Vaudeville Night: Music, Poetry, & Drama Celebrating Grownfolk Blues

✦ Join us for a vaudeville-themed evening featuring readings and performances by Jae Nichelle, Amanda Johnston, Shy-Zahir Moses, Bianca on Sax, and DéShawn McKeel; music, refreshments and poetic ecstasy ensue! Hosted by Host Publications editors Annar Veröld-Miranda & Claire Bowman!

Grownfolk Blues: a musical in poems is a powerful cross-genre experiment by the inimitable poet, performer and screenwriter Jae Nichelle, blending narrative verse with musical theater in a dynamic score that transcends the traditional bounds of a poetry collection. Inspired by the queer Southern blues artists of the 1920s and 30s, the narrative follows a character named You, a queer Black woman who is frequently crushed beneath the weight of societal demands. You struggles against the pains of coming into adulthood, of finding love and meaning in life.

✦ Host Publications is an award-winning, women-led independent publisher located in Austin, Texas. Devoted to our mission to elevate historically marginalized writers, Host Publications publishes radical poetry and fiction by emerging LGBTQ+, BIPOC, intersectional feminist, and immigrant voices.

✦ Free & open to all lovers of literature.

✦ There will be small bites and light refreshments

✦ Health and safety note: masks are encouraged and will be provided.

✦ This event is supported in part by an Elevate Grant of Austin Arts, Culture, Music, & Entertainment.

✦✦✦ ABOUT THE GUESTS ✦✦✦

Louisiana-born Jae Nichelle (she/her) is a poet, performer, screenwriter, and the author of God Themselves (Andrews McMeel, 2023) and the chapbook The Porch (As Sanctuary) (YesYes Books, 2019). A 2026 Oregon Literary Fellow and a graduate fellow of The Watering Hole, Jae was a finalist for a 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship and won the inaugural John Lewis Writing Award in poetry from the Georgia Writers Association. Her work has been featured by Write About Now and Button Poetry. She believes in all of our collective ability to contribute to radical change.

m. mick powell is a queer Black Cape Verdean femme, poet, artist, Aries, and the author of DEAD GIRL CAMEO, winner of the Stonewall Book Award and listed as a Best Book of the Year by the New York Public Library. They have received fellowships and residencies from Yaddo, Lambda Literary, Torch Literary Arts, the McCormack Writing Center, and others. Their chapbook “threesome in the last Toyota Celica & other circus tricks” won the 2023 Host Publications Chapbook Prize, and they are a proud member of the Host Board of Directors. Currently based in Portland, OR, mick enjoys chasing waterfalls and being in love.

Amanda Johnston is a writer, visual artist, Texas Poet Laureate, and founder/executive director of Torch Literary Arts.

Shy-Zahir Moses (they/them) is a Black person, poet, and educator working on a way to make it out of Texas. Their work attempts to reckon with the absurdity of C-PTSD, the fallibility of language, and the practice of remembering/misremembering, whatever that means. Shy is a lover of many things: Magnolia trees, Solange, horror films, fine point pens, screaming, and being alive. They are who they say they are.

DéShawn McKeel is a writer, poet, and AfroAbsurdist born in Georgia & reared in Texas. DéShawn serves as a poetry editor for the literary magazine Lampblack, and is the Editorial Fellow at the Texas Civil Rights Project. DéShawn received an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University – Newark, and is at work on a book.

Dr. Bianca Bailey is an engineer, children’s book author, and musician known as Bianca on Sax, has spent over two decades performing across U.S. Europe, Africa. In just one year in Austin, she's shared the stage with Stephen and Ziggy Marley and Grammy winner Koffee at Austin Reggae Fest, jammed with jazz legend Pamela Hart at the Elephant Room, and was hand-picked to perform with Paw Paw Rod at Antone's Blues Venue. Bianca has also performed for 300+ students alongside SaulPaul, a 4x TED Talk speaker and 2x Grammy nominee, additionally her band just opened for blues legend Soul Man Sam at Antone's.

✦✦✦ ACCESSIBILITY & PARKING INFO ✦✦✦

PARKING: Alienated Majesty is located at 613 W 29th St. We share a limited amount of parking spots in our commercial lot with three other businesses (so carpooling is recommended if you can!). You can also find free and paid street parking options in the surrounding neighborhood. There is one designated accessible parking spot on the side of the lot facing Rio Grande.

ENTRANCE: Our main entrance is accessible via ramp and opens manually. If you need assistance with opening the door, feel free to contact us ahead of time to let us know.

RESTROOM: Our public restroom is single-occupancy and wheelchair-accessible.

If you have any additional questions about accessing the space, feel free to call us at 512-243-6679 or email [email protected].

✦✦✦ ABOUT HOST & ALIENATED MAJESTY BOOKS ✦✦✦

✦ is an award-winning, women-led independent publisher located in Austin, Texas. Devoted to our mission to elevate historically marginalized writers, Host Publications publishes radical poetry and fiction by emerging LGBTQ+, BIPOC, intersectional feminist, and immigrant voices.

✦ Alienated Majesty Books is a bookstore in central Austin specializing in small presses, translations, literary fiction, indie comics, politics & theory, environments, and poetry. In 2024, the Austin Chronicle named AM a critics pick for Best Obscure Literature Collection.

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Alienated Majesty Books, 613 West 29th Street, Austin, United States

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