Knoxville’s poet laureates, Rhea Carmon and Melody Dalili, will lead an evening of poetry for the Knoxville Writers’ Guild. They’ll be joined by six talented poets and performers, both students and adults, all sharing their work in celebration of National Poetry Month.

Thursday, April 6, 7-8 pm, Addison’s Books, 126 S. Gay Street

Knoxville Poet Laureate Rhea Carmon, also known as RheaSunshine, has been writing and performing spoken word poetry and slam for 20 years.  Her poems are powerfully motivating with an emphasis on her own personal struggles and how others can overcome.  She is the director of the annual 5th Woman On Stage (2014 – 2018), a producer for Carmon Sense Productions, coordinator for the 5th Woman Workshops, and Executive Producer for Beyond the Spark.

Knoxville’s first Youth Poet Laureate, Melody Dalili, is a Farragut High School senior who began writing poetry in the third grade. Her first poetry slam in August 2021 opened the world of performing poetry. She told WATE TV, “I love making connections with people and I love talking with people and I don’t think that there’s any better way to do it while also talking about my own experiences and being vulnerable and really putting myself out there.”