposts to help queer witches and allies create a spiritual path that is authentic to them\, no matter how they identify. Topics covered include elemental magic beyond binary gender\, queer planetary magic\, spiritual allies for all identities\, sample holiday rituals\, and more. Through this work\, we cast a magic circle inclusive of all bodies and identities. \nAbout the Author \nHailing from the foothills of the Appalachian mountains\, Sam Wise (she/they) is a Reclaiming witch and eclectic pagan with years of experience combining magic\, activism\, and queer culture. Sam is a member of AIRA (the Ableism-Impacted Reclaiming Alliance)\, where she serves as the current representative to BIRCH (Reclaiming’s decision-making body). They are also a member of the Fellowship of Fire and Ice\, where they are part of the ritual team. Sam has a passion for combining folk traditions with modern practices to create accessible\, affirming magic \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nYarrow Koning (they/them) is a queer\, trans\, and non-binary environmental educator\, climate justice organizer\, multimedia storyteller\, and bookseller based in Decatur\, GA. Yarrow holds a Master of Education in Environmental Education from Florida Atlantic University and specializes in education that centers equity\, justice\, queer ecologies\, and multispecies liberation. Alongside their work as a full-time bookseller at Charis Books and More\, Yarrow is the Co-Director and Impact Campaign Coordinator for the Queers 4 Climate Justice documentary Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines. In their free time\, Yarrow enjoys hosting queer ecologies outings\, workshops\, and events\, including the monthly Queer Ecologies Book Club at Charis Books and More. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines below to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually — https://www.crowdcast.io/c/lavender-witchcraft\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nBy attending our event\, whether in person or virtually\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/lavender-witchcraft-crafting-queer-magical-practice-sam-wise-in-conversation-with-yarrow-koning/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260920T163000
DTSTAMP:20260804T182959Z
CREATED:20260804T182959Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260804T182959Z
UID:10051063-1789916400-1789921800@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Black Feminist Book Club Reads: Sassafrass\, Cypress & Indigo
DESCRIPTION:The Black Feminist Book Club reads books written by Black transgender\, gender expansive\, and/or women writers\, which center the liberation\, struggle\, and lived experiences of oppressed people/marginalized groups through a Black feminist perspective. The group celebrates classic and contemporary Black authors of fiction and nonfiction\, all in the comfort of a historic feminist bookstore where many of these authors once read or shared their works! Our goal is for these texts to be welcoming and accessible regardless of your background or familiarity with the books. \nYemisi Combahee\, a senior organizer with Black Feminist Future is the facilitator of this group. All community members are invited to attend with the acknowledgment that this is a space that centers Black women and gender expansive folks’ thoughts\, creativity\, and lived experiences. We encourage folks to read the months book before our gathering but it is not required – come as you are\, regardless of how much you’ve read! \nThis group meets in-person at Charis on the first Sunday of each month at 3pm. \nAbout our September book: \nSassafrass\, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange \nThe story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston\, South Carolina. \nSassafrass\, the oldest\, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college\, she is now living with other artists in Los Angeles and trying to weave a life out of her work\, her man\, her memories and dreams. Cypress\, the dancer\, leaves home to find new ways of moving in the world. Indigo\, the youngest\, is still a child of Charleston-“too much of the south in her”-who lives in poetry and has the supreme gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world. Shange’s rich and wondrous story of womanhood\, art\, and passionately-lived lives is written “with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message” (The New York Times). \n2026 Books: \nJanuary: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw \nFebruary: A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry & Kali Nicole Gross \nMarch: Gorilla\, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara \nApril: Love Poems by Nikki Giovanni \nMay: The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez \nJune: The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde \nJuly: The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi \nAugust: The War Before: The True Life Story of Becoming a Black Panther\, Keeping the Faith in Prison\, and Fighting for Those Left Behind by Safiya Bukhari \nSeptember: Sassafrass\, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange \nOctober: Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da’Shaun L. Harrison \nNovember: Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask.\n– We will begin seating people at 2:45 PM ET.\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304 \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate online at www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nBy attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/black-feminist-book-club-reads-sassafrass-cypress-indigo/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260922T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260922T203000
DTSTAMP:20260812T194612Z
CREATED:20260812T194612Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T194612Z
UID:10051488-1790103600-1790109000@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Kidliterate Book Club Reads: The True Meaning of Smekday
