Justin Groppuso-Cook is a Co-founder of Mesmerism Collective, which uplifts Metro Detroit’s culture of art, spirituality, & healing. He serves as a Writer-in-Residence for InsideOut Literary Arts Project, Teaching Artist for Living Arts Detroit, and Poetry Reader at West Trade Review. His moniker, Sunni Mani - which means, among many things, “the bringer of good health” - is a spirit that he embodies in his poetry, music, & healing practices.

Poetry: His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Best New Poets, Pacifica Literary Review, Witness, Sonora Review, Masculinity: an anthology of modern voices, American Literary Review, The Pinch, & Chicago Quarterly Review among others. He was awarded the Haunted Waters Press Award for Poetry, twice nominated for The Pushcart Prize, & a finalist for both Black Warrior Review’s Annual Poetry Contest & the American Literary Review Awards. His chapbook “Illuminated Pupils” was a semi-finalist for the Black River Chapbook Competition as well as the Tomaž Šalamun Prize through Factory Hollow Press. In 2022, he was a resident at Writing Workshops Paris.

Music: He is working on the debut singles for his solo project, Sunni Mani, which will be released in 2024. He is also the keyboardist, composer, & visionary behind the Detroit trio, Asklepius, named after the Greek god of medicine. Their most recent project, Relative to a Mood, was released on June 4th 2020 to rave reviews. They are currently working on their next EP, tentatively titled The Void! A Voice!, and have singles waiting to be dropped.

Medicine: His services include plant-based healing, sound baths, breath work, & guided meditation. His lifelong practice of curanderismo first began while gardening with his mother & has since culminated to his continued study of Amazonian medicine with the Shipibo people of Peru.