Glory Be…Poetry Reading: TC Tolbert

Join us in the Oasis, a space for programming and rest in the exhibition Keioui Keijaun Thomas: Magma & Pearls for a poetry reading curated by TC Tolbert. 

Glory Be… is a series of poetry readings that centers Trans, Queer, Black, Indigenous, and POC life and stories. Titled Glory Be… Unwavering and Bold Love, the reading features poets Mo LaFlo, Natalie Brewster Nguyen, Jada Renée Allen, and TC Tolbert.

About the poets:

Originating from Winter Park, Florida, Mo LaFlo’s incomparable FLO has traveled through many ears across the nation. Undoubtedly multifaceted, Mo LaFlo’s music is transformative, exuding emotion, and a climate of reverence. Mo LaFlo’s sound captures the essence of R&B, Hip Hop, and Neo Soul. You can find their music on all streaming platforms.

Natalie Brewster Nguyen is a performance artist, site-specific installation artist, writer, actor, mover, educator, and musician. They are a certified Acroyoga, Yoga, and Yogaslackers teacher. She co-parents in an amazing collective of artists and parents in Tucson, AZ, and is dedicated to living with authenticity, community accountability, and adventure at every turn.

Jada Renée Allen is a Black trans writer, educator, & conjure-woman [of letters] living & working in Phoenix, AZ on U.S.-occupied O’odham Jewed, Akimel O’Odham, & Hohokam lands. She is from Chicago, IL. A 2022 92Y Discovery Poetry Contest winner, Jada Renée is the recipient of fellowships, scholarships, & support from Tin House, the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Community of Writers, & VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation), among other organizations.

TC Tolbert (he/him/hey grrrl) is a trans and genderqueer monkey-goat who lives in Tucson, AZ where s/he is the current Poet Laureate. Publications include Gephyromania (Ahsahta Press, 2014/Nightboat Books, 2022) and five chapbooks including The Quiet Practices, winner of the 2023 Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize at Beloit Poetry Journal. TC is co-editor (along with Trace Peterson) of Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics (Nightboat Books 2013). 

About the Exhibition:

Magma & Pearls: Oceans Rise and Fall Like Meteorites is the first solo museum exhibition by artist and performer Keioui Keijaun Thomas presenting a large-scale sculptural installation, video, performance, and community-generated programming. The exhibition builds on over a decade of the artist’s work exploring the affective and material conditions of Black and trans identity and expands on her ongoing practice of world-building to create spaces of safety, joy, and healing. The artist transforms MOCA’s Great Hall into a post-apocalyptic geography to imagine new ways to relate to the American landscape centering interdependent systems of care for all living beings.