Sunday June 2, 2024
7pm – 9:30pm
Pilsen Arts & Community House
1637 W. 18th Street, Chicago
Be there at our special event to celebrate the amazing authors showcased in the 1000 Words: Home Not Home Exhibition! Join Pilsen Arts & Community House and AnySquared Projects as our exhibition culminates with this closing night!
Author Night highlights writers from the exhibition!
Featured Authors: Host Britannii’ Batts (Tanae B.) along with readings from featured authors Janina Gatilao, Melody Contreras, Alanis Castillo Caref, Clay Cofre, Valeria Osornio, Aryn Hills, and Tamar Brooks. The event ends with an open mic for all authors from the exhibit to sign up!
Open Mic: Scheduled readings are followed by an open mic for authors from the exhibit who are encouraged to sign up!
Visit the online anthology and read all the written work of the exhibit and view the art they inspired: homenothome.anysquared.org.
Featured Writers!
Host of Authors Night
Brittanii’ Batts (Tanae B.)
@tanaeb_ | Tanae B. is a spoken word artist, singer, community organizer, author of Joy & Contradictions, and founder of Tanae Speaks LLC. With a heart for society and arts, she aims to use her voice to uplift and empower our inner love to shine outwards to each other. Piece from Exhibition | Amyia Ross + Brittanii’ Batts (Tanae B)
Tamar Brooks
Tamar Brooks is a Wisconsin native who earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre in 2013 and joined the Chicago creative scene shortly thereafter as an actor, playwright, and poet. Her writing has been featured in a variety of festivals and online platforms (and she is delighted to be able to add “gallery” to that list from here on out :)). She is grateful to John for being her favorite person, and to their glaring of cats for obvious reasons. Piece from Exhibition: Noa Alemán + Tamar Brooks
Alanis Castillo Caref
@alaniscastle | Alanis Zoë Castillo Caref is a writer-poet activist-artist from Chicago. She received her BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Communication and Creative Writing. She was a finalist for the 2021 Undergraduate Creative Writing Awards at UIUC and won second place in The Hip Hop Workshop 2022 Spoken-Word Competition. She also has poetry published in The Fashion Network magazine. Alanis has performed at Story Lab Chicago, Slam Diáspora, Exhibit B, The Chicago Poetry Center, and La Hora de Antojitos. Currently, she is the Marketing Coordinator at the Guild Literary Complex, co-curator of Exhibit B, and co-host of Do Not Submit Humboldt/Wicker. Piece from Exhibition: Jacqueline Almaguer + Alanis Castillo Caref
Clay Cofre
@Clay_0099 | Clay Cofre (they/them) is a Queer Latiné Poet from Chicago, they enjoy writing about things like Highway underpasses, aging, family dynamics, and goopy outside sensations. In their free time, you may catch them working on La Mosca and/or sprinting after the Kimball bus. Piece from Exhibition: Lucero Sanchez + Clay Cofre
Melody Contreras
@melodies_harmonies | Melody is a writer, dramaturg, curator, and multimedia artist based in Chicago. She is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she received a B.F.A. in Theatre Studies and a B.A. in Latina/Latino Studies. Recently, her essay, “Fornésian Dreamscapes: Navigating Queer World-Making” was published in The Routledge Companion to Latine Theatre and Performance. In her free time, she enjoys nature walks and spending time with loved ones. Piece from Exhibition: TEEL ONE + Melody Contreras
Janina Gatilao
@jawieners | I go by Nina and I am 28 years old. I have been writing since I was a wee middle schooler. Over the years I have explored writing steamy, teenage romance stories (heavy on the angst), to poetry that focuses on my families’ and my life experiences. Currently, I am dabbling in comedy and lighthearted work. From 7am-4pm, you can find me teaching 6th grade Language Arts. My students keep me on my toes, but I never run out of things to write about. The education field is a tough one, but I hope to show, in words, a world we have long passed on. One that is funny, awkward, cringey, clueless, and sweet. Piece from Exhibition: Danielle Arend + Janina Gatilao
Aryn Hills
@arynhills.wav | Hi, I’m Aryn. I romanticize my life and everything in it because of all of the books I’ve ever read. I think the foundation of everything I do creatively is writing. Not really sure where I’d be or who I’d be without it. I was born in Chicago & I consider myself a music artist first and everything else follows. I create art because I have to and I just so happen to love it. Talking about myself is weird so I’m gonna stop now. 🙂 Piece from Exhibition: Ivy Waegel + Aryn Hills
Valeria Osornio
@me_vale_oso | Valeria Osornio was born and raised in Chicago,IL, she grew up with a passion for reading, writing and music. She graduated with a BA in English Literature from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. After graduating she has worked in the southwest side neighborhoods of Chicago coordinating literature programming for youth. Osornio has been a past participant of the Chicago Dramatists and showcased some of her writing at community events. Her work focuses on nonfiction and fiction short stories, poetry and monologues with topics of latinx identity, immigration, self-discovery and community. Currently she is working on creating a nonfiction short story anthology focusing on telling the stories of immigrants and displaced individuals in her life. Piece from Exhibition: Evelyn Hernandez + Valeria Osornio
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The Author Night is part of the 1000 Words | Home Not Home project and exhibit on display from May 3rd — June 2nd, 2024. The project, events, and exhibition are a collaboration between AnySquared Projects and Pilsen Arts & Community House.
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Pilsen Arts & Community House
pilsenartscommunityhouse.org
info@pilsenartscommunityhouse.org
AnySquared Projects
anysquared.org
projects@anysquared.com