Poetry Open Mic Featuring Julianne King

Hosted by Mark Pannebecker
Our poetry nights are inclusive and supportive. A perfect place to read for the first time, try new material, experiment, or share your published work.

Doors: 6-10pm // Poetry 7:30-9:30

Featured poet: Julianne King

Julianne King is a poet and essayist and mother of six. Her most recent work, "Sex Work & Other Sins" is a hard look at the truth of poverty and the decisions King made to get her family out of homelessness and instability. The collection features poems and essays about King's time working in the notorious strip clubs of East St. Louis.

Her previous collection “Bible Belt Revolution”, focuses on how life immersed in the culture of the Religious Right can shape–or misshape–a person. While King has dabbled in multiple forms and themes, she consistently focuses on how faith, family, and communities in rural America can lift people up, or tear them down.

Since 2019 King’s poetry has been published by Screaming Mamas, Snapdragon: A Journal of Art and Healing, and South Florida Poetry Journal. Her work has also appeared in anthologies including Turning the Corner and Astounding Poetry, as well as the podcasts Rattlecast and The Life After, and in November of 2021, King’s cine poem “Joe Biden” garnered tens of thousands of views on social media.

Julianne King lives just outside of St. Louis with her 6 kids and eclectic family.