DESCRIPTION:Kidliterate invites you to join a group of quirky adults who enjoy reading and discussing Young Adult and Middle Reader books. Drop-ins welcome! The Kidliterate Book Club meets on Zoom on the 4th Tuesday of every month\, 7-8:30 PM EST. \nRegistration is required\, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/53H41bEaTmaubGLTIzcvMg \nThis month’s book is The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. \nFourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance. \nBut Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city\, preying on magic folk\, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards\, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries… \n2026 Book Club Picks: \nJanuary: The Flicker by H.E. Edgmon\nFebruary: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz\nMarch: Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson\nApril: Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton\nMay: The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers\nJune: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher\nJuly: Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson\nAugust: Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez\nSeptember: The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex\nOctober: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas \nThe event is free and open to all people\, especially to those who have no income or low income right now\, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate via this link: www.chariscircle.org/donate \nCharis Circle’s mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities\, work for social justice\, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. \nBy attending any Charis Circle virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/kidliterate-book-club-reads-the-true-meaning-of-smekday/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260922T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260922T203000
DTSTAMP:20260812T194738Z
CREATED:20260812T194738Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T194738Z
UID:10051476-1790105400-1790109000@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Desperate Bodies: Lydia Mathis in conversation with Yemi Combahee
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/desperate-bodies \nCharis welcomes Lydia Mathis in conversation with Yemi Combahee in celebration of Desperate Bodies\, a debut story collection excavating the desire\, humor\, and horror in the everyday lives of Black women and girls. \nWith a voice that vibrates on the page\, Lydia Mathis’ debut collection is set in the American South and her sharply drawn\, authentic characters shine a light on what we’re willing to do to ourselves and to others in service of our desires. The madness in the ordinary rules here: an overworked college safety officer is confronted by a bloody figure who walks into her office; a sex worker runs into a client en route to a parent-teacher conference; a teacher is plagued by a ghost determined to tidy her apartment. \nDesperate Bodies depicts the fragility\, strength\, and unruliness of Black women and girls’ bodies and the power in being honest about their desires. In unflinching prose\, Mathis takes a frank and determined look at what it means to be subjected to imbalances of power through the perspectives of young girls and adult women. With surprising turns and a touch of the supernatural\, these stories refuse to look away from the most honest\, raw moments of womanhood. \nVisceral and unyielding\, Desperate Bodies is a thrillingly dark ride that introduces Lydia Mathis as a major new writer. \nAbout the Author \nLydia Mathis has an MFA in fiction from New York University. She is the recipient of A Public Space’s 2023 Editorial Fellowship and is currently an assistant editor at A Public Space. She has stories published in North American Review\, Southeast Review\, Torch Magazine\, Stanchion\, Five on the Fifth\, and oranges journal. \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nYemi Combahee (she/her) is a Black Lesbian feminist\, reproductive justice organizer\, and full-spectrum doula based in Atlanta\, Georgia. Yemi is currently the Senior Manager of Campaigns at Black Feminist Future. Yemi also has a background in abortion clinic administration and intimate partner violence legal advocacy. She began her interest in liberation work as a Comparative Women’s Studies major at Spelman College where she began community organizing and engaging with Black feminist theory. Yemi’s work\, politic\, and accountability to feminist community was also shaped by her time as a bookseller at Charis Books & More\, the south’s oldest independent feminist bookstore. Yemi remains rooted in care work through her full-spectrum doula practice\, Freedom Births\, where she supports folks through their reproductive journeys. When not organizing for a more just future\, she’s probably baking something delicious or reading in preparation for her next book club meeting. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines below to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually- https://www.crowdcast.io/c/desperate-bodies\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nBy attending our event\, whether in person or virtually\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/desperate-bodies-lydia-mathis-in-conversation-with-yemi-combahee/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260924T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260924T203000
DTSTAMP:20260812T194745Z
CREATED:20260812T194745Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T194745Z
UID:10051475-1790278200-1790281800@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Our Cut of Salt: Deena Helm in conversation with Trang Thanh Tran
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/our-cut-of-salt \nCharis welcomes Deena Helm in conversation with Trang Thanh Tran in celebration of Our Cut of Salt\, a powerful and intimate look at what it means to make a home\, to lose it\, and to return\, only to find it irrevocably changed. \nThere is something haunting Nuhad’s childhood home in Haifa. Cats avoid its perimeter\, strange noises come from within\, and residents have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948\, she always held a place for the house in her heart. \nAnd\, in return\, the house did the same for her. \nAfter Nuhad passes away\, her granddaughter\, Marina\, is determined to visit her grandmother’s home after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and family history. Marina’s mother\, Haifa – named for the city that was lost to their family – reluctantly agrees to her trip\, though she knows firsthand that some secrets are better left buried. \nBut the house is no longer a home. It is a painful\, festering wound that infects everything it touches. The more Marina digs into her family’s past\, the sicker she becomes. Despite Nuhad’s ghostly warnings\, Haifa rushes to help her daughter. \nAs the three women converge in their ancestral home\, they must put the haunting to rest before the secrets of the past drown them all. \nAbout the Author \nDEENA HELM is a mixed Palestinian-American author\, and Our Cut of Salt is her debut novel. Her other works can be found in Fikra Magazine and So To Speak. She asks that you\, the reader\, do everything in your power to resist genocide and deepen your commitment to liberation for all. \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nTrang Thanh Tran is a New York Times and Indie bestselling author based in Atlanta. Their debut She Is a Haunting was a William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist and won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a YA Novel. Their second book They Bloom at Night was winner of the Indies Choice Book Award for YA and nominated for a Lodestar Award and Locus Award. They adore all things strange and\, of course\, their geriatric cats. Find them on Instagram @nvtran_ and their website trangthanhtran.com. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines below to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/our-cut-of-salt\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nBy attending our event\, whether in person or virtually\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/our-cut-of-salt-deena-helm-in-conversation-with-trang-thanh-tran/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260925T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260925T200000
