“I believe that the truth of any subject only comes when all sides of the story are put together.” — Alice Walker

In 2024 Women and Femmes find themselves at a unique juncture with newly legalized access to cannabis and safe, standardized cannabis products. Does weed open the doors of the mind or is it the same old ‘gateway’? Femmes and NB writers will share their experiences with marijuana, microdosing and other organic altered states. Readers include Pauline Kochanski, Kat Lipson, and Nikki Patin. Literary Curator: Jae Green.

Pauline Kochanski lives in the Chicago area is a multi-disciplinary artist, independent curator, writer, and teacher with a love of finding new words. Pauline is pleased to have published poems and exhibited art in juried and invitational shows internationally, nationally and in the Chicago area as well as having been a featured artist during the 2003 Chicago Artists Month. She received numerous awards and recognitions for her work from Best of Show, first place and honorable mentions to receiving Illinois Arts Council Grants. Pauline is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University.

Kat Lipson is an interdisciplinary artist based in West Bloomfield, MI. Before her a[rt]-ha moment (c. 2018), Kat received a Bachelors in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, and a Masters in Nonprofit Management from DePaul University. She worked in the nonprofit sector for 12 years before becoming a stay at home mom to her two incredible children. An absolute lover of the creative process, she feels incredibly honored for this opportunity to share her writing.

Nikki Patin holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine, with pieces published by WBEZ, Move to End Violence, the Chicago Reader, Torch Literary Arts, on Public Newsroom, courtesy of City Bureau, and in the anthology, Carving Out Rights from the Prison Industrial Complex. She is the founder of Surviving the Mic, a survivor-led collective that curates performances and workshops for writers and performers who are also survivors of sexual harm. Patin’s debut memoir, Working on Me, is forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press in April 2024. In addition to Patin’s written and performance work, Patin is also a visual artist. In 2019, Patin was the recipient of the Jackman Goldwasser Residency at Hyde Park Arts Center, where she began developing an ongoing practice of healing, visual meditations, entitled 10,000 Labyrinths.

Image info: RHINO POETRY & Woman Made Gallery Present “Without Borders: The Laughing Place.”

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Tags: Chicago, Jae Green, Kat Lipson, Lower West Side, Nikki Patin, Pauline Kochanski, Up Here: Women, Weed and Other Rogue Pharmacopoeia, Woman Made Gallery