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Sherese (Reese) Francis

@afutureancient

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Poet, Interdisciplinary Artist, Workshop Leader, Card Reader, Alkymist of the I-Magination, ☀️♌️➕🌜♒️➕⬆️♋️, Caribbean Gyal from Queens 🇧🇧 🇩🇲

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Thank you to @kamaricarterstudio @kennedyhollins @clarawiest and @flux_factory for the opportunity to perform Oracle of Opacity for the first time! I truly appreciate the chance to bring this performance to life after years of it only being an idea in my head. And thank you to @tomtsai.t_t , it was a gift to witness your performance and perform alongside you.

I look forward to performing this again in the future, hopefully a longer version. This definitely opened something new in me. by @afutureancient

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2 months ago

Psst… Miss us? 👀
The press lives. Passionately🔥!
We. are. back, though we never really left…
Just out here, been tryna build things, and we’re somewhere between 107 open tabs and a literary fever dream… and we’re well on our way to becoming the book👏🏽 publishing👏🏽 press we always imagined!!
So stick around kids, we are the retro, future energy, the cult classic you LOVE !
And just you wait, we’ll be hip one day and you can say you knew us when🫶🏽

Today we’re proud to introduce the next title in our upcoming lineup:

🎭PollyNation: A Seminary of Self
by Sherese Francis.

Winner of the 2024 Aggrey & Tabbikha Book Prize for Poetry ✨

“this collection wrestles with the multi-consciousness of Caribbean and Black American identities, and the slippery, shapeshifting and migratory nature of language and culture”—Sherese Francis

This book is the kind of hybrid you’ve been dreaming of: part poetry collection, part play, and part ritual. PollyNation turns every page into a stage where voices enter, exit, and disguise themselves across a “mind-blowing masquerade of transnational and personal histories.”Readers are invited to discover themselves as “unfinished, multiple, and complex.”

Oh, and if you look closely, you’ll peek the artwork that will be on the cover.

✨Look for our books in late fall✨

Featuring blurbs by:

Paolo Javier, former Queens Poet Laureate and author of Court of the Dragon and O.B.B

makalani bandele, author of (jopappy & the sentencemakers are) eponymous as funk and under the aegis of a winged mind

allia abdullah-matta, Professor of English at CUNY LaGuardia Community College and The Graduate Center (Africana Studies Program), and author of washed clean & blues politico and blackprint

#afrocaribbean #poetrycommunity #poetry #bookprize #writingcommunity by @afutureancient

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5 months ago

We’re excited to be highlighting the work of poet and multidisciplinary artist, Sherese Francis (@afutureancient ) 💡 Sherese has been leading her poetry workshop series, “ReVer(b)sions Lab” with the Lewis Latimer House since 2021. Inspired by Latimer’s blue prints, patent drawings, poetry, and life story, her workshops explore poetic structures, art and science, afro-futurism, and social justice.

Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about upcoming workshops led by Sherese at the Lewis Latimer House!

#LewisLatimerHouse #LewisLatimer #Poetry #InterdisciplinaryArtist #NYCArtists taken in Lewis Latimer House by @afutureancient

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a year ago

Thank you to the team at @cara_the_org and @kennedyhollins for the invitation to perform another version of Oracle of Opacity for the Dear Mazie book launch! Learning about Amaza Lee Meredith’s life and work has felt so resonant. If you are free and like to join us on October 8 at 7pm, please rsvp at the link on my main page. by @afutureancient

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11 days ago

9/23 READING: The World in One Borough
Join us at @theworldsboroughbookshop on 9/23 at 7 PM to hear QUEENSBOUND poets sharing an exquisite corpse poem on the theme of “Resonance.” Each poet has written a 7-line poem (in honor of the 7 train) using only the last line of the previous poet as inspiration. We will reveal and read the whole poem at the event, as well as discuss QUEENSBOUND, the literary community in Queens, and how you can join us! Featuring QUEENSBOUND poets: @aminad1a @pichchendabao @m_a_dennis575 , @afutureancient @jaredharel @olivewitch @anandalima @marigoldtief Sahar Romani, and @kctrommer

The World’s Borough Bookshop – 34-06 73rd St, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 taken in Jackson Heights by @afutureancient

