AUTHOR
Heather ‘Byrd’ Roberts
HERstoy of HIStory by Heather 'Byrd' Roberts & Greg Geffrard Winner of the 2020 St. Lou Fringe Fringemeister Award
is an award-winning Chicago-based poet, performer, teaching artist, and author. Her first chapbook, 'Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black' was published in 2016, and her work focuses on the intersectionality between form and freedom. She uses her experiences as a black woman in a variety of spaces to shed light on issues of privilege, love, and familial relationships. Her work unlocks the opportunity for invisible voices to be heard and she is dedicated to inspire and transform lives through creativity. Byrd's work has appeared in CAGIBI’s journal and Sixfold. Her favorite words are balloon and bubble.
Her poems focus on the intersectionality between form and freedom - being black and a woman. It speaks to descendants of the Maafa, anyone who has ever been labeled other or only in spaces that did not acknowledge their existence. For the invisible, the unsure, for the body needing to be affirmed. They are the necessary clap backs, the snorted laughs with Mama, the crumbled by loss, and the will to forgive and forget it all.
She writes to encourage conversation around what it means to live in a black body; how her existence is multi-dimensional. To demonstrate how important it is for her reflection to be the main character without apologizing. Byrd writes to unlocks the opportunity for invisible voices to be heard, to make stories accessible through imagery and rhythm. She writes to expose my reflection and to illuminate all of the nuances left in the background.
Byrd’s poems are in the lineage of Lucille Clifton, Ntozake Shange, India Arie, and Gwendolyn Brooks. They span from childhood epiphanies to unexpected lessons and celebrations and uses her experiences to shed light on issues of privilege, love, and familial relationships. Each story tastes like ripe mangoes, cayenne pepper, or an eclectic combination of the two. For more information about Byrd, visit www.byrdsworld.com.
