T.J. Sandella is the author of Ways to Beg (Black Lawrence Press, 2021), his debut collection, which was a finalist or semi-finalist for several awards, including the Miller Williams Poetry Prize (University of Arkansas Press), the Brittingham & Felix Pollak Prizes (University of Wisconsin Press), and the Crab Orchard First Book Award.
Selected by Dorianne Laux for inclusion in the Best New Poets anthology, he is the recipient of an Elinor Benedict Prize for Poetry (Passages North, selected by Aimee Nezhukumatathil), a William Matthews Poetry Prize (Asheville Poetry Review, selected by Billy Collins), two Academy of American Poets Prizes (selected by Judson Mitcham and Kenneth Hart), and two pushcart prize nominations.
His first feature-length film, Battersea—which he co-wrote, co-directed, and produced—is currently on the festival circuit, where it’s garnered numerous awards, including: the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature (Montana International Film Festival), the Jury Award for Outstanding Independent Voice (Anchorage International Film Festival), the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature (Spokane International Film Festival), the Jury Award for Best in Fest (Appalachian Film Festival), the Jury Award for Best Screenplay (Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival), and the Jury Award for Achievement in Acting (Cinema Columbus). Battersea was post-produced in partnership with Honey Head Films, a female-owned and operated production house.
You can find T.J. @egregiousteej or in Cleveland, Ohio, biking through a snowstorm, supporting his local library with late fines, or, most likely, playing pickleball with his partner, Hannah.