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a month ago

Two writer events I have coming up: on the 23rd along with fellow @_queensbound_ poets at the @theworldsboroughbookshop and on the 26th for @missroxscott zine launch for @meltingmetropolis at @kingmanormuseum! I hope to see some of you there! by @afutureancient

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a month ago

As I prepare for my Phillis’ Ocean performance for @ankhlave closing event for the exhibition Concurrent, curated by @princess_puffalump, on the 19th on Governors Island, I also want to share that the full performance for my Oracle of Opacity at the Dark Matters Symposium is now available on my Patreon (first link on linktree on my page) for $5. Head over there is you’d like to see it. by @afutureancient

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a month ago

Grateful to have two poems in these projects: Winter in America (Still, which is out now via @carbonationpress and Liberation Poetics: Caribbean Feminisms against Imperialism from @intersect.anu, launching October 1st. Thank you to the editors for including my work! by @afutureancient

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a month ago

Today is a partial lunar eclipse and full moon in Pisces. It is also a completion of a phase for me. The past couple of years have been filled with both a lot joy and grief/lessons. The last eclipse in Pisces a couple of years ago I wrote on my website that I had wanted to do a tribute to @mrvendryes and her African Diva project, but so much happened in my life that I didn’t get back to it till this year. On my Patreon, I have been listening to the albums of the singers and researching into the African masks in her project. It’s been such a comfort through these difficult times and what I needed to help process my grief. I haven’t finished going through her collection yet but I plan to continue and maybe even speculate what masks other singers would have had. Like what would Brandy’s mask be? Thank you Margaret. And if you’d like to read through the current posts, you can join my Patreon in the links on my page. It’s only a $1 to see them. by @afutureancient

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a month ago

The Next Rever(b)sions Lab is Upon Us:

Audre Lorde: Black Macro and Micro Cosmic Imaginations

Inspired by Alexis Pauline Gumbs' Survival Is a Promise, we will read excerpts from the biography and participants will receive prompts inspired by Lorde's Black Cosmic Imagination and philosophies about the natural world.

Register Using the Link In Our Bio.

Happy Writing ✌🏿❤️ by @afutureancient

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2 months ago

Today is my birthday. This week my dad came home from the hospital after surgery. This week I ended my governors island residency that I’ve had since May. This week I performed my poetry in the subway. Today I’m reflecting on one of the most difficult years of my life. Many see me put on a brave face for the world but this year tested me emotionally, mentally, physically, financially. There were many moments I wondered if I could keep going. There were many moments of tears and feelings of loneliness. I am here today with gratitude that I made it to another year, my parents are still here and the bright moments I was able to find in the midst of my struggles. I’m opening up to what this year has for me and to put into further practice what I’ve learned from the past year and my growth. Today I celebrate myself. by @afutureancient

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2 months ago

#Repost @whiteboxny
・・・
UNDERGROUND POETRY FOR UNSETTLED TIMES
A Monthly Poetry Series at WhiteBox Portable @ MTA

WhiteBox Portable @ MTA is pleased to invite to the next installment of Underground Poetry for Unsettled Times, an ongoing monthly poetry series conceived specifically for one of New York City’s most dynamic public spaces—the 42nd Street–8th Avenue transit hub.

Curated by Bruce Andrews and Paolo Javier, the series brings leading contemporary poets into direct dialogue with the rhythms and energy of the city, transforming a heavily trafficked subway corridor into a temporary forum for poetry, performance, and public exchange.

Poetry Reading
Tuesday, August 4, 6:00–7:30 PM

Featuring:
Serena Solin
Jerome Sala @jeromesala7838
Elaine Equi @elaineequi
Joey de Jesus @dejesussaves
Jenna Hamed @j7md
Sherese Francis @afutureancient

WhiteBox Portable @ MTA
42nd Street–8th Avenue Subway Station
Above the A, C, E Lines (Downtown Direction)

Presented as a sequence of readings designed for the unique acoustic and temporal conditions of the subway environment, Underground Poetry for Unsettled Times invites language to circulate alongside the daily movement of commuters, travelers, workers, and visitors. The series is the first of six monthly programs that will culminate in a published anthology documenting the project through poetry, images, and critical reflections.

We look forward to welcoming you. by @afutureancient

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2 months ago