“Call Me Crazy: Unsane Writings for an Insane World” on April 15, 2023 was curated by WMG’s Literary Events Curator, artist and writer Jae Green and included distinguished poets Andrea Change, Lani Montreal, Adrienne Nadeau and Chirskira Caillouet with a Special Presentation by The Yellow House Library, and musical contribution by Vessy Mink Thank you for sharing your gifts. We were honored by your presence. Thank You!
(Image left to right: Chirskira Caillouet, Lani Montreal, Adrienne Nadeau, Jae Green, Andrea Change. Photo credit: Cathleen Ann Schandelmeier)
Andrea Change
Andrea Change is a hometown girl, born and raised in Chicago. A graduate of Northwestern University with a Master’s degree from Roosevelt, she has been an active member of Chicago’s literary community for more than 20 years. Her work has been published in the past in various journals and poetry anthologies from Tia Chucha Press, Powerlines and Stray Bullets. Her poetry was also included in the 2000 Steppenwolf Theatre production, Words on Fire. She is currently working on a book of memoir poetry and prose inspired by her experiences growing up on the city’s west side.
Andrea is the executive director for the Guild Literary Complex and currently lives in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood with her two dogs Sasha and Missy.
Lani Montreal
Lani T. Montreal is a queer feminist Filipina writer/educator/rabblerouser in Chicago, whose works have been published and produced in the U.S., Canada, and the Philippines. She’s currently working on a series of short plays called Queerantine: Love in the Time of Corona. Her play, Panther in the Sky, about gun violence in Chicago, is set to be staged by Filipino-American theater group CIRCA-Pintig at Chicago Danztheatre in Fall 2023. Lani writes to create her home in the diaspora. She is a two-time recipient of 3Arts Residency Awards and a 2017 alumni of the VONA Writers or Color Workshop. Montreal currently teaches writing at Malcolm X College and writes a blog called “Fil-in-the-gap”
Chirskira Caillouet
Chirskira Caillouet authored Honey Licorice (available on lulu.com) and earned the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards semi-finalist distinction multiple times. Caillouet achieved her Masters of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Language Arts. She currently holds a certificate in Spoken Word Pedagogy at Concordia University. She hosts and curates Wordfetti Open Mic, in person. In 2023, she will facilitate the Sampling the Greats workshop for Chicago Public Library and has the Youtube Channel: FroFoodie23.
Adrienne Nadeau
Over the past two decades, Adrienne Nadeau has facilitated workshops and performed poetry at theaters, schools, prisons, coffee shops, bookstores, and bars. She has led successful slams, including Mental Graffiti and Lethal Poetry, and hosted events through the Sofar Sounds network.
As a solo artist and as part of Two Wrongs, Adrienne has performed domestically and internationally, gracing stages in Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, and Paris. She has represented her city in the National Poetry Slam, Rustbelt, and Southern Fried and slayed slams in her own right … Although she can usually be found playing cribbage, and writing in dive bars.
WMG Literary Events Curator
Jae Green has been part of the Woman Made Gallery community since its earliest years at our first location in Ravenswood Manor, on Chicago’s Northwest Side. A visual artist, writer, and published poet, she joined WMG’s Board of Directors in 2020 and serves on the Program Committee. In 2022, she co-juried Generations, WMG’s 30th anniversary exhibition, with Marisa Miles, now WMG’s Board President.