Obsidian’s Griots, Oracles & DJs: Ancestral Rhythms & Diasporic Storytelling
Thursday, March 18, 2027, 3:20 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. CT
This craft panel showcases Black innovators’ storytelling—Chicago-style. Highlighting various delivery systems and strategies for collaboration, composition, and presentation, this panel discusses the generative mix of genre, media, and discipline that can ground, expand, and amplify literary work. Visioning sites of creation and connection—from page to stage, lecture hall to jook joint, opera house to art gallery, bookfair to concert hall—creatives share ways to deepen the impact of the work.
Panelist Bios:
Inaugural Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young is a poet, composer, performer, and teaching artist whose work is rooted in Black oral traditions, music, and the rhythms of Chicago’s South Side. These roots are evident in young’s opera safronia, where as the librettist he uplifts Black voices through music, memory, and performance. Blending poetry, sound, and improvisation in all his work, young expands literary performance through collaborations across theater, jazz, and experimental music while honoring the living legacy of storytelling.
Photo Credit: Sulyiman Stokes
Chicago poet, singer-songwriter, performing artist, and cultural organizer Jamila Woods creates work that bridges poetry, music, and performance while celebrating Black life, memory, and community. An award-winning poet and acclaimed recording artist, Woods has championed the power of storytelling to build community. Her work explores ancestry, identity, and liberation across page and stage.
Chicago-born poet, composer, performer, and RootWoman Karma Mayet Johnson creates work at the intersection of poetry, theater, music, and healing arts. A composer and librettist of the blues opera Indigo, she draws on Black ancestral traditions, ritual, and community practice to craft performances that honor memory, resilience, and the liberatory power of diasporic storytelling. Karma Mayet consistently links her creative practice with community building and advocacy, specifically with a focus on intercultural bridge building between Native and Black communities.
Chicagoan Duriel E. Harris is a poet, sound artist, and scholar with an extensive genre crossing/expanding practice. Works include three poetry volumes, digital audio poetry, film and conceptual art collaboration, and solo theatrical performance. Harris is the recipient of the 2023 AWP Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature and the 2024 Stephen E. Henderson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry from the African American Literature and Culture Society, and the editor of Obsidian.
Photo Credit: Dawn M. Joseph