Join Molly Johnsen and Grady Chambers for a reading and conversation. Johnsen’s debut collection, Everything Alive (Green Writers Press, 2025), explores trauma, resilience, and the shifting borders between body and self with clarity, humor, and tenderness. Chambers is the author of the new novel Great Disasters (Tin House, 2025) and the poetry collection North American Stadiums (Milkweed, 2018).
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ABOUT Everything Alive
For readers drawn to lyric clarity and emotional honesty, Everything Alive is a debut collection that navigates trauma, disability, and resilience with sharp imagery and humor. Natalie Shapero called it a “smart, chilling, and tender collection.”
ABOUT Molly Johnsen
Molly Johnsen is a Vermont-based writer and teacher. Her work has appeared in the Nashville Review, Indiana Review, Cider Press Review, and other publications. A previous version of Everything Alive was selected as a semi-finalist for the Black Lawrence Press St. Lawrence Book Award. She holds an MFA from Syracuse University.
ABOUT Great Disasters
For fans of Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School and Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, Great Disasters is a stirring debut novel about six young men coming of age, and the enduring friendships that make us who we are—even as our paths diverge.
ABOUT Grady Chambers
Grady Chambers is the author of the poetry collection North American Stadiums (Milkweed Editions, 2018), winner of the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize. Grady was born and raised on the north side of Chicago, and lives in Philadelphia. His writing can be found in The Atlantic, The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, The Sun, and many other publications. Grady is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow, and received his MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University. More info at gradychambers.com.