More about our Sept. 16th Readers

Suzanne Van Atten is an editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is the author of several travel books on Puerto Rico. She recently completed her MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing at Queens University of Charlotte and has an essay in the current issue of the Gettysburg Review. She is teaching nonfiction writing classes at Evenings at Emory this fall.

Shannon M. Turner works for Alternate ROOTS as Manager of Programs & Services. When she's not being an arts administrator, she also blogs, writes poetry, performs, and tells a pretty good story (especially at the local MothUp on the 4th Tuesday of every month at Manuel's Tavern).

Shannon enjoys her residence in the Little 5 Points community, and along with her active membership in Alternate ROOTS since 2005, she serves on the Advisory Board for the Community Arts Network. She graduated with an M.F.A. in Arts Administration and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech and received a B.A. from Emory & Henry College where she majored in English lit and minored in Women's Studies. Shannon's favorite title is "coolest aunt in the world."

Jef Blocker is a native Texan who moved to Atlanta in 1996 because he wanted to know what it was like to live someplace where the ten o’clock news came on at eleven. He works as a recruiter for a non-profit and as the store manager for Bound To Be Read Books in East Atlanta Village. He lives in Grant Park and has a disproportionate number of friends named Jeff. When he is not doing the bookstore cat’s evil bidding, Jef enjoys driving with the top down on his Miata and blasting ‘80s music from his humongous sub-woofer.

Jef’s short fiction, essays, and poetry have been featured on the BBC’s Get Writing
website and the online literary magazine Clockwise Cat, as well as winning several writing contests. He was also invited to pitch his screenplays at The Perfect
Pitch contest at the Atlanta Film Festival in 2004 and 2006, where he described one
scripts as “Home Alone meets Basic Instinct.” Jef is a member of the Atlanta Writers Club. Rumors that he can unhinge his jaws and swallow his food whole are true.