Sharing works that delight, provoke, inspire and rouse, the Poetic Tuesdays series turns lunchtime into an oasis of creative expression. Lighting up Jessie Square with a fabulously curated line-up of poets and musicians, Poetic Tuesdays offer a vivifying midday breather for neighborhood groups, students, office workers on break and out-of-towners looking for respite from The City’s hustle and bustle.

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Participating Artists

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Menat * is from fourteen centuries of plump / mad women. They lived by the sea and drank sugar cane. From the small island of Port Fouad (Egypt), Menat went to study English literature with a concentration in Africana literature and poetry at the University of California, Berkeley. She was a 2020 Poetry Fellow at the Arts Research Center in Berkeley, CA. She writes and photographs. Her practice devotes to the sensory experiences from living every day the best she can. */min·ôt/

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Maurissa Brown (she/her) is a neurodivergent poet, artist and environmental justice advocate. She was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles but is currently based in Oakland where she actively works to shift decision-making power to communities that are low-income and historically redlined across California, while protecting these very folks from the devastating impacts of climate change. She explores art and writing as a tool of resistance, catalyst for change, and a practice for healing from systems designed for violence. Maurissa’s writing has been published in About Place Journal’s issue Shaping Destiny: Election Season, Before, During and After; her poem a call from destiny beats a rhythm of deep hope and movement. Maurissa earned a B.S. in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, with a minor in Theater from University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently working on publishing her debut poetry collection.

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Charles Orgbon III grew up Black and queer in the South, learning to navigate complex landscapes of identity through writing—transforming pain into power, silence into song. As a children’s writer, he’s crafted stories for Marvel, where he produced content for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse, which featured Miles Morales. He recently turned to the movie production Mufasa: The Lion King, where he collaborated with the film studio to create an eponymous novel for middle-grade readers, bringing more pride to Pride Rock. His essays, historical narratives, and journalism reporting have found homes everywhere from HuffPost to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In these works, he explores queer identity with the same fearlessness he brings to his music as a country folk musician and climate activism as a corporate sustainability and DEI consultant and non-profit board member. He holds a B.S. from the University of Georgia and a M.A. from Johns Hopkins University. He’s fluent in Spanish, Will & Grace, and Critical Race Theory. Originally from South Carolina, he now lives in Oakland, surrounded by lots of banned books and not enough sweet tea. Follow his writing journey on Instagram @charlesorgbon.

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Bean Tupou (they/them) is a queer, mixed-race Tongan-American musician, writer and community organizer born and raised in the Bay Area. They are the voice behind Try the Pie, a long-running indie/punk project rooted in harmony, memory, and self-determination. Bean’s music and writing explore themes of identity, belonging, trauma and intergenerational healing, deeply influenced by their Tongan heritage and the DIY scenes that shaped them. In addition to their creative work, they serve as Senior Operations Manager at Chapter 510, a youth writing organization in Oakland, are the co-founder of Storyland Collective, a community events program in Oakland, and have contributed in the past to She Shreds Magazine, amplifying QTBIPOC voices in music. Their most recent album, A Widening Burst of Forever (2022), is out now on Get Better Records.

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Cael Dueñas-Lara, is a ninth-grader and second-generation Mexican-American, born, raised and currently residing in the vibrant and diverse community of East Oakland. Cael, a 2024 and 2025 OYPL Finalist, feels that writing has allowed him to strengthen his voice and take back preconceived ideas of himself and others who may share parts of his identity. He strives to educate and inspire both his elders and peers through writing and to debunk the dominant narrative of black and brown young men living in Oakland whose narrative has often been set forth by societal perceptions. It is his goal to move the societal conversation to what the experiences of young males of color who have been damaged by marginalization, racial profiling, and over-surveillance look like, as well as inspiring them to break free from this system.

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Curated by Nia Pearl, an award-winning poet, writer, and environmental justice advocate working at the intersection of art, activism, and public engagement. She is an established host and event curator passionate about creating participatory spaces for creative expression and literary dialogue. Nia’s writing has been published in Radicle magazine, Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, The Town: An Anthology of Oakland Poets and Painting the Streets: Oakland Uprising in the Time of Rebellion. She is one of the recipients of the 2023 Nomadic Press/San Francisco Foundation Literary Awards.

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Presented in partnership with:

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