Poet Melinda Clemmons book launch with Kim Addonizio and Tracey Knapp

​Oakland writer Melinda Clemmons will be joined by Kim Addonizio and Tracey Knapp to celebrate the publication of her first book of poems, Closer, published by Pine Row Press.

​“Melinda Clemmons' Closer is a luminous catalog of wonder, a collection attuned to the quiet ways revelation enters our lives. With the expansive longing of youth and the hard-earned wisdom of experience, Clemmons guides readers toward a deeper attentiveness to the world around them.” —Kelly Grace Thomas, author of Future Tense

​Melinda Clemmons’ writing has appeared in One Art, Rust & Moth, Midwest Review, West Trestle Review, The Imprint, and elsewhere. Closer, published in fall 2026 by Pine Row Press, is her first poetry collection. She was a finalist for the 2025 Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize from Ex Ophidia Press as well as the 2026 Wandering Aengus Press Book Award.

​Kim Addonizio is the author of nine poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry: The Poet’s Companion (with Dorianne Laux) and Ordinary Genius. Her poetry collection Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. Her latest collection is Exit Opera.

​Tracey Knapp's second poetry collection, Swerve, was released from Pine Row Press in spring 2026. Her first full-length collection of poems, Mouth, won the 42 Miles Press Poetry Award and was published in 2015. Tracey’s work has appeared in Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, Best New Poets, Poetry Daily, Rattle, Five Points, New Ohio Review, and elsewhere.