[MARGINS.] 2022 CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL​

Writers Zeke Caliguri, Vivian Nixon, and Nicole Shawan Junior, contributors to The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life In Prison, in conversation with Caits Meissner, director of Prison and Justice Writing at PEN America, at the 2022 [margins.] conference and festival. 

MPWW Before Time Reading Series: February 2022 SPECIAL EDITION

Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW) is proud to host a special edition of its Before Time Reading Series, featuring renowned writers featured in THE SENTENCES THAT CREATE US: CRAFTING A WRITER’S LIFE IN PRISON (Haymarket Books). This event was originally recorded on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.

LAMBDA LITERARY 2020 LITFEST

Listen to Nicole celebrate QUEER BLACK JOY as a panelist for the 2020 Lambda LitFest, a weeklong virtual program that centered and amplified queer Black literary artists.

NO, YOU TELL IT!: 2020 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL LITERARY READING

Hear Calvin S. Cato read and perform Nicole Shawan Junior’s timely story, “Finding Our Way Back Home,” and Nicole perform Calvin’s essay, “Becoming Someone Else in Florida,” as part of the No, YOU Tell It! “Coming & Going” literary reading, AN OFFICIAL 2020 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT.

Nicole’s reading was directed by Amanda Sisk.

Calvin’s reading was directed by Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons.

THESE TRUTHS: PRISON & JUSTICE WRITING WITH REGINALD DWAYNE BETTS FEAT. NICOLE SHAWAN JUNIOR

These Truths is a new, limited-run podcast from the PEN World Voices Festival, exploring literature and the deeper truths that connect us. In a moment that risks tearing our world apart, and when the factual basis of our daily lives is constantly undermined, this podcast explores how literature can help us arrive at the truth and a deeper understanding of what connects us. In this conversation, poet Reginald Dwayne Betts and folks from PEN America’s Prison & Justice Writing Program talk about the writer’s role in deepening the American public’s understanding of mass incarceration at a pivotal moment in time. Counter-storyteller Nicole Shawan Junior performs Yvette M. Louisell’s Prison Eulogies "with such a profound power and necessary anger.”. 

A STRONGER DESIRE TO LIVE: A NEW LISTENING EXPERIENCE FROM PEN AMERICA PRISON WRITING

Join together with virtual community in this time of distancing to experience an emotionally stirring 90-minute podcast performance. A STRONGER DESIRE TO LIVE draws together a roster of powerful artists, including Nicole Shawan Junior, standing in to voice a tremendous series of prose, poetry, and drama works penned by award-winning incarcerated writers. Tied together with original music by Kenyatta Emmanuel, an artist and activist who has shared his music from Sing Sing to Carnegie Hall, the program is a moving tribute to the immense—and often hidden—talent behind the walls. 

CURA: VOICES AGAINST MASS INCARCERATION READING

This incredibly moving performance was the launch of the 2020 issue of CURA: A Literary Magazine of Art and Action. Entitled “REVERB: VOICES AGAINST MASS INCARCERATION,” and inspired by Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, this issue honors the many voices that echo across time and space in protest of mass incarceration. For this important work, Fordham University’s creative writing program partnered with PEN America’s prison writing program to curate some of the most talented incarcerated writers and social justice voices. Nicole Shawan Junior performs her personal essay, “A List of Violations.”

THE WORK RUNDOWN PODCAST

Created by Jodi and Shaq, The Work Rundown Podcast shares their experiences as Black women in the workplace. The Work Rundown is here to create an inclusive space of discussion, advice, and learning.

Writer Nicole Shawan Junior joined Jodi and Shaq to discuss her various careers; the importance of owning her story and addressing her traumas; her journey to finally accepting her life’s purpose; why her father is her superhero; and what she has learned along the way about reinventing herself. Get your notepad and pen ready for this fascinating conversation, because Nicole took us to the altar, to school, and to therapy.

POETS IN PAJAMAS READING SERIES

Poets in Pajamas is a free, biweekly online reading series run through Facebook Live that connects readers and writers across the world from the comfort of their own pajamas. Readings take place twice per month at 7PM ET. Watch Nicole Shawan Junior perform her essay, “We Came.” as part of this reading series, which is hosted by Sundress Publications.

LAMBDA LITERARY’S 2019 EMERGING LGBTQ VOICES READING

The Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices is the nation’s premier LGBTQ writing residency. It is the only multi-genre writing residency devoted exclusively to emerging LGBTQ writers. Since 2007, the Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices has offered sophisticated instruction in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young adult fiction, playwriting led by the most talented writers working today. The Retreat is an unparalleled opportunity to develop one’s craft and find community.

Watch Nicole perform as a nonfiction fellow at Lambda Literary’s Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices.

LEZ TALK BOOKS RADIO

Founded by Lauren Cherelle and Stephanie Andrea Allen to bring together women with shared cultural experiences that desire a nurturing and productive writing setting, The Black Lesbian Literary Collective is a non-profit organization that produces that Lez Talk Books Radio podcast. Lez Talk Books Radio amplifies the work of Black lesbian and queer writers and highlights topics and trends in publishing.

In this episode, Stephanie and Lauren chat with Nicole Shawan Junior about her recent writing, non-fiction workshops, and forthcoming memoir.