Spoken & Seen: Queeribbean Open Mic Night
Links to all the artists who performed in our Spoken and Seen: Queeribbean Arts event in April 2020
Here’s a quick & dirty list with links to all the performers from our
Queeribbean Open Mic Night in April.
Lysanne Charles
Lysanne @GoddessEye from Saba who shared work from her book and absolutely loved the one about missing her grandmother Her(e): A Collection of Queer Caribbean LGBTI Affirming Poems and Short Stories
Ayesha Holder
Ayesha @AJHolderBooks shared her poems for the first time and LISTEN! She needs to keep writing and sharing because they were amazing, and I loved the drag about queer representation often ignoring Asexuality lol. I love it! Go check out Ayesha's Youtube channel
Devonae J. Manderson
Devonae @SoulAndMelanin came in like a goddess and made us feel like royals in yellow cotton! I love her poetry and that poem so much because black women in yellow is one of my favourite things in this world. Go check out her other poems on her blog everyone is a hit, Chaotic Woman and Hanover are my favs on her blog, please gently nudge Devonae to keep sharing her writing and do that collection because I need it in my life.
Shanice Natty
Remember Shanice Natty @Natty_S.A.N who came on singing because she hadn't realise the live had started? LOL. But that voice! I could cry.
The song Natty sang hasn't been release yet but I'm following her on Soundcloud in anticipation and you should too! (I already know what playlist I'm adding Natty's work to once it's released-the one with NoName & Ari Lennox yea)
Jess Brough
I met Jess @Jessbrough at book club in Mandeville a while back when they were visiting from Scotland and they were a delight, but goody neva tell me seh dem write! I felt like a delicate flower listening to them nerdily explaining the linguistics of love and relationships. Jess is PhDeeping now so they aren't sharing their work a lot, but once they stop we're going to push them to write and share more!
Jay
Jay @Jaytjohn came in right after Jess and decided to "shift gears a bit" with some erotic poems and mah! Jay not only shifted gears, I heard they shifted panties as well in the comments section. They're currently working on their own collection but for now you can go follow their IG for updates!
Taitu
Taitu @Ifabola246 words cannot express how much I missed hearing Taitu's voice and despite the technical difficulties (ugh @ Instagram fix up youself) we got incredible poems about working through a break up (and fighting about things like who gets to keep the King size bed) and Mangos... listen! Mi get three Julie yesterday and all I could think about was Taitu's mango poem and how this social distance thing need fi done. The poems she read isn't online, but if you see her on these Twitter streets let her know we need a collection in some shape or form.
Chereese Lavonne
Chereese @ChereeseLavonne took us on an journey through her personal queer discovery and it was a beautiful and intimate poetic voyage. Chereese does a bag a tings including design, but she sometimes posts her work on her personal instagram page and her website.
Ashlee Burnett
Ashlee @Ashleeaburnett reminded us that there's no way we can have a Queeribbean poetry night without talking about religion and she brought us to the intersection of queerness, health and religion, and spirituality. My fav is Gaia's hugs and you can check out more of Ashlee's work on her website.
EJ
EJ @Johnson_Etal told us about the Moon and counted the ways we cope with watching someone we love marry someone else 🙃 EJ has the Daddy Issues series on Instagram and they're the beautiful poems that are numbered, my favourite is no. 1 which EJ captioned "You said, "Write about me." I did."
Neila Ebanks
Ok, but who knew Neila @Enkompan.e could write as well as she danced? No sah, unnuh too talented.
Neila's first poem about birthing oneself reminded me to believe in me that self-doubt and imposter syndrome need fi dead. Her poems made me feel powerful and soft at the same time and it was such a beautiful experience.
Mickiela
@KhaosFromKiki shared her visual art work, and her collection of painting on CDs is my favourite! I think we should do a book-themed visual art workshop with her using recyclable materials. Let me know what you think!
Kevanté
@Alexia_Chantelle was so fun to meet and she's an incredible amazing storyteller! She spoke about her journey to becoming more honest with her identity and the how a bit of physical distance from Bahamas gave her a more in depth perspective. I love loved her poem 'Shit' and I've been having a grand time following her on Twitter since where sis drops all the tea. You can read some of Kavanté's poems and stories here
Adwoa
Adwoa @Adwoa.addae invoked Ms. Lou in her poem "Trouble Maker Mi Name" and I'm still shookt! She brought in queer identity into our understanding of language and reminded me of how important it was for us to tell our own stories. Adwoa doesn't have her work online but I'm determined to feature her on our podcast because whew! Adwoa has the power to shake the world and I need everyone to know.