DTSTAMP:20260812T195014Z
CREATED:20260812T195014Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T195014Z
UID:10051478-1790362800-1790366400@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Signals Across Vast Distances: Essays and Tales -- Elizabeth Alexander in conversation with Jericho Brown
DESCRIPTION:This is an in-person only event and registration is required. Register here – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/signals-across-vast-distances-elizabeth-alexander-jericho-brown-tickets-1996471977428?aff=oddtdtcreator. \nThis event takes place in the theater of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum (441 John Lewis Freedom Pkwy NE\, Atlanta\, GA 30307). Doors open at 6:30pm. Event begins promptly at 7:00pm. \nPLEASE NOTE: This event will take place in 2 theaters. Once capacity is reached in the primary theater\, attendees will be directed to a second theater where the event will be simulcast. Reserving a seat does not guarantee you a seat in the primary theater – arrive early to secure your seat. \nCharis and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum welcome Elizabeth Alexander in conversation with Jericho Brown for a celebration of Signals Across Vast Distances: Essays and Tales\, a call to courage and connection from prize-winning poet and champion of the arts and humanities Elizabeth Alexander. \nIn this deeply personal book\, Elizabeth Alexander gives us profound and galvanizing lessons from culture and life to move through challenging times. In close readings of visionary and beloved poets and writers—Muriel Rukeyser\, Gwendolyn Brooks\, Audre Lorde\, James Baldwin\, and June Jordan\, among others—Dr. Alexander meditates on how words and values can sustain and inspire us\, interweaving her voice with revelatory works of art by some of our most extraordinary visual artists\, richly reproduced in the book’s pages. \nHer stories of connection—as a daughter\, wife\, widow\, and mother of two sons; reflecting at midlife on her younger days as an aspiring dancer; as a poet at President Obama’s inauguration on the dais alongside her father\, a civil rights pioneer; urging radical welcome in our families\, communities\, and country—engage and move us. Her reflections on the public project of acknowledging historical truths\, a focus of her leadership at the Mellon Foundation\, model courageous action. \nThroughout the book\, Alexander poses questions\, encouraging readers to recognize the abundant resources we carry within or can access: language\, history\, art\, community\, family\, our bodies\, our stories\, and love itself. In luminous and powerful prose\, Signals Across Vast Distances calls us to imagine possibilities\, take courage\, and—in Alexander’s closing words—lead with love. \nAbout the author \nElizabeth Alexander is a prize-winning and New York Times best-selling author\, renowned poet\, educator\, scholar\, and cultural advocate. Her memoir\, The Light of the World\, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award. She composed and recited “Praise Song for the Day” for President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration and is currently president of the Mellon Foundation\, the nation’s largest funder of the arts\, culture\, and humanities. She lives and works in New York City. \nAbout the conversation partner \nJericho Brown is the author of three collections of poetry: The Tradition (2019)\, a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award and the winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; The New Testament (Copper Canyon 2014)\, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was named one of the best of the year by Library Journal\, Coldfront\, and the Academy of American Poets; and Please (New Issues\, 2008)\, which won the 2009 American Book Award. He is also the editor of the anthology How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft\, Practice\, and Skill (Amistad\, 2023)\, and The Selected Shepherd (University of Pittsburgh Press\, 2024)\, a new retrospective on the work of the important Black\, gay poet Reginald Shepherd. \nBrown is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Award (2024)\, the Whiting Writers Award\, and fellowships from the The Academy of American Poets\, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation\, the National Endowment for the Arts\, the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University\, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference\, and the Krakow Poetry Seminar in Poland. He was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award\, the Thom Gunn Award\, and the Hurston Wright Poetry Prize\, and was elected an Academy Chancellor in 2024. His poems have appeared in The Nation\, The New Yorker\, The New Republic\, and The Best American Poetry. \nBrown lives in Atlanta where he is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing and Interim Director of Creative Writing at Emory University. \nAbout the Event \nAll attendees must register for the event by selecting a ticket. There will be a limited number of free tickets. You may choose: a free ticket without a book\, a single ticket with a book\, or a ticket for 2 people that includes one book. Register here- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/signals-across-vast-distances-elizabeth-alexander-jericho-brown-tickets-1996471977428?aff=oddtdtcreator \nIf you choose the book with ticket option\, you will bring your ticket (digitally or on paper) with you to pick up your copy of the book at the event. All books not picked up at the event on 9/25 will be available for pickup at Charis Books and More (184 S. Candler St\, Decatur) for 2 weeks. \nDoors open at 6:30 pm. Event begins promptly at 7:00 pm. \nCOVID 19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS + ACCESSIBILITY:\nMasks: Face masks are strongly encouraged but not required.