Name: The Singing River Book Launch with Benjamin Morris, Skye Jackson, Nikki Ummel and Rodrigo Toscano.
Start: 2025-02-25T19:00:00-06:00
Location: Vino Fine Wine & Spirits

Join us Tuesday, February 25th at 7:00 pm to celebrate the launch of Benjamin Morris’ new poetry collection, The Singing River.
Indulge in this unique experience as Benjamin’s book is paired with a carefully selected wine enhancing the themes of “The Singing River.”
The event will include readings by poets Benjamin Morris, Skye Jackson, Nikki Ummel and Rodrigo Toscano.
The readings will be followed by an audience Q&A and a book signing.

Tickets are required.
$5 ticket includes entrance to this engaging conversation + one glass of wine curated by Vino.
$18.75 ticket includes entrance + one glass of wine + signed copy of The Singing River.

Drifting along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, The Singing River asks what can be saved in a place of shifting landscapes and ancient memory. Benjamin Morris’ debut collection meditates on the forces of nature that shape our notions of family and identity.

A native of Mississippi, Benjamin Morris is the author of Coronary (Fitzgerald Letterpress, 2011), Hattiesburg, Mississippi: A History of the Hub City (Arcadia/History Press, 2014), and Ecotone (Antenna, 2017). He holds an MSc in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh, and among other honors has received a Pushcart nomination, the Academy of American Poets Prize from Duke University, and the Chancellor’s Medal for Poetry from the University of Cambridge, where he earned his Ph.D. The recipient of academic and creative fellowships from the Mississippi Arts Commission and Tulane University, his writing appears regularly in the United States and Europe. The Singing River is his first full collection. He lives in New Orleans.
Skye Jackson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her work has appeared in RHINO, The Southern Review, Electric Literature, Green Mountains Review, RATTLE and elsewhere. Her poetry has been a finalist for the Iowa Review Poetry Award, the RATTLE Poetry Prize, the RHINO Founders’ Prize, and in 2021 she received the AWP Intro Journals Award. Jackson’s work was also selected by Billy Collins for inclusion in the Library of Congress Poetry 180 Project. She has received support for her work from The Frost Place, The Key West Literary Seminar & Cave Canem. In 2025, she will serve as Writer-in-Residence of the Jack Kerouac House. She currently teaches at Xavier University. Her debut poetry collection, Libre, is forthcoming in Spring 2025 from Regalo Press and Simon & Schuster.
Nikki Ummel is a queer artist, editor, and educator in New Orleans. Nikki has been published or has work forthcoming with Gulf Coast, The Georgia Review, Black Lawrence Press, and others. She is the 2022 recipient of the Leslie McGrath Poetry Prize and 2023 recipient of the Juxtaprose Poetry Award for her manuscript, Bloom. Nikki is the co-founder of LMNL, an arts organization focused on readings, workshops, and residencies. She has two poetry chapbooks, Hush (Belle Point Press, 2022) and Bayou Sonata (NOLA DNA, 2023), funded by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. You can find her on the web at www.nikkiummel.com
Rodrigo Toscano is a poet living in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest books are The Cut Point (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence, 2022). Forthcoming is WHITMAN. CANNONBALL. PUEBLA (2025). In Range, Explosion Rocks Springfield, Deck of Deeds, Collapsible Poetics Theater, To Leveling Swerve, Platform, Partisans, and The Disparities. His poetry has appeared in over 20 anthologies, including, Best American Poetry (2023, 2004), and Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX) His Collapsible Poetics Theater was a National Poetry Series selection. His poetry has appeared in the Boston Review, Poetry Magazine, The Kenyon Review, The Harvard Advocate, Georgia Review, Yale Review, and Fence.