Topher Allen
@Poet_Topher.Allen is easily one of my favourite poets in Jamaica right now and I need the world to know this. I fell in love with his work via Pree Lit Magazine and this is his second performance with Rebel Women Lit and every time he shares his work I get starry eyed.
Cane Piece Road and Body are two of my favourites from his work.
Lee Rose
@Lee.J.Rose… Now is there anything Lee can't do?
Lee ended the night by stepping on all our necks. Every poem felt like a love letter from our ancestors and their work always leaves me feeling full and satisfied. Here’s their Vimeo
Our Thoughts on Pet and Who We Think Should Play Bitter in a Movie
Our collective thoughts on Pet by Akwaeke Emezi as told through our book club meetup questions.
In October we read Pet by Akwaeke Emezi.
We had terrific discussions about the plot, symbolisms, allegories, and had lot of friendly arguments about the odd utopian/dystopian world of Lucille.
Akwaeke’s work is no stranger to our book club. We read Freshwater last year and it immediately made everyone’s (and I do mean EVERYONE’S) Favourite Book list. With that in mind, we were very excited and hopeful about Pet and whether Akwaeke would live up to the really high bar they had set for themself with Freshwater. Akwaeke surely lived up to their name of being thought-provoking, genre-defying, and rebellious in their sophomore novel, Pet.
We asked each Rebel Women Lit meetup to share their feedback on Pet and here’s a quick recap:
Overall, is the story and/or its characters easy or difficult to relate to?
“It’s a world I would want to live in but everything is flawed. It would be nice to live in a world where LGBT+ people, people of colour, neuro-divergent people etc. can feel safe. But it’s still a world where children aren’t believed and predators are protected, which is sad, but that part mirrors our reality. I wish they went into more details on what this ‘perfect’ society looks like.” - Gabrielle, Mandeville
“I didn’t so much relate to the characters, but I still feel warmly towards them. The moment I found most relatable was when Jam struggled to ‘see the unseen.’ ”- Akilah, Kingston
Mandeville Book Club Meet-Up
“I didn’t relate to any of the characters much except for Moss because I’ve been in a similar situation of being abused by the angel that was to protect us and not having anyone to talk to about it.” - Jaii, Montego-Bay
What do you think was Akwaeke’s message in the book? What ideas were they trying to get across?
“The need to critically reflect on the world, especially considering the limits of ‘perfection’” - Damali, Kingston
“I think they were speaking to a younger version of themself; they were trying to convey ideas of justice.” - Jodi-Ann, Kingston
“To remind us that forgetting and denying the past and trauma can create a new cycle.” - Jessica, Kingston
“I’m thinking that they want to expose our desires of a utopian society by asking us to truly consider the set-up. They are asking us to interrogate our ideas of justice and of what ‘perfection’ looks like” - Kristina, Kingston
What part of the story resonated with you the most?
“The scene where Jam stopped Pet from Killing Hibiscus by asking it to consider how effective that would be in the long run as well as how that would bring any peace or reconciliation for the victim, Moss. It resonated with me because it was a moment of reflection for me on how I perceive justice.” - Kristina, Kingston
“The tension with striving for a better world”- Damali, Kingston
Kingston Book Club Meet-Up
“I loved the world building, the characters and the task of figuring out what their names meant. I thought it was great that they tackled a serious issue in a way that kids would understand (who doesn’t like mysteries and fighting monsters?)” - Jaii, Montego-Bay
If Pet Got Made Into A Movie, Who Would You Cast?
BITTER:
Charlayne Woodard, Dominique Jackson, Angelica Ross or Lupita Nyong'o
ALOE:
Sterling K Brown, Winston Duke or Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
PET:
James Earl Jones or Viola Davis
REDEMPTION:
Asante Blackk, a young Dayo Okeniyi (lol), Ethan Herisse
JAM:
… [We all agreed that we need more black teen girls who are of trans experience in Hollywood!]
Final thoughts?
“I’d recommend this book to fantasy readers, especially (black, queer, neruodivergent, or Caribbean) looking for a good read.” - Gabrielle, Mandeville
“I really like their commitment to non-ableist language!” - Jodi-Ann, Kingston
“I'd recommend Pet to mostly pre-teens and teenagers. But I think there's value in adults reading it as well” - Kristina, Kingston
Thank you to everyone who came to our book club meetups for Pet by Akwaeke Emezi!
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