The Boston area welcomes back poet, educator, and organizer, Janae Johnson with REPRISE. This show is dedicated to the celebration of growth, creativity and self. Come enjoy new work from the featured writer as well performances from of a few special guest artists. This is a return, a chorus to tap in communion with. This is the REPRISE.
This event is in collaboration with EMW Bookstore and Porsha Olayiwola.
Cost of Admission: $5-10 Sliding Scale
SCHEDULE
7:30 | Doors Open
8:00 | Performances by:
Tatiana Johnson, Melissa Lozada Oliva, and Oompa
8:30 | Feature Performance by Janae Johnson
9:30 | Book Signing
ABOUT THE FEATURE
Janae Johnson is a spoken word poet, teaching artist, educator, and organizer residing in Berkeley, CA. She is a 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion as well as the 2015 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion. Janae also serves as the Co-Founder & Co-Slammaster at The House Slam @ The Haley House Bakery Cafe poetry venue in Boston, MA. Her work, which is mostly focused on black queerness and/or black masculinity has appeared in Kinfolks: a journal of black expression and PBS Newshour.
She is committed to creating safer artistic spaces and has little tolerance for people trying to kill her vibe. When she is not writing poems, Janae is probably making a pineapple based smoothie, eating a breakfast burrito and/or listening to a Stevie Wonder song. She also appreciates black musicals. A lot.
GUEST PERFORMANCES
Tatiana Mary Rebecca Johnson is a black woman writer from Boston who also works in photography and film. Her writing explores trauma, especially inherited trauma and what it means to truly heal. With a passion for mental health awareness, she feels especially good when someone tells her that they felt something by reading her work. She also hopes you smiled today. You can find some of her other work in Madcap Review, Broad! Magazine, Third Visions (zine) or her personal website.
Melissa Lozada-Oliva is a writer, bookseller, and real actual pirate living in Boston. She has previously been published in The Write Deal, Sidelines, and Jaded Ibis Productions. She is the 2015 National Poetry Slam champion and travels the world sharing good work with good people.
Oompa is a Slam poet and Hip-Hop Artist from Roxbury who is now a resident of Cambridge. She is a hood, queer, black, womynist, orphan, auntie, sister, friend, and teacher. She is a member of the 2016 Haley House National Poetry Slam Team and Flatline Poetry. She placed 3rd at the 2016 National Poetry Slam in Altanta, GA. Her work grapples with the intersections and implications of her many identities, and the hope is that people can feel her story and find their own.
ABOUT EMW BOOKSTORE
EMW Bookstore is a community space, gallery and arts and tech hub located in Cambridge’s Central Square. Through creative and cultural work in arts & technology, EMW’s mission is to affirm, celebrate, and work in solidarity with marginalized communities to facilitate creativity and education, safety and wellbeing, and capacity-building toward a more liberatory world. We stress the importance of rooting our values of sharing, trust, respect, and mutual support in all EMW Bookstore activities, because we believe that our programs are at the core of our mission and our vision to expand the concept of family to our immediate community and greater society.
LOCATION & PARKING
Red line: Take the T to Central and walk towards Harvard Square on Mass Ave, or take the 1 bus down the street.
Free street parking is available but typically difficult to find after 6PM on Fridays. Visitors can pay for parking in Central Square or take the T. EMW Bookstore is right between two chair accessible stops, Harvard Square and Central Square on the Red Line.
ACCESSIBILITY
Gallery space is chair accessible. We will prioritize chair access in the aisles. Please find or contact an EMW Staff member for assistance with entry through front door.
Two single-stall, gender-neutral restrooms are available, one up a flight of stairs and one on the main floor with a step from the main entrance.
Please come fragrance free! For the health and safety of organizers, panelists, and other attendees, we ask you not to wear scented products or clothing that has recently been smoked in. More information here.
CODE OF CONDUCT
We strive to foster a space of inclusivity and respect, and in doing so, we seek to give a platform to people from marginalized identities and/or communities to speak their truths. We ask everyone to leave (in no particular order): ableism, ageism, classism, fatphobia, homophobia, misogyny, racism, transphobia, and all oppressive language, attitudes, and actions at the door. We ask that we hold ourselves and one another accountable to creating a culture in which we treat each other with consent and respect. This looks like and is not limited to respecting people's physical and emotional boundaries and receiving explicit verbal consent before touching someone or crossing other personal boundaries. If you observe a breach of code of conduct during the event, please notify a EMW personnel and/or contact this number to reach a EMW Bookstore at (857) 600 1244.