\nSocial Distancing: Attendance will be capped below capacity to ensure social distancing. \nThe Library and Museum are surrounded by 35 acres of ponds\, local wildlife and rolling grounds. There are six handicap parking spaces with ramps leading from the parking lot into the building via ramps. Approaching the Museum entrance from the gardens you will see a courtyard and fountain with concrete/slate walkway on both sides. The circle of flags on the upper east side of the courtyard ramps into the sidewalks. Once inside the Museum lobby access to the public restrooms is by ramp. The public restrooms have handicap stalls and wash basins accessible by wheelchair. All elevation changes inside the building are negotiable on ramps and with elevators. \nPlease contact us at info@charisbooksandmore.comor 404-524-0304 if you have other seating or accessibility needs or would like to request ASL interpretation. \nEvent Code of Conduct: By attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/signals-across-vast-distances-essays-and-tales-elizabeth-alexander-in-conversation-with-jericho-brown/
LOCATION:Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum\, 441 John Lewis Freedom Pkwy. N.E.\, Atlanta\, GA\, 30307\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T113000
DTSTAMP:20260812T194600Z
CREATED:20260812T194600Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260812T194600Z
UID:10051489-1790416800-1790422200@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:LGBTQ+ Book Club Reads: Uncanny Valley Girls: Essays on Horror\, Survival\, and Love
DESCRIPTION:The LGBTQ+ Book Club is a group for LGBTQ+ folks and allies to read queer-themed books and books by queer authors! We aim to have diverse thought-provoking discussions about queer identity\, history\, and topical issues. All are welcome to join! \nThe LGBTQ+ Book Club meets on Zoom on the 4th Saturday of every month\, 10:00 -11:30 AM EST. \nRegistration is required\, register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/fka5Uo6YQxqwCYfRARyOuw#/registration \nAbout our September book: \nUncanny Valley Girls: Essays on Horror\, Survival\, and Love by Zefyr Lisowski \nFrom Lambda Award-winning poet Zefyr Lisowski\, a sharply personal and expansive memoir-in-essays dedicated to the strange and absurd beauty of horror films\, exploring the complications of gender\, the insidiousness of class ascension\, and the latent violence hidden in our own uncanny reflections. \nThis is how it worked: first I loved them\, and then I loved myself. \nAt twenty-seven\, poet Zefyr Lisowski found herself in the place she feared most: a locked psych ward. While inside\, she turned to horror movies—her deepest\, most constant comfort. \nRather than disturb\, scary movies have always provided solace and connection for Lisowski\, as they do many others—offering a vision of a world filled equally with beauty and pain\, and a reason to reach out to others and hold them tight. After all\, as Lisowski argues\, what terrifies us most about these movies is our own uncanny reflection—and at the root of that fear\, a desperate desire to love and be loved. \nIn these wide-ranging essays\, Lisowski weaves theory and memoir into nuanced critiques of films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Saint Maud. From fears about sickness and disability\, to trans narratives and the predator/victim complex\, to the struggle to live in a world that wants you dead\, she explores horror’s reciprocal impact on our culture and—by extension—our lives. Through it all\, Lisowski lays bare her own complex biography—spanning from a trans childhood in the South to the sweaty dancefloors of Brooklyn—and the family\, friends\, and lovers that have bloomed with her into the present. \nDeeply felt\, blood-spattered\, and brimming with care and wonder\, Uncanny Valley Girls thrusts this seasoned poet to centerstage. \n2026 Book Club Picks: \nJANUARY – Spent by Alison Bechdel \nFEBRUARY – These Heathens by Mia McKenzie \nMARCH – The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin \nAPRIL – Open Throat: A Novel by Henry Hoke \nMAY – How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain\, Disability\, and Doom by Johanna Hedva \nJUNE – Be Gay\, Do Crime: Sixteen Stories of Queer Chaos edited by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley \nJULY – Queer Villains of Myth and Legend: A Revelry of Queer Rogues and Outlaws through the Ages by Dan Jones \nAUGUST – I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel by Mac Crane \nSEPTEMBER – Uncanny Valley Girls: Essays on Horror\, Survival\, and Love by Zefyr Lisowski \nOCTOBER – Anno Dracula by Kim Newman \nThe event is free and open to all people\, especially to those who have no income or low income right now\, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate via this link: www.chariscircle.org/donate \nCharis Circle’s mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities\, work for social justice\, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. \nBy attending any Charis Circle virtual event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/lgbtq-book-club-reads-uncanny-valley-girls-essays-on-horror-survival-and-love/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T130000
DTSTAMP:20260819T175345Z
CREATED:20260819T175345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T175345Z
UID:10051893-1790424000-1790427600@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:The Banned Book Bunch - Storytime
DESCRIPTION:This is a free\, in-person only event\, which takes place at Charis Books and More. Please read the event details to be sure you can participate in this group. \nCharis Books and More is excited to bring our community a monthly space to celebrate diverse stories for young readers. Each month we will have a read-aloud and short discussion featuring a banned or challenged picture book — and every now and then\, you may be surprised by a guest author or illustrator. Come for a story time\, stay for a snack & community building. \nThis group will meet monthly at Charis\, on a Saturday from 12:00pm to 1:00pm. Follow @charisbooksandmore on Instagram and check out the Events calendar on the Charis website to stay updated on future dates. \nThis group is hosted by Ain Heath Drew. Ain is an award-winning author whose first love is writing beautiful stories for children. Drew has published three picture books\, Ari J.’s Kinky\, Curly Crown\, Ari J.’s Firefly Rescue\, and Ayo’s Adventure: Across the African Diaspora from Afro to Zulu. By day\, she’s a reading interventionist inspired by the impact and transformative power of words. Her goal is for all children to experience the joy of immersing themselves