Serena Dokuaa's Birthday Poetry Show

Let's take seriously Lucille Clifton's call to celebrate the "kind(s) of life" we have built, y'all! On my birthday I have no greater wish than to celebrate what poetry brings to the world through performing, experiencing the moving and incredible work of my fellow poets, and enjoying it all together! Doors open at 6:45, show starts at 7:15 💫
The night will feature poetry from:
Liz Chestang
Dr. Darius Phelps
Valeria Pedraza
Iman Carter
Trey Good
Stephanie Pacheco
andddd the bday girl: Serena Dokuaa 💫
I'm bringing it back to how I performed when I first moved to NYC --- wrote a special piece that represented and lived in that moment, and that I swore to never perform again. Come catch two pieces born just for this special evening 🤭
Bio's of the amazing performers below:
Liz Chestang is a dancer, actor, poet and fitness professional originally from Cleveland, Ohio. Liz has been a featured poet at The Fire This Time Festival, Dumbo House, Poetry In The Park, Gladys Bookshop, Bowery Poetry Club and Cave Canem. She hosts a bi-monthly event, Sweet Circuit, which highlights poets and musicians of color.
Valeria Pedraza is a queer Mexican poet from the Pacific Northwest. A McCormack Writing Center Workshop alum, she has received scholarships and fellowships from Abode Press, Brooklyn Poets, and Undocupoets. She loves synchronicities.
Dr. Darius Phelps is the author of My God’s Been Silent (Writ Large Press, 2026) and The Holy Ghost Lives In Her Laugh (Kith Books, 2026). Rooted in Black literary traditions and personal testimony, his work has been featured or is forthcoming in Frozen Sea, Diode,Tupelo Quarterly, Matter Monthly, Een Magazine, School Library Journal, and many more.
Iman Carter is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans poetry, photography, acting, and videography. Rooted in their identity as a Black, Queer, and Trans person in America, Iman explores themes of love, loss, resistance, and liberation. Iman has over a decade of experience in slam poetry, including being the Writers Den Grand Slam Champion and representing Richmond, VA at the Southern Fried Regional Poetry Festival. Iman just completed a cafe residency where they organized and hosted a series of Open Mics, beginning with a nationwide artist call to action, “Fall of Freedom”.
Trey Good is a poet, entrepreneur, and workers rights activist with a track record of organizing community members to achieve more, together. Trey is the founder of Brothas Express, a gathering space for Black men to divest from patriarchy and redefine manhood, together.
Stephanie Pacheco was the 2024-2025 National Youth Poet Laureate, and served as the 2023 NYC Youth Poet Laureate and the inaugural New York State Youth Poet Laureate. She was also a member of Urban Word’s 2022 Youth Slam Team. Hailing from The Bronx, she has been a leading organizer and strategist with several activist organizations including the Healing Centered Schools Task Force. Her advocacy and poetry have been highlighted by The New York Times, The Today Show, NPR, The Daily News, CBS, and other publications.
Serena Dokuaa is a poet and AI policy expert based in Brooklyn, from the Pacific Northwest. Her poetry can be found in the book Fake AI and in No, Dear Mag, where she guest edited the November 2024 issue “Artifice”. She is a HUMAN fellow and DISCO research network affiliate, both in support of her poetic work that presents a Black feminist critique of AI. She has performed her work at Gladys Books and Wine, Lake Forest College, as a featured lecturer in the Living Room Lectures Series, as an artist-in-residence at the Black Communication and Technology Lab, and other venues.