Explore Creative Portland

Events

Tours

Arts & Culture List

Resources

Programs

About Us

headerPrimaryMenu

Venues

Organizations

Creative Portland App

Donate

headerSecondary

Senior, t love smith, a non-binary poet and USM English major, presents Transgender Ecologies and Poetics on Wednesday, March 20th , 2024, from 5-7pm on the 7th Floor of the Glickman Library (USM). This event is free, open to the public and food will be provided.

The presentation is a culmination of an independent study through the Undergraduate
Research Opportunities Program at the University of Southern Maine which began in fall of
2023.

An objective of the project was to learn, record and share glimpses of the history and ecology of
transgender poetry. The study zooms in on two late transgender icons; Anderson Bigode Herzer
of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Brandon Teena, of Lincoln, Nebraska to discuss the overlap and impact
of their collective histories, especially as they have influenced smith’s life and work.

Anderson Bigode Herzer was the first transgender poet to publish a memoir and book of poems
in Brazil in 1982; the same year he took his own life at the age of 20. His poetry will be shared
in both Portuguese and English.

Brandon Teena was a transgender man who was made famous for the hate crimes of his brutal
sexual assault and murder over the winter holidays in 1993. His story was made iconic by the
feature film, Boys Don’t Cry for which the actor who played him, Hilary Swank, won an Oscar.

The project points at the disproportionate statistics for the outcomes of transgender youth while
preserving the legacies of two young beautiful souls through poetry. smith shares their own
narrative through poetry and uses a multi-media presentation to demonstrate how the lives of
Herzer and Teena had an impact on smith’s own coming out story.

Music will be provided by WMPG and guest performances include poems by USM students, Liv
LV, Vincent Herrington and ninaka raine as well as a one-act performance by the hosts niece, 16
year old, South Portland High School student, Savannah Smith.


Image: Coralie St. Pierre

Transgender Ecologies and Poetics

UROP Fellow, t love smith Honors Transmasculine Legacies at USM

Location

Event Category

Address & Contact

Date

CONTACT US