SYNAPSE BIOS
Annie Hex, Jen May and bert leveille
She opened the Hex Poetry Apothecary in an effort to get what she calls her poetry experiences into the hands of those who need them most. Each experience focuses on crafting the environment in which you experience poetry whether her books come smelling of lavender or if poems come tied to roses or in potion bottles.
For poetry experiences, every detail matters & setting is everything. The goal of her apothecary is to share her magic and she believes it always makes it to exactly who needs it the most.
Annie believes in surprising people with poetry. Last year, she went on her kickstarter funded Tour of Joy where she gifted over 300 love poems tied to roses to strangers throughout the country.
She wears her words and politics loudly and encourages you to do the same. She believes poetry shouldn't sugarcoat anything and that truth should be the one thing that brings us together in this mess.
find her apothecary on the gram: @hexpoetryapothecary or at www.hexpoetryapothecary.com
and check her out on bandcamp: https://anniehex.bandcamp.com
Jen May is a poet warrior. She's a domestic violence survivor of the gun in the closet. She's a former police officer, who refused to write tickets. She's a champion mom, raising activist children. Jen May is a force and her poetry pulls no punches. Her motto is,"Be scared and do it anyway."
Jen May is a founding member of Open Sky Poets and is always up for shenanigans with the Atrocious Poets of Woodstock, IL. She has been published in the Journal of Modern Poetry 19: Poems of Protest, and in the online literary magazine Persephone's Daughters. Her most recent book, Battle Cry, will make you pause to catch your breath between poems. May collaborates with local poet Annie Hex to curate their zine Lonely Middle Finger. You can also find her co-hosting virtual workshops with fellow poet Eric Bodewell and the Drink and Draft Poetry Roadshow.
Look for her next work, Midnight Birdsong, coming soon.
Instagram: @jenmaypoems on instagram
Her large-scale artwork; collaborations with musicians and performers; dancers playing with her 3-D figures and dancing thru her 15-foot art tunnel; color changing LED lighting; animation and video — all contribute to the illusion of movement; enhancing the installation experiences, and encouraging viewers to immerse themselves in consciousness; become part of the art; enter this other world.
LEVEILLE has exhibited extensively in the Chicago area and nationally. She uses her Starline studio as an incubation, exhibition, installation, experimentation studio that is a “must see” during Starline 4th Fridays Open Studios. LEVEILLE plays an active role in exhibition development for E* (formerly E-artgroup) and Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art. She is the principal designer for both organizations and a board member for CWCA.