Being Human

Lenelle Moise (bio below) will be performing her one-woman autobiofictional show, "Womb-Words, Thirsting" on Wednesday, October 18 at 8:00pm at Evergreen in the Recital Hall of the Communications Building.

About Womb-Words, Thirsting: This performance by Haitian-American pomosexual feminist Lenelle Moise combines spoken word, storytelling, song and movement to discuss identity-construction, immigration, biculturally coming of age, religion, sexuality, AIDS and reclaiming F-Words.
Sponsored by Women's Resource Center, Women of Color Coalition, Carnival, Evergreen Queer Alliance, and EPIC

BIO:

POETRY

LENELLE MOISE is a self-identified "culturally hyphenated pomosexual poet" who creates personal political texts about the spirits in sexuality, masculinities, being bicultural (Haitian-American), and the intersection of race, class, gender & resistance. She recites from scrolls, from memory and with movement. In addition to featured performances in a number of cafes, bookstores, and theatres, Lenelle regularly performs at universities across the U.S. She induced standing ovations at both the 2000 and 2001 National Poetry Slams and is New WORLD Theater's 2003 Poetry Slam champion. Recently named the 2005-06 recipient of the Astraea Loving Lesbians Award for Poetry, Lenelle is currently touring WOMB-WORDS, THIRSTING, her acclaimed autobiofictional solo performance. Her debut CD, Madivinez, is forthcoming. To book Lenelle for an event, please email booking@lenellemoise.com.

PROSE

Read Lenelle's challenge to 50 Cent in Issue #6 of Altar Magazine. She interviews the founders of Tough Titties Productions in the first print edition of the F-Word, and does some book reviewing in the 11th issue of Velvetpark. Her autobiofiction is featured in the anthologies RED LIGHT: Superhereos, Saints, and Sluts, edited by Anna Camilleri and Homewrecker, edited by Daphne Gottlieb. In October 2006, look for her work in the forthcoming We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists (Seal Press) and We Got Issues: A Young Woman's Guide to a Bold, Courageous and Empowered Life (Inner Ocean Publishing).

WORKSHOPS

Click here to read about her current workshops. In Fall 2005, Lenelle facilitated I AM...Renaming the Sexual Revolution, a series of "slam poetry meets sex ed" workshops sponsored by Planned Parenthood. The project culminated in a FREE nationally-distributed CD. Go to your local Planned Parenthood and ask for one! Lenelle has also lead acting, slam/spokenword, and feminist art workshops for the Next Wave of Women in Power, Dartmouth College, Yale University, MIT, the Drama Studio, the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School and the Florence Learning Center.

THEATRE

Lenelle earned her MFA in Playwriting from Smith College in 2004 and is a recipient of the 2004 & 2005 James Baldwin Memorial Award in Playwriting. She is currently at work on a feminist adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis, commissioned by Serious Play! Theatre Ensemble. Her other plays include: Little Griot, a youth play about masculinity commissioned by the Drama Studio; The Many Faces of Nia, a two-act comedy about stereotypes and Black-Jewish relations; Spilling Venus, Pandora's "coming out" story; Cornered in the Dark, a choreopoem about the psychological aftermath of sexual assault; Lesbians Talking About RICE, ongoing related "quickies" about the racial and sexual tensions between women; and Purple, a youth play about dating violence commissioned by the Kitchen Theatre Company. Lenelle was also commissioned to contribute 25 poems & monologues to We Got Issues, a "performance-based dialogue" on young women & voting produced by Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda and the Next Wave of Women in Power. In 2004, she directed younger solo artist Ebony Smith for New WORLD Theater. Also a working actor, Lenelle won a Drammy for her performance in the Insight Out Theatre Collective production of Cornered in the Dark.

FILM & VIDEO

At age 20, Lenelle co-wrote Sexual Dependency, Bolivian director Rodrigo Bellot's feature film debut about cross-cultural machismo and U.S. media influence on "Third World" youth. Currently out on DVD, the film won the International Film Critics' Award at the Locarno International Film Festival (Switzerland). It has sinced been screened and awarded in countless festivals and cinemas on four continents. Lenelle also wrote and starred in Mara Alper's short experimental video, To Erzulie, which premiered at the Berlin Sommerfest der Literaturen in July 2002. Bit by the bug, Lenelle recently completed her own experimental shorts, blue passersby eyes and atlantic soul.