Young Chicago Authors: Bomb Squad – A Tale of Today Spoken Word Performance

Friday, August 2 , 2019

Young Chicago Authors’ Louder Than a Bomb Squad will perform their creative responses to the themes and subjects explored in A Tale of Today: Yinka Shonibare CBE. A DJ will set the tone for the evening and refreshments will be served.

Hosted by Semira Truth Garrett, who is the author of 2017 chapbook “The Bare Backside”, former host of the nationally syndicated hip hop podcast “Underground Feedback Stereo” and member of the New York based music collective “FREETHE”. A former member of the Bomb Squad, she has performed at Common’s 2016 AAHH Fest, won YCA’s MC Olympics, and is a recipient of the 2018 Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Rising Star Award.

Ahead of the evening’s performances, the Bomb Squad will tour A Tale of Today: Yinka Shonibare CBE and conduct ekphrastic writing workshops with lead teaching artist, Jamila Woods.


Louder Than a Bomb Squad is a six-week summer apprenticeship with Young Chicago Authors for twelve young poets. Over the course of the program, poets work on their craft and are initiated into the life of a working artist. They take field trips through Chicago’s rich cultural landscape, meet with professional local artists, and participate in Young Chicago Author’s Write To The City summer camp, all under the guidance of mentors from YCA’s artistic team.