A Juneteenth Poetry Reading: Poetry in AfroDiaspora & Chamorrita Song

Join us on Juneteenth for a double book launch celebrating Audrey Shipp's new collection Poetry /Poes´ía/ Poésie in AfroDiaspora and Danielle P. Williams's Chamorrita Song.

In this stunning collection, writer Audrey Shipp resucitates the poems of her poetic voice, Adriana––a young poet who resists the alienation of her bith city, Los Angeles. Using multilingual diction, from Caló to French and English, for an acercamiento towards an African/Black diaspora she perceived as distant the time, she offers "poetry/poesía/poésie" that "cascades from las caderas / pushing from the thighs / como recién nacido."

For poet and spoken-word artist Danielle P. Williams, Kantan Chamorrita is more than just the ancient craft of Chamorro folk song. It is also a return and a homecoming. This impromptu style of communal call-and response performance art forms the spokes for Williams’s debut collection. Rooted in oral tradition, Chamorrita Song pays homage to Black and Chamorro cultures, honoring the artistic expressions that these communities have created to reconcile lifetimes of imposed trauma. Williams intertwines spoken word poetry and gospel music with Chamorro storytelling, weaving together the nuanced histories of queer, Black, and Indigenous existence and literature.

The poets will be joined in The Wanda Coleman Theater by guest co-features Maestro Gamin, Nicole J. Evans, and Naomi Nightingale.

Reception and book signings to follow in the Scott Wannberg Bookstore & Lounge.

Doors Open: 7:00 PM I Readings: 7:30 PM

Audrey Shipp is an AWP Writer to Writer mentee and a PEN America Emerging Voices Workshop LA honoree whose hybrid memoir When I Was a Bilingual Writer Birthed by Black L.A. will be published by Unsolicited Press in 2027. Her writing has been published in various literary journals including Good River Review, Panorama Magazine, Isele Magazine, A Long House, Another Chicago Magazine, Litro, and A Gathering Together. Her bilingual and trilingual poetry appeared in Americas Review (Arte-Público Press) which was formerly published by the University of Houston. She holds English degrees from both UCLA and Cal State L.A. and a Certificate in Creative Writing from UCLA Extension. Her professional life has been dedicated to teaching English and ESL in public high schools in Los Angeles. Founder and Editor at Decolonial Passage Literary Magazine, you can find her at https://audreyshipp.net

Nicole J. Evans (she/her) is a Black woman, born and reared in Los Angeles who writes poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. 2024 James Kirkwood Prize nominee, with poetry being published in an upcoming FlowerSong Press anthology and a Blacklandia/Inlandia Books anthology. Pre-Matriarch, future Ancestor, Black sheep, vision alchemist, generational curse breaker, generational blessing manifestor, dream catcher, tale weaver, aspiring griot, empath, latent gardener, inherent inherited beautician, poet by heart, writer by revelation, and singer of her own songs. IG @itsnicolejeanine.

Naomi Nightingale has been writing poetry since the age of seven. Until 2023, her poems, stories, reflections, and Spirit Talks remained in notebooks, journals, and informal pages rather than in a published collection. In 2024, she published It Is I Emerging: Poetry, Prose & Short Stories, a collection reflecting on living, learning, and becoming. She is currently working on a second book of poetry and short stories. Dr. Nightingale grew up in and resides in Venice, California. She is President and Founder of Oakwood Preservation Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Black history and culture of Oakwood-Venice.

Danielle P. Williams is a Black and Chamorro poet, essayist, translator, and spoken-word artist from Columbia, South Carolina whose work traces identity, heritage, and belonging across cultures and generations. She holds an MFA from George Mason University and fellowships from Open Mouth Poetry Retreat, Palm Beach Poetry Festival, The Watering Hole, and The Alan Cheuse Center for International Writers. Her chapbook Who All Gon' Be There? was a finalist for the Button Poetry Chapbook Competition and was published by Backbone Press in 2021, and her debut collection Chamorrita Song was published by University of Arizona Press in January 2026.

About Beyond Baroque

is one of the United States' leading independent Literary | Arts Centers and public spaces dedicated to expanding the public's knowledge of poetry, literature and art through cultural events and community interaction. Founded in 1968 as an experimental literary magazine, Beyond Baroque is based out of the original City Hall building in Venice, California. The Center offers a diverse variety of literary and arts programming including readings and workshops. The building also houses a bookstore with a large collection of new poetry books for sale.

Livestream: If you can’t join us in person the event will be livestreamed on at the scheduled time of the event. If you are tuning in this way, no ticket purchase is necessary.

If you are attending in person, ticket purchase is required. Tickets will be available at the Beyond Baroque bookstore on the day of the event, but we recommend registering in advance through Eventbrite. Masks are encouraged while inside our center. Please arrive early.

Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, staff, fellow attendees, or performers.