Curated by RHINO POETRY and Jae Green, March 9th Literary event included Sheri L. Flanders, April Gary, Marcy Rae Henry, Ruth Hoberman, Adrienne Nadeau, and Lyra J. Thomas. An Open Mic gave various audience members the opportunity to read from their work.
Sheri L. Flanders is a professional writer, actor and comedian who teaches on the faculty of the Second City in the music department. She is also a theater reviewer for the Chicago Reader, PerformInk and Chicagoland Musical Theater publications, as well as a monthly comedy columnist for the Chicago Defender newspaper. Sheri is the author of Choice The Musical, half of the interracial married sketch comedy duo Flanders, has appeared in numerous theatrical and commercial productions, and is represented by NV Talent.
April Gary is a poet, spoken word artist, actor, playwright, screenwriter, choreographer, filmmaker, public speaker, producer and artist. 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. https://flowauthors.com/sandra-jackson-opoku-1
Marcy Rae Henry is an associate professor of English, Literature and Creative Writing at Wilbur Wright College, where she serves as Coordinator of Latin American and Latine Studies, and an associate editor for RHINO. Artist residencies include Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy and The Chicago Cultural Center. She has participated in multidisciplinary events, experiments, conferences and festivals across the U.S. and Asia and is based in Chicago, where she composes and plays music in local venues. She is a digital minimalist with no social media accounts and listed at Poets&Writers. https://www.marcyraehenry.com/
Ruth Hoberman is a professor emerita of English at Eastern Illinois University. Since her 2015 retirement, her poems and essays have appeared in such journals as RHINO, Naugatuck River Review, Rattle: Poets Respond, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Ploughshares.
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.
Lyra J. Thomas is a black nonbinary poet from the St Louis area, currently residing in Carbondale, IL for their MFA in Poetry from Southern Illinois University, which is also their alma mater. They received their BA in Creative Writing in 2018. Lyra enjoys reading/writing poetry, curating Spotify playlists, and cuddling with their cats Max and Silver.
(Image: April Gary reading from her work.)
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.