Best Of Atlanta Poets Large1

Poets, Artists & Madmen

It doesn’t take a peek into Ponce City Market or walk along the Atlanta Beltine to know that the city of Atlanta’s landscape is in the midst of a rapid transformation. Whether or not all of this stadium and streetcar building will benefit the city’s greater cultural good remains to be seen. But like any major development in Atlanta’s historic past one thing that has always remained constant is the artistic community’s willingness to adapt, adjust, and stay inspired.

Case and point: This year’s Forward Warrior Project in Cabbagetown, spearheaded by local artist Peter Ferrari. In a year where Living Walls took some time off, and neighborhoods are losing character one mixed-use development at a time, Ferrari and co. brought more than 30 local visual artists out to cover the walls along Wylie Street in June. Going down in a historic neighborhood, relatively untouched by outside corporate hands, the resulting event showed how strong and inspirational our native creatives are.

This year we wanted to highlight the people, places, and organizations that have and still do fuel the city’s artistic spirit in the face of unprecedented change. Whereas old faithfuls such as the Fox Theatre and Adult Swim — which continues to put out quality, bat-shit-crazy programming 15 years after its launch — have stuck to their guns, there’s also a new crop of names filling voids left by creatives past.

Murmur Media, aka the Atlanta Zine Fest, opened its permanent space in South Downtown this summer, and now local zinesters have a venue to mix, mingle, and, most importantly, create. In a year where social justice and injustice was a hot-button issue, Wussy Mag emerged as thoughtful, well-curated voice for the city’s LGBTQ community.

The last year also saw more than $6 billion come through the state thanks to television and film production crews. On any given day there’s at least 30 productions being filmed in Georgia, so we decided to show love to some of the best in local TV and film. The local lit scene is still going strong, so we put the spotlight on everyone from the ol’ school players (Write Club) to the new-school fools (Lit. Atlanta). And how would we be able to keep track of all of this without our local documentarians? We turned the lens on four photographers (Ryan Vizzions, Julian Plowden, @welovebuhi, and Proph Bundy) who, in their own distinct styles, help us visualize Atlanta’s past, present, and future.

Regardless of what Atlanta looks like in years to come, you can bet that the visual and performing artists will have their say. We — residents, politicians, and civic leaders — owe it to ourselves to stop, look, and listen to their messages.

— Gavin Godfrey, Culture Editor

Best local cultural ambassador BOA Award Winner

Best muralist with a message BOA Award Winner

Brandon Sadler

Best reality TV representation of ATL BOA Award Winner

Violet Chachki

Best Trend BOA Award Winner

Immersive Theater

Best variety show inspired by pop culture BOA Award Winner

Scene and Song Missing

ATL book club: Best way to get honest feedback BOA Award Winner

The Writer's Exchange

Best professional funnyman BOA Award Winner

Dad's Garage Theatre

Silver screen South: Best local TV festival BOA Award Winner

Silver screen South: Best way to map ATL's production history BOA Award Winner

Atlanta Movie Tours

ATL book club: Best bookish bloodsport BOA Award Winner

Write Club Atlanta

ATL book club: Best form of literary karaoke BOA Award Winner

Lit

When Mike Jordan decided to combine books, booze, and beats for a monthly literary reading event at Speakeasy he came up with the perfect name for it: Lit. With more passion than pretense, people come prepared every fourth Thursday to read excerpts from the book of their choice based on such past themes as power, love, and America. Between excerpts, grooves spin and people sip and mingle. By the final reading, all that remains is a dark bar full of lubricated sapiosexuals eager for stimulating conversation. www.litatlanta.com. less...

ATL book club: Best lifeline for the local scribe BOA Award Winner

Lost in the Letters

ATL book club: Best way to see literary characters come to life BOA Award Winner

Transgression

Best community-sourced poetry BOA Award Winner

Make Blackout Poetry

Best creative commune BOA Award Winner

The Big House on Ponce

Best established artist BOA Award Winner

Michi Meko

Best new arts and culture website BOA Award Winner

WUSSY Mag

Best play BOA Award Winner

Actor's Express Theatre Company

Silver screen South: Best production job source BOA Award Winner

Reel-Crew Production Company

Street scenes: Best cityscape photographer BOA Award Winner

Ryan Vizzions

Street scenes: Best exposure of an inconvenient truth BOA Award Winner

Proph Bundy

Best male actor BOA Award Winner

Kevin Harry

Silver screen South: Best fest for under-the-radar storytelling BOA Award Winner

Out on Film

Approaching 30, Out on Film is one of the oldest and largest LGBT film festivals in the U.S. In a country where same-sex marriage has finally been legalized, the fall fest functions as an eight-day education that includes screenings, panels, workshops, and parties centered on bringing often-untold storiesmore...

Silver screen South: Best local film festival BOA Award Winner

Atlanta Film Festival

Silver screen South: Best local film series BOA Award Winner

WonderRoot's Generally Local, Mostly Independent Film Series

With all the major productions it can be easy for the spotlight to shift away from the indie filmmaker. The minds at WonderRoot, the Atlanta Film Festival, and Plaza Theatre understand that and have helped keep our local talent in the collective consciousness with WonderRoot's Generally Local, Mostlymore...