Room 220 Presents: The Waves reading series on Jan. 28

The Waves, a new quarterly LGBTQ reading series, will hold its first reading of 2016 at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28, at Antenna Gallery (3718 St. Claude Ave.)  The series will present local and visiting writers alongside emerging and student voices to encompass a multigenerational LGBTQ perspective.

This edition of The Waves will present an all-local cast of writers featuring Uriel Quesada, Cassie Pruyn, Engram Wilkinson, Amelia Hess, and Anya Leonhard.

The Waves is also accepting submissions from writers interested in reading at future events.  You can find info and submission guidelines at their website.

As always, this Room 220 event is free and open to the public.

Amelia Hess is an Atlanta native who studies at Tulane. She is obsessed with the ocean and has an English yellow lab named Effie.

Anya Leonhard is a senior at Lusher Charter School and a writer in the Certificate of Artistry Program, directed by Brad Richard.

Cassie Pruyn is a New Orleans-based writer born and raised in Portland, Maine. She holds an MFA in poetry from the Bennington Writing Seminars and a BA from Bard College. Her poems and reviews have appeared in AGNI Online, ENTROPY, The Normal School, 32 Poems, The Los Angeles Review, Big Big Wednesday, The Adroit Journal and others. She is currently working on a narrative history of Bayou St. John in New Orleans, as well as on her first poetry collection. 

Uriel Quesada is the Latin American Studies Chair and the director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Loyola University. Dr. Quesada has publised seven books, including El atardecer de los niños (short stories, 1990; Editorial Costa Rica Award and Costa Rica National Book Award 1990), Lejos, tan lejos (short stories, Áncora Award in Literature, 2005), El gato de sí mismo (novel, Costa Rica National Book Award 2006) and Viajero que huye (short stories, 2008).

Engram Wilkinson, originally from Birmingham, AL, graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature and creative writing. After graduation, he worked for a few months on a dairy farm in County Tipperary, Ireland; upon returning to New Orleans, he worked as a croissant-baker, youth football coach, and most recently, the Director of Admissions for Bard Early College in New Orleans. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Cobalt Journal, Anomalous, Press Street’s Room 220 and Wag’s Revue.