Andrea Jenkins Minneapolis Poet

Andrea Jenkins is a poet, writer and multimedia visual and performance artist, author of two chapbooks, “tributaries: poems celebrating black history” and “Pieces of A Scream”. In 2011 Andrea was named a Bush Fellow, and received the Many Voices Fellowship at the Playwrights’ Center and The Cultural Community Leadership Institute Fellowship through Intermedia Arts. Most recently she was published ...in the anthology Gender Outlaws II: The Next Generation. She has been a part of the local poetry community for several years, earning awards, fellowships and commissions during that time, including the 2002 Loft Literary Center Mentorship Series Award. She is a Senior Policy Aide to the 8th Ward City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden and serves on the boards of OutFront Minnesota, Forecast Public Art, and SMARTS. She has one beautiful daughter, Nia, and two equally beautiful granddaughters, Aniyah and Kennedy. Andrea co-curates Intermedia Arts' Queer Voices Reading Series with John Medeiros, one of the longest running LGBT reading series in the country. In 2010, Andrea was selected to be a Naked Stages Fellow, supported by the Jerome Foundation, to produce a one-woman show loosely based on her manuscript Black Pearl called “Body Parts, Reflections on Reflections” produce at Pillsbury House Theatre.

“Art serves many purposes; it can heal, educate, entertain, and challenge. Art is a tool for speaking out because it has the ability to transform people. I try to use my art to give agency and dignity to Transgender people and Black people all over the world.” Andrea Jenkins