Vanderbilt MFA-er and heart-stopping wordsmith Tiana Clark has blown the roofs off of Nashville’s bookstores, house shows, coffee shops — and most recently the Scarritt-Bennett Center, where she got a standing ovation. I hate to say “you had to be there,” but when it comes to Clark’s poetry readings, it’s true: Her vulnerability, fearlessness and charisma onstage are something you just have to experience for yourself. Reading Clark’s poetry is powerful, to be sure, but listening to her read it is positively transformative. Clark — who published her first poetry collection, Equilibrium, this summer — is a writer to watch. Don’t miss her next reading at the Southern Festival of Books. SARA ESTES
Best Reading by a Nashville Poet
Tiana Clark at Scarritt-Bennett Center