in the magic of books. \nWhat will The Banned Book Bunch be reading this year? \n– March: Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (banned for themes of gender expression & gender “non-comformity”)\n– April: Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty (banned for featuring a family with two fathers)\n– May: Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña (banned for referencing incarceration and featuring a wedding between two women)\n– June & July – SUMMER BREAK\, NO STORY TIME\n– August: The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson (banned for themes of race & social issues)\n– September: Sofia Valdez\, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts (banned for LGBTQ symbolism (pride flags\, painted nails\, etc))\n– October: Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Nancy K. Mays and Sharice Davids (banned for LGBTQ content)\n– November: Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine by Hannah Moushabeck (banned for not following “neutrality policies” re: Israel/Palestine) \nEvent Details\n– Masks are required for adults in the audience and are optional for children\n– There will be a mix of chair and floor seating. We will begin seating people at 11:30 AM.\n– After the reading\, we will provide kid-friendly snacks on the front porch.\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nTo request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nAccessibility \nCharis has both stairs and an elongated ramp at the entrance. Accessible parking is to the left of the building. Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Most of our shelves are on wheels and can be moved to provide additional access. The insides are all level and flat with ramps to access various areas of the space. Our bathrooms are wheelchair accessible and gender neutral with motion activated fixtures. Both bathrooms have wheelchair accessible baby changing tables. Our directional signs are written in braille. Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nBy attending this event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/the-banned-book-bunch-storytime/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T203000
DTSTAMP:20260819T175359Z
CREATED:20260819T175359Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T175359Z
UID:10051892-1790451000-1790454600@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Poetry Showcase
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually (https://www.crowdcast.io/c/fall-poetry-showcase). \nCharis presents an exciting showcase of poets! Join us for a group reading featuring: Adedayo Agarau (The Years of Blood)\, Kristin Entler (Of Water Never Ceasing)\, and Dani Janae (Hound Triptych). These poets represent a range of voices and styles in contemporary poetics. Join us virtually or in-person to explore these “small bites” of each poet’s larger works\, which are sure to leave you hungry for more! \nAbout the Poets \nAdedayo Agarau is the author of The Years of Blood\, winner of the Poetic Justice Institute Editor’s Prize for BIPOC Writers (Fordham University Press\, Fall 2025). He is a Wallace Stegner Fellow ‘25\, a Cave Canem Fellow and a 2024 Ruth Lilly-Rosenberg Fellowship finalist. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Agbowó Magazine: A Journal of African Literature and Art and a Poetry Reviews Editor for The Rumpus. He is the author of the chapbooks Origin of Name (African Poetry Book Fund\, 2020) and The Arrival of Rain (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press\, 2020). \nKristin Entler is a writer and educator from Alabama. She holds an M.F.A. in poetry from The University of Arkansas\, and is the Poetry Editor of NELLE. They live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina with their service dog\, Azzie; whose name is short for Asclepius\, the Greek God of Medicine. She can be found in publications such as The Bitter Southerner\, Gulf Stream Literary Magazine\, Porter House Review\, and BOOTH among others\, as well as on most social media platforms @findmycure. Their debut poetry collection\, Of Water Never Ceasing\, was published by Loblolly Press in June 2026. \nDani Janae is the author of Hound Triptych (Sundress Publications\, 2026). A poet and journalist from Pittsburgh\, Pennsylvania\, her work has been published by Longleaf Review\, SWWIM\, Palette Poetry\, South Florida Poetry Journal\, and others. She lives in South Carolina. \nWhen she is not writing she enjoys having intimate conversations with the things that puzzle and delight her\, admiring spiders\, watching horror movies\, and hunting for figs. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines below to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask.\n– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/fall-poetry-showcase\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@chariscircle.org or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, whether virtually or in-person\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to info@chariscircle.org immediately.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/poetry-showcase-2/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260927T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260927T193000
DTSTAMP:20260723T193152Z
CREATED:20260723T193152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260723T193152Z
UID:10050817-1790533800-1790537400@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Meet Me In The Garden: An Evening with Nina LaCour
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/meet-me-in-the-garden \nCharis welcomes Nina LaCour in celebration of Meet Me in the Garden\, a gorgeous family story about self-discovery and love in all forms. \nNew Orleans\, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters\, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. But while Odette’s older sisters are content to be wives and mothers\, Odette has always wanted something else. It is only with her beloved cousin\, Delphine\, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman\, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover\, too\, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered\, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom. \nBut five years later\, Odette’s life is nothing like what she’d planned. She’s a widowed mother\, living in Los Angeles\, and she and Delphine\, who is passing as white\, have spiraled away from each other. When Delphine reaches a breaking point\, Odette must make a shattering choice to try to hold her family together. \nProfound and expansive\, a story of love and longing\, art and motherhood\, friendship and desire\, Meet Me in the Garden is a decades-spanning tour de force\, inspired by the author’s family and tracing the history of the Great Migration. \nAbout the Author \nNINA LACOUR is the award-winning and bestselling author of Yerba Buena \, as well as many works for children and young adults. A former indie bookseller and educator\, she lives with her family in San Francisco. \nConversation partner details to come! \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nCharis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking\, two ramps\, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. \nPlease read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. \nIn-person event guidelines:\n– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.