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Education

Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, Howard University, Washington, D.C.



Fellowships & Awards

2021 ONE Archives Foundation, Changemaker, Pride Publics: Words and Actions


2020 Certificate of Congressional Recognition, U.S. House of Representatives


2017 Avest Award for Literary Arts, The Women’s Building


2007 Certificate of Recognition, City of Los Angeles


2007 Poet Laureate, Watts Towers Arts Center


2003 Cave Canem Foundation Fellowship (2003, 1999, 1997)


1997 Jenny McKean Moore Workshop Fellowship, George Washington University


1997 Lannan Literary Fellowship, Folger Shakespeare Library (1997, 1996, 1995, 1994)


1994 John J. Wright Literary Award, Howard University



Professional Experience

2022 Featured Artist & Poet, Queer Diasporas: Lavender City of Dreams, a Virtual and Live Exhibition, City of West Hollywood


2022 Featured Artist, Spectrum: Spring Fantasy


2021 Featured Poet & Speaker, WE RISE 2021: Love Letters in Light, Short Film Documentary, Electric Park Films


2021 Featured Poet, Love Letters in Light, Public Art Project, LA County Library, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and WE RISE


2021 Facilitator, Poetry & Visual Art Workshop, Virtual Poetry and Creative Arts Festival West Chester University


2021 Facilitator, Poetry & Visual Art Workshop, International Women’s Writing Guild


2021 Facilitator, Poetry Workshop, Elysian Valley Art Collective


2020-2007 Supervisor, Cultural & Fine Arts Division, Community Services
Department City of Buena Park Civic & Youth Theater, Concerts, Festivals,
Large-Scale Special Events, Visual Art Exhibitions, Leisure Classes,

Cultural Excursions


2016 Panelist, I Come to Witness: Writers as the Children of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin, Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference


2014 Keynote Speaker, Voice Music For Whole Living: Peter J. Harris & Imani Tolliver, Annual Multicultural Conference, Metropolitan State Hospital


2013 Keynote Speaker, Poetry is Not a Luxury: Exploring the Healing Nature of the Written Word, Annual Multicultural Conference, Metropolitan State Hospital


2011 Keynote Speaker, LGBTQ+ Pride Graduation Ceremony, California State
University, Long Beach


2010-2008 Facilitator & Co-Founder, Poetry Workshop, ArtPod, Artists Relating to the Politics of Dreams: A Queer Normative Collective for Artists Dedicated to Social Justice with D’Lo and Imani Tolliver, Southern California Library


2009 Facilitator, Poetry Workshop, Department of Women's Studies California State University, Long Beach (2009, 2007, 2006, 2005)


2008 Panelist, Queer Text(ures): Reading and Writing LGBTQ+ Community History, Department of Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles


2008 Panelist, Leimert Park Village Book Fair, The World Stage


2007 Guest Speaker, Images in Blackness, Bunche Library and Media Center, University of California, Los Angeles


2007 Facilitator, Poetry Workshop, Poetry at The Village, Ed Gould Plaza LA Gay and Lesbian Center


2007-2005 Director of Student Services, American Musical and Dramatic Academy


2005-2004 Director of Programming & Community Outreach, A Place Called Home


2004 Curator, Friday Nights at the Getty Presents: Pure, The Getty Center


2004-2002 Director, Independent Living Program, The Way In Youth Center, The Salvation Army


2003 Curator, Juneteenth Hip-Hop Poetry Slam: New School vs. Old School,

The World Stage


2002 Facilitator, Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center


2002 Curator, Poetry Reading Featuring Rachel Kann and Charlotte Young,

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center


2002 Curator, Poetry Reading Featuring Jennifer Bowens and Tracy Holton,

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center


2002 Curator, Poetry Reading Featuring Aida Salazar and Alicia Vogl Saenz,

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center


2002 Curator, Juneteenth Poetry Slam: Harlem Renaissance vs. Black Arts Movement, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center


2002-1999 Program Director, Weingart Youth Center, The Salvation Army


2001 Co-Curator, The World Beyond Poetry Festival, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center


2001-1999 Assistant Program Director & Academic Director, South Central Youth Project, The Salvation Army


2000 Editor, Stories: The Life of Ellen Cook, Autry Museum of the American West


1999-1997 Language Arts Teacher, Marcus Garvey School


1997 Facilitator, Storytelling Workshop, Bringing African Storytelling to the Classroom, District of Columbia Public Schools


1997-1996 Co-Coordinator, Tellin’ Stories Project


1996 Editor, Women, Words and Other Wonders: Writings from The Dinner Program for Homeless Women, WritersCorps/AmeriCorps National Service (1996-1995)


