How can we feed a depleted spirit? On Sunday, March 23, FLOW members gathered at Woman Made Gallery to explore this question, delving into the essential elements of Black stories, Black lives, and Black realities. Together, they identified seven guiding principles: full, nourished spirits; Black joy; Black love; forgiveness; reclaiming self-care (Audre Lorde); intuition; and (re)alignment. Through powerful readings in prose and poetry, their work inspired others on their own journeys of healing and renewal.
FLOW (For Love of Writing) is a collective of African American women writers dedicated to guiding fellow writers through the often-challenging journey from manuscript to marketplace. With a shared commitment to fostering creativity and literary success, FLOW provides support, resources, and community for writers at all stages of their craft. Learn more about FLOW at https://flowauthors.com/.
Learn more about the authors from FLOW:
Writing as L. D. Barnes, she is a published author, poet, book reviewer and local performer. Her poems have been published in Revise The Psalm, Works Celebrating The Writings of Gwendolyn Brooks, The Skinny Poem Journal, Chicago’s South Side Weekly 2019 Lit Edition and Expressions From Englewood. She also writes police procedural mysteries, and her debut novel is The 107th Street Murder.
Heather ‘Byrd’, named a Living Legacy by Brooks Permission, is an international award-winning writer, and CEO of Byrd’s World Publishing. Byrd’s been featured in festivals and publications across the country, including Hope Ignited, and Trouble The Waters, a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and Locus Award. Her work has earned her the International Anthem Award, standing alongside HBO, Google, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Her favorite words are balloon and bubble.
Tina Jenkins Bell, a published speculative fiction writer, playwright, and literary activist, recently won Definition Theater’s Amplify competition for her play “Death of a Marriage.” Her short stories have appeared in numerous journals/anthologies, including The Overturning, featuring her short story, “Kaiko.” She is finishing the novel manuscript, Down and Dirty in Kosciusko, Mississippi, is a co-founder of FLOW (For Love of Writing) and collaborates with other authors/literary groups to offer literary programming on Chicago’s southside.
April Gary is a writer, poet, filmmaker, producer, actor, screenwriter, artist and public speaker. She is the author of four poetry chapbooks: Love and Butterflies, The Dialect of Amazons, Tapestry – A Modern Tale of Ancient Times and Thorns on Roses. Her current film project, Spiritual Gifts – Episode 1, celebrated its film premiere in January 2025. The film explores the lives of people with intuitive and prophetic abilities. It has been entered into several 2025 film festivals. www.spiritualgiftsfilm.com
Janice Tuck Lively is a published writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and a playwright. Her work celebrates and examines the joys and struggles of Black women’s lives and has appeared in such various literary journals, including Obsidian III: Literature in the African Diaspora, Jet Fuel Review, and others. Tuck Lively is a 2019 Illinois Arts Council Literary Award winner and a 2016 Pushcart Award nominee. She is a Professor in the Department of English at Elmhurst University where she teaches Beginning and Advanced Fiction Writing, Creative Non-Fiction, Multi-cultural Postcolonial Literature, and Feminist Poetry.
Sandra Jackson-Opoku is the author of the award-winning novel, The River Where Blood is Born and Hot Johnny and the Women Who Loved Him, an Essence Magazine Bestseller in Hardcover Fiction. She also coedited the anthology Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks. Her fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works are widely published and produced, appearing in Adi Magazine, Midnight & Indigo, Aunt Chloe, Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, New Daughters of Africa, Obsidian, Another Chicago Magazine, storySouth, Lifeline Theatre, the Chicago Humanities Festival, and others. Professional recognition includes a Plentitudes Journal Fiction Prize, the Hearst Foundation James Baldwin Fellowship at MacDowell Arts, a US National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Fellowship, an American Library Association Black Caucus Award, a City of Chicago Esteemed Artist Award, the Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award, a Globe Soup Story Award, and a Pushcart Prize nomination.
Guest Readers:
Mallory Raven-Ellen Backstrom is a award-winning playwright and author, illustrator, and teaching artist. Mallory, a former member of the Playwright’s Unit at Goodman Theatre, where her work has been developed in Future Labs and The New Stages Festival. A Recipient of the Chicago Esteemed Artist Award, the B2B Arts Award, and a Chicago Dramatists Tutterow Fellow. Mallory was the inaugural Sullivan Playwright-in-Residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Nurtured by The Story Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, The Athena Project, The New Coordinates Theatre and The Refracted Theatre Company.
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 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 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.
WMG’s Literary Events Curator
Jae Green – WMG Literary Events Curator Jae Green is connected to Woman Made Gallery since its early days when the organization was located at its first location in Ravenswood Manor on Chicago’s northwest side. Jae is a visual artist, writer and published poet. She serves since 2020 on WMG’s Board of Directors and is also part of WMG’s Program Committee. In celebration of Woman Made Gallery’s 30th Anniversary she co-juried the Generations group exhibition in 2022 together with Gallery Coordinator, Marisa Miles.