Janae Johnson, the 2015 Women of the World Poetry Champion and 2015 National Poetry Slam Champion is coming to Hastings College Wednesday, March 13, for a 7:00 p.m. performance and presentation in Scott Studio Theatre (806 N. Turner Avenue) that is free and open to the public.
Johnson will present “Lyrical Justice: Giving Voice to Marginalized Groups” as part of the College’s Women’s History Month series.
She will also host a workshop for students earlier in the day.
Johnson, who resides in Berkeley, California, is a black queer poet, community organizer, teaching artist and full-time educator. She holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, is a senior program manager at Youth Speaks and facilitates writing and performance workshops for all ages.
She is also the co-founder of both the Root Slam poetry venue in Oakland, California, and The House Slam poetry venue in Boston, Massachusetts. Her poetry has appeared in outlets such as ESPN, PBS Newshour, Blavity and Kinfolks: A Journal of Black Expression. Her work aims to address the intricacies of black masculinity while balancing her love for her family, Motown music and women’s basketball.
For more about Johnson and videos of her work, go to janaejohnson.com.
Johnson’s address is made possible through funding from the Hastings College Lecture Series.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
