Athena Dixon is a poet and essayist born and raised in NE Ohio. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte as well as Bachelor’s degrees from Kent State University and Youngstown State University. She is the author of the chapbook No God in This Room (Argus House Press, 2018) and a debut collection of personal essays titled The Incredible Shrinking Woman (Split/Lip Press, 2020). Her poetry also appears in The Breakbeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic (Haymarket Books, 2018). Additionally, her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Gay Magazine, Grub Street, Narratively, Shenandoah, and So to Speak Journal among others. She is an alumni of V.O.N.A, Callaloo, and Tin House as well as a recipient of a fellowship from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. She
has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Athena co-hosts the New Books in Poetry podcast via the New Books Network and was the founder of Linden Avenue Literary Journal. She resides in Philadelphia
Project Description: While in residency, Athena will continue work on a new collection tentatively titled Sonder. These essays explore disconnect in a hyper-connected world. They ponder how even under the illusion of community, an undercurrent of loneliness ripples beneath the surface of nearly everything we do.