Jasmine Games

I am a Black and queer spoken word poet and theatre practitioner based in Austin, TX. As a theatre maker, I use drama-based pedagogy, creative writing, and devised performance to discuss social (in)justices with participants of all ages in-person and online. I serve as the Director of Education and Social Justice Activation at The VORTEX. I slam poetry, and my first full-length collection of poetry, Somebody's Daughter, is available for preorder online.

 

Recently, I produced, directed, and co-facilitated a ten week spoken word action-residency for high school youth, Courageous Cadence, which was celebrated with a final performance of shared poetry on race and gender (in)justices. Some of my other programming includes a Social Justice Activation training series on race, gender, disability, and so much more.

 

I am the winner of the 2021 Sexton Prize for Poetry, awarded by The Black Spring Press Group, and I am the 2021 Winifred Ward Scholar, awarded by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. I am the 2020 co-winner of the Texas Education Theatre Association's Founders' Scholarship for Graduate Theatre Students. I was a Provost fellow. I was a poet in residence at the Black Box Writer Residency twice, where I initially published "Double Dutch" and earlier versions of "Views from Wash Day" and "Winter Funeral," entitled “Over” and "Dead of Winter."

 

I hold a BA in English and Performance Studies from Texas A&M University (2018). I have an MFA in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities at The University of Texas at Austin (2022). Wielding my words, I am fiercely committed to complete and total justice for people who are marginalized in our society, especially youth of color.