A Reading of Christian J. Collier’s The Gleaming of the Blade
On Thursday, June 16, at 6 PM, Chattanooga poet Christian Collier is hosting a
reading of his new chapbook, The Gleaming of the Blade.
On Thursday, June 16, at 6 PM, Chattanooga poet Christian Collier is hosting a
reading of his new chapbook, The Gleaming of the Blade. The reading is set to take place on the terrace of the Hunter Museum of American Art and will also feature UTC Professor Andrew Najberg, who will be reading his collection, The Goats Have Taken Over the Barracks. Najberg’s newest collection was released by Finishing Line Press; the professor teaches creative writing courses at UTC and is the author of works appearing in the North American Review and the Louisville Review, among others.
Collier’s The Gleaming of the Blade was selected as the Editor’s Choice publication
through the 2021 Frost Place Chapbook Competition by Bull City Press. The collection tackles the injustices faced by Black men in the United States—more specifically in the conservative south. Said to be illuminating, harsh, and triumphant by reviewers, Collier’s The Gleaming of the Blade does not shy away from the daunting reality of being Black in the contemporary American south. To this point, Bull City Press describes Collier’s work as, “a truth sometimes beautiful, sometimes biting.”
Collier is a prominent Chattanooga artist, having been awarded the 2022 Porch Prize in
Poetry, serving as founder for the Plug Poetry Project, and much more. His organization, the
Plug Poetry Project is intended foster the Chattanooga Poetry community, doing so by providing resources, hosting workshops, and utilizing social media to share new events and projects produced by Chattanooga writers. On a more personal level, Collier is an outspoken individual for the causes he believes in, a trait that has served him in the creation of his enlightening and honest art.
The launch of The Gleaming of the Blade is on June 16 and serves as an opportunity to support a Chattanooga artist discussing such a personal, yet far too common reality of injustice in the south. The reading begins at 6 PM on the terrace of the Hunter Museum of American Art and will be followed by a Q&A session as well as a book signing. Both Collier and Najberg will have copies of their collections for sale.