Mad Talk: Stephanie Heit and Matt Bodett

This Mad Talk is part of the Poetry Foundation's series Crip Talks, which stages workshops, artist talks, and conversations on disability culture, organized by the Poetry Foundation’s Accessibility Task Force. In conjunction with the Center for Mad Culture's multidisciplinary exhibition Dunning, visiting poet and performance artist Stephanie Heit speaks in conversation with Matt Bodett about madness, institutional access, and creative process.

Masks strongly encouraged and will be available. [Additional access notes forthcoming. Please email Noa with any questions or requests: [email protected].]

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Stephanie Heit (she/her) is a queer disabled poet, dancer, teacher, and codirector of Turtle Disco, a somatic writing space on Anishinaabe land in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She is bipolar, a shock/psych system survivor, a mad activist, and a member of the Olimpias, an international disability performance collective. Her award-winning book of hybrid memoir poems, PSYCH MURDERS (Wayne State University Press, 2022), invites readers inside psychiatric wards and shock treatments toward new futures of care. Her poetry collection The Color She Gave Gravity (Operating System, 2017) explores the seams of language, movement, and mental health difference. Website: stephanie-heit.com

Matt Bodett (he/him) is a visual artist, poet, and activist, whose work unites classical painting with contemporary themes of madness, culture, and history. As the founder and director of the Center for Mad Culture, Bodett advocates for the recognition of madness as a cultural identity beyond medical frameworks. His work has been exhibited at venues including Steppenwolf Theater, the Freud Museum in London, and the No Limits Festival in Berlin. As a mad pride activist, he has reimagined works such as Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling to reflect narratives of madness and resistance. Website: mattbodett.com.

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The Dunning project is a multidisciplinary exhibition presented by the Center for Mad Culture, exploring the complex history of the Cook County Insane Asylum through the works of ten visual artists and ten poets. Running from November 8 to December 31, 2024, this exhibit aims to uncover and reclaim narratives surrounding madness, identity, and institutional memory. Featuring performances by Stephanie Heit and Alexis Riley, alongside Petra Cuppers, Dunning invites audiences to engage with forgotten voices and reimagine the lives of those impacted by the asylum's legacy.

Exhibition Opening Reception Nov 8th from 5:00-9:00PMwith special performances beginning at 7:00PM. The Center for Mad Culture is open Friday and Saturday from 11:00AM-5:00PM, at 410 S Michigan Ave Suite 419, Chicago, IL 60605

Host or Publisher Poetry Foundation