About Event

We’re honored to partner with Lincoln Prison Book Project on a powerful, poignant book drive and reading. This event is free to attend and will feature a series of special guest artists who will read personal work alongside a book drive where all books purchased are donated to libraries in correctional facilities across the state. Bookstore Francie & Finch will host this event and provide free refreshments for all attendees.

Artist Lineup

Trey Moody

Trey Moody was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. His first book, Thought That Nature (Sarabande Books, 2014), won the Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry, and his more recent poems have appeared in The Atlantic, The Believer, and New England Review. An assistant professor of English at Creighton University, he lives with his daughter in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Katie Marya

Katie Marya is a writer and literary translator originally from Atlanta, GA. Her debut poetry collection was published as the Editor's Choice by Alice James Books in 2022. She lives in Lincoln, where she is working on a PhD at the University of Nebraska.

Bianca Swift 

Bianca Swift is a 23-year-old African American Omaha Native who has been writing poetry for nearly 10 years (but only well for 5). She has a degree in English with minors in French and African American Studies and is currently working towards her Masters.

Bianca has performed in countless competitions in Philadelphia and Houston for the College Union Slam Poetry Invitational (CUPSI), as well as many local stages in her hometown, such as MAHA, an Omaha music festival, along with many other local events. She works for the Nebraska Writer’s Collective as an ERG Director and Core Teaching Artist. She also works as a graduate Researcher on the Charles Chesnutt Archive.

Ryan Boyland

Ryan Boyland is a writer, wanderer, medical student, and amateur astronomer currently based out of Omaha, Nebraska, where his love for both science and poetry motivates him to combine the two at every opportunity. His work addresses issues of identity, love, and death. And stars. Because they’re cool. His goal through his performance is to touch minds and hearts around the world, and considers it a victory every time he can do so. His work has been featured on Button Poetry, Poets and Writers, Nebraska Public Media, through Larksong Writers’ Place, and in The Cookout Literary Journal, and can be found on SoundCloud, Facebook, and YouTube. When he is not writing, Ryan enjoys listening to music, stargazing, and being Black, mixed in with the occasional intense discussion regarding the validity of the Star Wars prequels.

Both Trey Moody and Katie Marya have poetry collections that will be offered for sale. Katie's book is titled Sugar Work, and was published by Alice James Books. Trey's book is titled Thought That Nature, and was published by Sarabande Books