2023 Keynote Speaker
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Dr. Autumn Asher BlackDeer is a queer anti-colonial scholar-activist from the Southern Cheyenne Nation and serves as an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. Her scholarship illuminates the impact of structural violence on American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Dr. BlackDeer centers Indigenous voices throughout her research by using quantitative approaches and big data as tools for responsible storytelling. Dr. BlackDeer is a racial equity scholar with an emphasis on Indigenous tribal sovereignty and is deeply committed to furthering anti-colonial abolitionist work.
Check out Dr. BlackDeer's work
2022 Keynote Speaker
Suzi Q. Smith is an award-winning artist, organizer, and educator who lives in Denver, Colorado. She has created, curated, coached, and taught in Denver for over 20 years, managing the largest poetry festivals that Denver has seen to date. The author of poetry collections Poems for the End of the World, A Gospel of Bones, and Thirteen Descansos, Suzi is also a singer-songwriter, playwright, and multi-disciplinary creative.
She has curated exhibits with Denver Art Museum, been featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art, and has served as the Poet in Residence at Crystal Bridges Museum. Her single 'Moments', in collaboration with Psy'Aviah, received International attention after being a finalist in the BBC's 'Next Big Thing' contest and she co-wrote and is featured on Flobots’ 2017 single, Sleeping Giant. She was also a member Lady Wu-Tang Clan, sharing stages with Raekwon and Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan. She co-wrote the dramatic production How I Got Over: Journeys in Verse, the first and only production at the Denver Center written, performed, and directed by Black women. She also co-wrote and directed Where We Are From: Freedom is a Constant Struggle, produced by 5280 Coop.
As an organizer, Suzi has worked with arts and cultural organizations for over 25 years, in Denver and around the U.S. Her commitment to intersectional racial justice, creating safe(r) spaces for all marginalized peoples, and creating communities of care as well as policies and practices for transformative justice and equity are all key initiatives. As an educator, she has worked extensively with youth, serving as a Teaching Artist with Youth On Record, and as a coach of Denver Minor Disturbance Youth Poetry Slam, resulting in two international championships. Currently, she is Affiliate Faculty with Regis University’s Mile High MFA, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, and DU’s Prison Arts Initiative, as well as the Conference Director for The Word. She also serves as a community representative on the Denver County Cultural Council.
Check out Suzi's work
"Smith’s debut collection, A Gospel of Bones, is an exploration of internal dialogue and survival guide as the poet examines and contends with the politics of biracial black womanhood, love, sex, single motherhood, family, violence, poverty, and most of all, prayer.
"Smith’s debut collection, A Gospel of Bones, is an exploration of internal dialogue and survival guide as the poet examines and contends with the politics of biracial black womanhood, love, sex, single motherhood, family, violence, poverty, and most of all, prayer.
A richly engaging collection, Poems for the End of the World explores climate change, heartbreak, a pandemic, grief, race, and growth all woven together.
A richly engaging collection, Poems for the End of the World explores climate change, heartbreak, a pandemic, grief, race, and growth all woven together.
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