\n– We will begin seating people at 6:00 PM ET.\n– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/meet-me-in-the-garden\n– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well\, please do not come to the event. \nIf you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations\, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, whether in person or virtually\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/meet-me-in-the-garden-an-evening-with-nina-lacour/
LOCATION:Charis Books & More\, 184 S Candler Street\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260929T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260929T203000
DTSTAMP:20260819T175333Z
CREATED:20260819T175333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T175333Z
UID:10051894-1790710200-1790713800@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:Primary: After and With Alma Thomas -- Alexis Pauline Gumbs in conversation with Bettina Judd
DESCRIPTION:This is a free\, in-person only event and registration is encouraged. Register here – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/primary-after-and-with-alma-thomas-alexis-pauline-gumbs-bettina-judd-tickets-1997091727116?aff=oddtdtcreator. \nThis event takes place in the Winter Theater at Agnes Scott College (141 E. College St Decatur\, GA 30030). Doors open at 7:00pm. Event begins promptly at 7:30pm.This event is open to the general public and the Agnes Scott College community. \nCharis and the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and Creative Art Departments of Agnes Scott College present an evening with Alexis Pauline Gumbs in conversation with Bettina Judd in celebration of Primary: After and With Alma Thomas. This book is an exploration of sisterhood\, creativity\, and community inspired by the artist Alma Thomas’s life and work\, from the award-winning poet Alexis Pauline Gumbs. \nAlma Thomas (1891–1978) was an influential figure in twentieth-century modern art\, best known for her bright\, mosaiclike abstract paintings. Although some critics have seen Thomas’s emphasis on beauty\, color\, and abstract art as a way to divorce her work from her life as a Black woman\, Alexis Pauline Gumbs reveals how Thomas’s art was\, in fact\, deeply rooted in the Black community in which she lived. Black\, in other words\, was one of Thomas’s primary colors. \nGumbs sheds light on Thomas’s experience as a junior high school teacher in the still-segregated schools of Washington\, D.C.\, where Thomas—as educator\, mentor\, and advocate—established community art programs for Black schoolchildren and galleries to showcase Black artists’ work. In this volume of poems and prose\, Gumbs becomes a student of Thomas\, allowing the wonder in Thomas’s work to open her to wonder about her own creativity\, sistering\, daughtering\, and practice of communal transformation. \nAbout the author \nAlexis Pauline Gumbs grew up in the Charis High School Feminist Writers Circle and is cherished by a broad community of readers for her poetic devotion to Black feminist possibility. Her most recent book\, Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde was named a best book of the year by TIME\, Publisher’s Weekly and the New York Public Library\, won the Zora Award and the Judy Grahn Prize in nonfiction and was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and Brooklyn Public Library Book Award. Alexis lives in Durham\, North Carolina in a constant ceremony of Black feminist transformation with her partner and collaborator Sangodare and their beloved community. \nAbout the conversation partner \nBettina Judd is an interdisciplinary writer\, artist and performer whose research focus is on Black women’s creative production and use of visual art\, literature\, and music to develop feminist thought. Her book Feelin: Creative Practice\, Pleasure\, and Black Feminist Thought (Northwestern University Press\, December 2022) argues that Black women’s creative production is feminist knowledge production produced by registers of affect she calls “feelin.” She is currently Associate Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. \nHer poems and essays have appeared in Feminist Studies\, Torch\, Mythium\, Meridians and other journals and anthologies. Her collection of poems titled patient. which tackles the history of medical experimentation on and display of Black women won the Black Lawrence Press Hudson Book Prize and was released in November of 2014. As a performer she has been invited to perform for audiences within the United States and internationally. \nAbout Our Partners \nThe Agnes Scott Women’s\, Gender\, and Sexuality Studies Department invites students to explore gender and its intersections with sexuality\, race and ethnicity\, nationality\, disability\, and class. Women and gender are analyzed from the perspective of the humanities\, fine arts\, social and natural sciences. \nThe Agnes Scott Department of Creative Arts guides visual artists\, musicians\, dancers\, writers\, actors and other creatives within a liberal arts tradition to define and contextualize their individual pursuits in response to our times’ intellectual and social challenges. This program prepares students for creative expression in various settings. \nThe Literature\, Media\, and Writing Department at Spelman College offers comprehensive training in English-language literary\, visual\, and rhetorical traditions with a special emphasis on Black women’s contributions to global histories of cultural expression. \nThe James Weldon Johnson Institute at Emory University supports scholarship and public engagement that examines race and intersecting dimensions of human difference including but not limited to class\, gender\, religion\, and sexuality. \nAbout the venue: The Winter Theater is located within the Dana Fine Arts Center on Agnes Scott College’s campus. The space is wheelchair accessible. Masks are encouraged but not required. Free parking is available to the public in the parking deck on S. McDonough St and Buttrick Dr. \nIf you have any questions or to request specific accessibility accommodations including ASL interpretation\, please contact info@chariscircle.org or call the store at 404-524-0304. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event. \nBy attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/primary-after-and-with-alma-thomas-alexis-pauline-gumbs-in-conversation-with-bettina-judd/
