“HEARD/WORD LIVE!” @ ADANNE BOOKSTORE - 8.20.21
In August, Galleyway partnered with Adanne bookstore in Brooklyn, New York to launch “Heard/Word Live!” - a new series of curated open mic events celebrating diverse voices in poetry.
Our first event was dedicated to the artistry of Black poets and featured seven amazing performers: Danialie Fertile, John Gavin White, Jordan E. Franklin, Lauren Summers, Miss Vibes, Mousey, and Thea Matthews. We were also joined by special guest poet Naomi Extra, who read from her poetry collection, “Ratchet Supreme” (BOAAT Press).
Special thanks to Adanne owner Darlene Okpo for collaborating with Galleyway on the series.
“Heard/Word Live!” is hosted by Galleyway founder Camille Wanliss.
GUEST POET:
Photo Credit: Lauren Desberg
Naomi Extra
Naomi Extra is a freelance writer and poet. In both her creative and scholarly work, she explores themes of agency and pleasure in the lives of Black women and girls. She has been awarded fellowships by Cave Canem, Jack Jones Literary Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Crescendo Literary, and the African American Intellectual History Society. Her writing has appeared in Glamour, Zora, Ms. Magazine Blog, Lit Hub, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her poetry manuscript entitled Ratchet Supreme (which she will be reading from tonight) was selected by Tiana Clark as the winner of the 2019 BOAAT Chapbook Prize. She earned her PhD in American Studies from Rutgers University-Newark.
OPEN MIC POETS:
DANIALIE FERTILE
Danialie Fertile is a Brooklyn-based Haitian-American writer, poet, and facilitator. Her work centers intimacy, desire, and value as it relates to race, gender, and sexuality in pop culture and other systems of power.
JOHN GAVIN WHITE
John Gavin White is a poet, philosopher and educator. With dual degrees in Philosophy and Women/Gender Studies, White's research is centered at the intersection of the "poetic" as a lived philosophy and "black male self-recovery in the U.S." White has been featured several times on the world-famous Apollo amateur night and has performed or lectured at a number of universities in the U.S. and abroad. His debut poetry collection, I, John de Conqueror: A New Spelling of My Name is available for purchase through his Instagram page @johngavinwhite.
JORDAN E. FRANKLIN
Jordan E. Franklin is a poet from Brooklyn who earned her MFA from Stony Brook Southampton. Her work has appeared in the Southampton Review, Breadcrumbs, easy paradise, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Frontier, and elsewhere. She is the winner of the 2017 James Hearst Poetry Prize and the 2020 Gatewood Prize as well as a finalist of the 2019 Furious Flower Poetry Prize. Her first poetry collection, when the signals come home, was published by Switchback Books in March 2021. Her first poetry chapbook, boys in the electric age, is forthcoming from Tolsun Books this month.
Lauren Summers
Lauren Summers is a writer and poet based in NYC and originally from Greensboro, North Carolina. She holds an B.A. in English from UNC Greensboro. While she enjoys writing speculative fiction, her poetry often deals with themes of love, loss, self-reflection, and hope.
MISS VIBES
Sara Akpoke (aka Miss Vibes) was born in Staten Island to parents who came from Dominica and Nigeria. She writes poetry that not only influences people but motivates them as well. Her hope is to make it to the point where she can influence a plethora of people with her writing and motivational speaking.
MOUSEY
Jerry Jean-Baptiste (aka Mousey) is a poet and barber born and raised in Brooklyn to Haitian parents. At an early age, he developed a deep love for poets and writers such as Langston Hughes, Edgar Allan Poe, Maya Angelou, and Nina Simone. His book of poetry, inspired by a personal relationship, is entitled 'RELIEVED AND RELOVED'.
THEA MATTHEWS
Thea Matthews is a Brooklyn-based poet, author, and educator originally from San Francisco, California. Her debut poetry collection Unearth [The Flowers] was published by Red Light Lit Press and is listed as part of the Best Indie Poetry of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews. Some of her work has appeared in The New Republic, Atlanta Review, The Rumpus, and others. Currently, Thea is an MFA Poetry candidate at New York University.