Byrd: Poet.Performer.Teaching Artist

As individuals, if we are not able to perceive reality and what is happening around us we won’t be able to transform our communities. I didn’t get a chance to see my reflection in the stories told until I sought them out in college. These experiences carried over into my work, which reflects what’s been tainted and/or lost inside curriculums taught within the K-12 school system. I create spaces to explore history through an African-American lens while facilitating conversations about history, race, and privilege.

~Byrd

About Me

Heather ‘Byrd’ Roberts is a poet, performer, and a teaching artist who was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. She received her Bachelors in Special Studies in Performance Art from Cornell College and received a Masters in Organizational Leadership from St. Ambrose University. While completing her masters, she developed her professional career in diversity and inclusion which led her back to her alma mater where she worked as the Assistant Director, and then later, Interim Director of the Office of Intercultural Life.

While working a Cornell College, Byrd also dedicated her time to coaching a college poetry slam team that competed and placed in the college division of Louder Than A Bomb. Keeping with her eclectic professional experience theme Byrd has facilitated workshops with youth ranging from ages 12-25 in spoken word and/or diversity and inclusion throughout the state of Iowa. Prior performances include:

directing and starring in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf in 2009 and again in 2014
starring as the Tin(wo)man in The Wiz in 2010 in Davenport, IA
Poetic Forum Collective's reoccurring shows at Stage 773 from April 2015 until December 2016
The 2016 Chicago Home Theatre Festival
The University of Iowa Presents: Celebrating Cultural Diversity Festival in 2013
Whisper and Shout in 2013 in Peoria, IL in June 2012
The African American Women’s Leadership Conference in Cedar Rapids, IA in 2012 and 2013
along with many more.

Byrd returned to Chicago in 2014 and completed the Spoken Word Pedagogy Certificate program at Concordia University in 2015 and is currently the Programs Manager at Young Chicago Authors, Home of Louder Than A Bomb. Byrd has recently released her first chapbook, Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black . Mahogany is her love letter to the imperfections while exploring what it means to love and be loved by black in its multiple forms. Byrd’s current projects include touring with her new show, HERstory of HIStory, which is aligned with her chapbook and her 45-minute poetry reading, inHERitance.

Kinetic Theory feature in September 2016 at Refuge Live

Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black

I've read chap books before, but I was never touched as much as I was by "Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black." The poems are beautiful, raw, and powerful, speaking of the plights the author has had to endure, and her incredible strength. It's a journey I felt honored and humbled to read.
~Erin Casey, Editor~

Byrd's first chapbook is her love letter to the imperfections while exploring what it means to love and be loved by black in its multiple forms.
Buy Now on Amazon

HERStory of HIStory

Heather Byrd's latest entry into the lexicon of performance art is a Tour de Force of longing, heartache, hope, love of family and the joys of life done to a melodically scripted narrative that will leave you breathless and wanting more. HERstory of HIStory is a cathartic statement of the ephemeral nature of relationships, human connections, and safety done in a remarkable prosaic style that will leave the mind reeling and slightly envious of the creation. A must see/hear for all lovers of art.
~ Eric G., Teacher

Byrd's show, HERstory of HIStory is aligned with Byrd’s chapbook, Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black. The show is an exploration of the past, the present, and confessions of Adam and Eve after their footprints disappeared from the garden. We are what they made us. This is what happens when breath meets heart unabashedly.

inHERitance

"Heather Byrd is a literary force to be reckoned with."
~Andersonville Lit Crawl 2016

Byrd's Calendar

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