1996 Editor, The Office of the President, William Jefferson Clinton


1996 Facilitator, Poetry Workshop, African American Poetry Lecture Series, Higher Achievement Program (1996, 1995)


1996-1994 Instructor, Creative Writing, WritersCorps/AmeriCorps National Service


1995 Editor, Janus Literary Journal, Howard University



Publications

2022 Nonwhite and Woman, Woodhall Press, forthcoming


2022 African American Heritage Month Calendar & Cultural Guide, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019)


2022 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Heritage Month Calendar & Cultural Guide, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017)


2022 The Library Love Letter: Letters One


2022 Scenes of Southern California Vol. 2: Poetry of Places, Four Feathers Press


2021 SKEW 3: Black Abundance, A Celebration of Blackness as an Extravaganza of/in Black Beings, Expressions and Revolutions


2021 LACMA Unframed, I See Myself In You, Personal Essay and Self-Portrait Tutorial Inspired by the Black American Portraits Exhibition


2021 Beneath the Soil: Queer Survivor's e-Zine, Time to Tell Project


2020 Public Intellectuals


2017 Author, Runaway: A Memoir in Verse, World Stage Press


2017 Voices From Leimert Park: Redux, Harriet Tubman Press


2017 Cultural Daily


2015 Corners of the Mouth: A Celebration of Thirty Years at the Annual San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival, Deer Tree Press


2011 Don’t Blame the Ugly Mug, Moon Tide Press


2009 Van Gogh’s Ear #7: The Supernatural Edition


2007 HIS RIB: Poems, Stories & Essays by Her


2006 Voices from Leimert Park: A Poetry Anthology


2006 Poetry Super Highway, 8th Annual Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day


2006 Hand Tooth Nail


2005 Get Underground


2004 All About Jazz


2004 Poetic Diversity


2003 My Man: Love Poems Chapbook


2002 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly Vol. 17


2002 Beyond the Frontier, Black Classics Press


2001 Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, Russell Simmons Productions


2000 Step into a World: A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature,
Wiley and Sons


2000 Drum Voices Review, Eugene Redmond


1999 Cave Canem VIII, Cave Canem Publishing


1999 Black Love, Beyond Baroque Books


1998 Jones Juke Joint Magic, Jones Juke Joint Still Press


1997 Cave Canem II, Cave Canem Publishing


1997 The Drumming Between Us, Peter J. Harris Publications


1996 Poets Mama Didn't Raise, Smirna Press


1995 Artistic Pedigree Magazine


1994 The Flow: New Black Poetry in Motion, ECA Associates Press



Interviews

2021 ONE Archives, Pride Publics: Summer is an Elegy with traci kato-kiriyama


2021 Spectrum News 1, Love Letters in Light Hopes to Bring Angelenos Together Through Poetry By David Mendez


2020 Ukulele Magazine, The Story of Lift Every Voice and Sing and its Lasting Impact By Heidi Swedberg


2020 Voyage LA, Meet Imani Tolliver


2017 Los Angeles Review of Books Podcast, A Conversation with Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn & Imani Tolliver


2017 Los Angeles Review of Books, I Didn’t Live a Manageable Life By Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn


2013 Her Kind, A Literary Community Powered By Vida, Women in Literary Arts, Hair as Storyteller and Reimaginator: A Conversation with Imani Tolliver and Beth Gilstrap


2008 Nigerian Times, The African American Writer with a Difference

By Sumaila Umaisha


2005 KPFK 90.7, The Beautiful Struggle


2003 KPFK 90.7, Beneath the Surface


2003 KPFK 90.7, The Morning Show


2002 National Black Arts Festival


2000 Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, Po Ho One: The Poetry Hosting Conclave


1997 Howard University, D.C. Area Writing Project: An Institute for Master Teachers


1995 National Public Radio, Talk of the Nation, WritersCorps/AmeriCorps National Service


1995 WPFW FM, The Poet and the Poem, WritersCorps/AmeriCorps National Service


1995 The Washington Home of Stewart Mott, Kitchen Table Press, The Importance of a Women of Color Press



Skills

Management

Local Government Management

Community Outreach

Partnership Development

Public Policy

Risk Management

Facility Management

Non-Profit Management

Volunteer Management

Training


Event Production

Civic Theater

Youth Theater

Special Events

Concerts in the Park

Art & Holiday Festivals

Municipality Christmas Tree Lighting

Visual Art Exhibitions

Cultural Excursions


Marketing | Promotion

Digital & Print Media

Social Media

Video Content

Analytics

Branding

Layout & Design

Press Releases

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Workshop Facilitation

Poetry & Creative Writing

Visual Arts

Storytelling


Writing | Editing

Creative Writing

Web Content

Copywriting

Copyediting

Proposals & Presentations

Grant Writing & Reporting


Public Speaking

Film, Television & Radio

Keynote Speaker

Panelist

Emcee

Wedding Officiant


Computer | Web

Apple & PC

Microsoft Office Suite

Google Suite

Website Building & Design

Canva

Mailchimp

Zoom