KNOXVILLE WRITERS GUILD BOARD ELECTION for 2025

Current board members are Bob Beasley, Jeannette Brown, Rhea Carmon, Celia Lawren, Linda Parsons, Marilyn Mascaro, Rick Robinson, Nancy Vala, and Joseph Woods. The Knoxville Writers Guild has four new faces and two current board members up for re-election. If you are a KWG member, please vote. You may vote for all six.

	Rhea Carmon, also known as RheaSunshine, is a force weaving passion, purpose, and power into poetry. She is the creator and Executive Director of the 5th Woman Cohort, which explores the stories of women. For twenty years, RheaSunshine has traveled the nation, sharing her gift of the spoken word. She has opened for such artists as Nikki Giovanni, Macy Gray, and Saul Williams. Rhea served as Poet Laureate of Knoxville, has authored four chapbooks and has recorded three audio CDs. Rhea is a valuable member of the KWG board is and is up for re-election.
	Linda Parsons, poet, playwright, and essayist. She has been the poetry editor for Madville Publishing and is the copy editor for Chapter 16, the literary website of Humanities Tennessee. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, Terrain, The Chattahoochee Review, Baltimore Review, Shenandoah, and others. Her sixth collection, Valediction, contains poems and prose. Five of her plays have been produced by Flying Anvil Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. Linda is a valuable member of the KWG board and is up for re-election.
	Drew Drake is an Actor, Poet, Hip Hop Artist and Educator from Huntsville, Alabama currently residing in Knoxville. Drake is an alumnus of UT and has returned there as a professor in the theatre department. He is focused on creating art that facilitates healthy dialogue for people of color. Drew released a Hip Hop EP “Dope Boyz Love Hondas” in January and is working on a follow up set to release this fall.
	Debbie Gibbs has spent most of her life in Knoxville, except for a few wayward years in Florida and Mississippi. Her love of the written language began the day her father introduced her to the public library. Another love is music; her major at the University of Tennessee was voice. Debbie spent many years as a soloist for the Master Singers in Cookeville, Tennessee, and for the Clear- water Chorus in Florida. In 2021 her voice was ravaged by COVID-19. Now she focuses her artistic endeavors on her writing. Her book, The Delk and the Dragon is based on the characteristics and personalities of each of her children and other family members.
	Theo Mullen is a former reporter/editor with 45 years experience. He was with Bloomberg News in New York City when he retired, has written 1,000s of features, profiles and news articles over the years, and trained, helped and mentored many young journalists. Theo has experience on non-profit and cultural boards. He is on the executive committee of A1 Collaborative Arts, and a member of the Community Advisory Council for WDVX radio, both here in Knoxville.
	Tim Sralla is a writer of both poetry and prose. He originally hails from Texas. Before starting a second career in creative writing, he practiced extremely creative writing, meaning that, as an appellate specialist, he wrote hundreds of legal briefs in cases before the federal and state appellate courts. He now lives just outside of Knoxville, spending his time writing. He has written over 400 poems and short stories and is currently nearing completion of his first novel.