LOCATION:Agnes Scott – Winter Theater\, 141 E. College St\, Decatur\, 30030
CATEGORIES:Art + Design,Books
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260930T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260930T193000
DTSTAMP:20260819T175259Z
CREATED:20260819T175259Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T175259Z
UID:10051895-1790793000-1790796600@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington -- Marcia Chatelain in conversation with Sherie M. Randolph
DESCRIPTION:This event is free and open to the public\, but registration is encouraged. Register here – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-bright-the-path-grows-marcia-chatelain-in-conversation-with-sherie-m-tickets-1997771286697?aff=oddtdtcreator. This event takes place at the Auburn Avenue Research Library\, 101 Auburn Ave NE\, Atlanta\, GA 30303. Doors open at 6pm. Event begins promptly at 6:30pm. \nCharis and the Auburn Avenue Research Library welcome Marcia Chatelain in conversation with Sherie M. Randolph for a celebration of How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Franchise comes the little-known story of the pioneering Black women artists and activists who were seen\, but barely heard\, at the 1963 March on Washington. \nThere is no shortage of footage immortalizing the men who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom\, when 250\,000 Americans gathered beneath the Lincoln Memorial to call for an end to segregation. There were reverends and rabbis\, activists and Rat-Pack icons—and of course the day’s headliner\, whose prophetic dream of a post-Jim Crow world has forever defined the Civil Rights Movement. But there is no “class photo” of the Black women who helped organize the march\, performed on its main stage\, or were honored during its “Tribute to Negro Women Fighters for Freedom.” \nIn How Bright the Path Grows\, Marcia Chatelain weaves a gleaming group portrait of these singular women. Among this cohort were several household names: vaudeville icon Josephine Baker; civil rights activist Rosa Parks gospel legend Mahalia Jackson\, and Daisy Bates\, champion of the Little Rock Nine. But many were relative unknowns\, including Eva Jessye\, the choir director who designed the day’s musical program\, and Anna Hedgeman\, the coordinator who pushed in the eleventh hour for a tribute to Black women’s work. \nHow Bright the Path Grows is a scintillating group biography\, rendering the lives of thirteen Black women visionaries—some famous\, others soon to be—in novelistic detail and like never seen before. \nAbout the author \nMARCIA CHATELAIN is a Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of South Side Girls and Franchise\, which won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in History\, the James Beard Foundation Book Award for Writing\, the Hagley Prize for Business History\, and the Lawrence W. Levine Award from the Organization of American Historians. An active public speaker and educational consultant\, Chatelain has received awards and honors from the Ford Foundation\, the American Association of University Women\, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. \nAbout the conversation partner \nSherie M. Randolph is an associate professor of history at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-founder of the Black Feminist Think Tank. A former associate director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center at Spelman College\, she is also co-curator of the National Women’s History Museum’s inaugural exhibition\, We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist DC. Randolph is the author of the award-winning biography Florynce “Flo” Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical and the forthcoming Unmother: Black Feminist Freedom from the Limits of Motherhood (Yale University Press). She is also co-editor of the forthcoming edited collection More Words\, More Fire: African American Feminist Thought\, 1991–2026 (The New Press). \nAbout the Venue / Accessibility \nMasks are encouraged but not required. \nThe entire building is wheelchair accessible with ramps\, including the front and back entrances. Both entrances have powered doors. There are wheelchair accessible bathroom stalls. There are three dedicated wheelchair accessible parking spots. \nAARL has a parking lot accessible via Courtland street. There are 25 free parking passes available on a first-come\, first-served basis. Parking is allowed in spaces marked Public Parking in the AARL parking lot. Please park and enter the library to get a free parking pass and place it on your dashboard before getting settled in the auditorium. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle’s mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities\, work for social justice\, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. Donate via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/how-bright-the-path-grows-the-untold-story-of-the-women-who-made-the-march-on-washington-marcia-chatelain-in-conversation-with-sherie-m-randolph/
LOCATION:Auburn Avenue Research Library\, 101 Auburn Ave. N.E.\, Atlanta\, GA\, 30303\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260930T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260930T203000
DTSTAMP:20260819T175207Z
CREATED:20260819T175207Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260819T175207Z
UID:10051898-1790796600-1790800200@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:The W: A History of the WNBA -- Tamryn Spruill in conversation with Gavin Godfrey
