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Opening Words: Writer-in-Residence Community Open Mic Night
Featuring Poets Cynthia Amoah, Mandy Shunnarah, and Atlas
Friday, June 13
6:30pm - 8:00pm
Bexley Public Library
Bexley Library AuditoriumBPL Writer-in-Residence Cynthia Amoah and featured poets Mandy Shunnarah and Atlas lead a Community Open Mic Night. Join us to share your work out loud for celebration and inspiration.
Join BPL Writer-in-Residence Cynthia Amoah for Opening Words: Community Open Mic Night at the Bexley Public Library! Poets Mandy Shunnarah and Atlas will join Cynthia for featured readings. Share your work out loud to find inspiration or listen and celebrate the power of words in community.
About the Featured Poets:
Cynthia Amoah is the inaugural BPL Writer-in-Residence. Cynthia is a Ghanaian-American poet, national speaker, and teaching artist. She received her MFA from The New School where she was awarded the prestigious Paul Violi Poetry Prize and cited for Excellence in Poetry. Cynthia began competing nationally in recitation and motivational speaking engagements in 2006. Since then, her dynamic voice and strong stage presence has captured and inspired diverse audiences, both locally and globally. Her work can be found published in OURS Magazine, Nimrod Journal, Ohio Humanities: Pathways, and The African Poetry Book Fund’s New-Generation African Poets Chapbooks by Akashic Books. Cynthia’s chapbook Handrails was published by Akashic in Fall 2021.
Mandy Shunnarah (they/them) is an Alabama-born Appalachian and Palestinian-American writer in Columbus, Ohio. Their essays, poetry, and short stories have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, and others. Their first book, Midwest Shreds: Skating Through America’s Heartland, was released in 2024 from Belt Publishing, and their second book, a poetry collection titled We Had Mansions, is forthcoming from Diode Editions in July 2025. Read more at mandyshunnarah.com.
Atlas is a poet, educator, and community builder who creates spaces where healing, creativity, and transformation meet. A U.S. Air Force veteran and former college instructor, he brings a unique blend of discipline and tenderness to his work with young people, guiding them through writing, restorative practices, and emotional literacy. He is the co-founder of Underdog Academy, a spoken word collective that confronts injustice through art, and the co-founder of Grief Club, a growing movement that holds space for communal healing through storytelling, ritual, and emotional transparency. Through grief circles and open mics for men, women, and children, Atlas fosters spaces where vulnerability is welcomed and voices long silenced can finally be heard. His work centers on making the invisible visible, honoring both the shadow and the light in all of us, and reminding us that transformation often begins in the places we’re most afraid.
BPL Writer-in-Residence programming is made possible through a State Library of Ohio grant.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Books Reading and Storytelling | Art Music and Culture |
TAGS: | BPL WIR |
Bexley Public Library
Bexley Public Library was founded in 1924 and first housed in Bexley High School, now Montrose Elementary School. The present building opened in 1929 and was designed by architects O.C. Miller and R.R. Reeves who drew upon French and Italian architecture from the 17th century for the design.
The library is located at 2411 East Main Street, at the intersection of East Main Street and Cassady Avenue. Parking is available in our parking lot on Euclaire Avenue and in front of the library on Main Street. Main Street is a No Parking Tow Zone from 4:00-6:00 p.m. weekdays.