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place on Crowdcast\, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free\, but registration is required. Register here – https://www.crowdcast.io/c/the-w \nCharis welcomes Tamryn Spruill in conversation with Gavin Godfrey for a celebration of The W: A History of the WNBA: How the WNBA Survived\, Evolved\, and Changed Professional Sports\, a raucous roller-coaster history of the WNBA. \nThe history of the WNBA is an epic one\, and in The W\, journalist Tamryn Spruill tells the full thrilling story. This is a three-decade tale of tenacious athletes\, devoted fans\, and a vibrant\, diverse league that struggled for years to find a firm footing in the wider sports culture. \nWhen the WNBA launched to much fanfare in 1996\, the nascent league was treated like a kid sister with a lot of potential. Eight teams collectively owned by the NBA played a short schedule during the men’s offseason. Fans flocked to arenas to see stars Sheryl Swoopes\, Lisa Leslie\, and Rebecca Lobo\, and the Houston Comets won their first of four consecutive championships. \nBut television broadcasts were hard to find\, the conversation around the league was often blatantly sexist\, and less than a decade after their “four peat\,” the dynastic Comets had been disbanded and ceased to exist. \nSocial media helped players upend that dynamic\, be their authentic selves\, and engender change inside the league and beyond it. College stars became pros\, legends broke records\, and the women of the WNBA became undeniable. Thirty years after its founding\, the time has more than come for this comprehensive account of the league\, and the women whose drive\, on-court and off\, built the W. \nAbout the Author \nTamryn Spruill is an award-winning independent journalist and author of The W: A History of the WNBA (Abrams Press\, September 2026). \nFormerly the editor in chief of Swish Appeal\, she has written for The Athletic\, Harper’s BAZAAR\, The New York Times\, The Red Bulletin\, SLAM\, and elsewhere. A lifelong lover of basketball\, Spruill has followed the WNBA since its inception and began reporting on it in 2014\, with the aim of giving the then-neglected league meaningful coverage. \nShe has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Journalism from the University of South Carolina. As an adjunct professor\, Spruill is passionate about teaching media history/studies\, world literature\, and creative writing. \nShe thrives in nature\, feels most grounded when making music and art\, and lives in Massachusetts with her wife\, stepson\, and two cats. \nAbout the Conversation Partner \nGavin Godfrey is a senior reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution\, and its Black culture franchise UATL. He’s an award-winning writer and editor from Atlanta who’s covered everything from OutKast to the World Cup. Before joining the AJC\, Gavin was the editor for Capital B Atlanta. He also held editorial leadership roles with Creative Loafing\, Canopy Atlanta\, and CNN. His freelance work has appeared in NPR\, Complex\, The Fader\, Rolling Stone and Vice. \nAbout our Partner \nJolene Jolene is Atlanta’s first bar dedicated to women’s sports. Learn more at jolenejoleneatl.com. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions\, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/the-w-a-history-of-the-wnba-tamryn-spruill-in-conversation-with-gavin-godfrey/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Books
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261016T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261016T200000
DTSTAMP:20260710T224051Z
CREATED:20260710T224051Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260710T224051Z
UID:10050735-1792177200-1792180800@www.artsatl.org
SUMMARY:It's Only Dancing: An Evening with Jasmine Guillory
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place at the Decatur Library. This event is free and open to the public but registration is requested. Click here to register – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/its-only-dancing-an-evening-with-jasmine-guillory-tickets-1993363347432?aff=oddtdtcreator \nCharis and the Georgia Center for the Book welcome author Jasmine Guillory for a celebration of It’s Only Dancing\, a Dirty Dancing-inspired young adult romcom. \nIt’s the summer before her senior year of high school and Kat (Kitty to her family) planned to spend it reading good books\, working on her college applications\, and enjoying her independence. Instead\, she’s stuck for an entire month with her family at a camp in the desert in Southern California. \nWhen she stumbles across a staff party on the first night\, she’s jealous of their joyful\, uninhibited dancing. She hasn’t danced like that since two years ago\, when she was forced to quit ballet\, which she once loved more than anything. She’s determined to leave dance where it belongs — the past. \nBut Jordan\, the handsome and magnetic hip-hop dance instructor\, keeps dragging it into her present. As Kat begins sneaking around and lying to her parents to spend time with Jordan\, she’ll have to ask herself — what is she willing to risk to finally feel free? And is it possible her feelings for Jordan could reignite her love for dance? \nAbout the Author \nJasmine Guillory is a New York Times bestselling author of nine novels including The Wedding Date\, the Reese’s Book Club selection The Proposal\, and Flirting Lessons. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal\, Cosmopolitan\, Bon Appetit\, and Time\, and she is a frequent book contributor on The Today Show. She lives in Oakland\, California. It’s Only Dancing is her YA debut. \nConversation partner details to come! \nAbout the venue:\n– Doors open at 6:30pm ET.\n– Masks are requested/encouraged\, but not required.\n– This event takes place in the auditorium of the Decatur Library. It is fully wheelchair accessible.\n– There is free parking in the deck accessed via Cheryl Burnette Bikeway. Please note that all event attendees must enter through the doors off the upper/first floor level of the parking deck. You may no longer enter the building via the ground level or the Sycamore St. door. If you park on the ground level of the deck there is a staircase that takes you up to the first floor main entrance. If you need accessible parking please plan to park on the upper/first floor deck.\n– All attendees must pass through security\, which includes a metal detector and a visual inspection of your bag by a security officer. No weapons of any kind (including folding knives) are allowed in the library. Please plan to bring as few items as possible with you to help expedite the line. Once inside\, you will follow directions down to the auditorium. Seating is first come\, first served. \nThe event is free and open to all people\, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle\, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle’s mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities\, work for social justice\, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. Donate via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate. \nPlease contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. \nBy attending our event\, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone\, regardless of gender\, gender identity and expression\, age\, sexual orientation\, disability\, physical appearance\, body size\, race\, ethnicity\, religion (or lack thereof)\, class\, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.
URL:https://www.artsatl.org/event/its-only-dancing-an-evening-with-jasmine-guillory/
LOCATION:Decatur Library\, 215 Sycamore St.\, Decatur\, GA\, 30030\, United States
CATEGORIES:Books
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