About Les
Les James is an emerging writer and artist whose work explores the interplay of poetry, prayer, philosophy, and protest in the interweaving of themes inspired by nature, science, and social justice. This work is deeply informed by her experiences as a Black woman; artistic, contemplative, and activist practices centering blackness as an expression of the divine; as well as her academic studies in biology, learning sciences, organizational psychology, and social transformation.
Les has had her writing curated in various anthologies and online publications, including The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry; The Center for Humans and Nature: Stories & Ideas; Michigan Quarterly Review; among others. Her visual art has been curated in EcoTheo Review, Geez, Edge Effects, Syracuse Cultural Workers’ Peace Calendar 2024, and elsewhere.
A 2023 Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholar, Les has also received support from the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, Collegeville Institute, Peter Bullough Foundation, Foundation House, and Kenyon Institute.
Originally from the lands of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations (Chicago metro), Les identifies as a Black, sci-fi fantasy loving, cis-gender female person of the global majority who enjoys extended walks, expansive conversations, and extra spicy food.
Published Work
Creative Writing & Poetry
Forthcoming
"Here be dragons" | Writing the Land: Virginia anthology. NatureCulture LLC
“Nature being” | When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine, Black Freighter Press
“Home is where the heart is” | When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine, Black Freighter Press
“Maybe Mother Earth is an angry Black woman too” | When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine, Black Freighter Press
2024
"Who am I?" | Locating a Collective Lyric I, The Hopkins Review
2023
“Odd sympathy” | 1619 Speaks, Sims Library of Poetry
"A universe within" | Stories & Ideas, The Center for Humans and Nature
2022
“American dreams / Wake-up call” | Fractured Union: American Democracy on the Brink (Special Issue), Michigan Quarterly Review Online, University of Michigan
“The struggle is real” | Consilience, Issue 8: Entropy
"Dark natured" | BLUU Notes An Anthology of Love, Justice, and Liberation, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalists, Skinner House Books
2021
“Why Black women write horror stories” | The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, & Superhero Poetry anthology, Blair
"Why Black women write horror stories" | The Black Liberation Blueprint, Blackroots Alliance
“On purity and truth: A reflection on the Robert E. Lee Monument (1890-?)” | 2020 Visions: Imagining (Post-) COVID Worlds Series; Edge Effects; Center for Culture, History, and Environment; University of Wisconsin-Madison
2020
“Mother prayer” | Issue 001: Black, Gumbo Magazine, Gumbo Media
Artwork and Photography
2023
"Protest Shrine" | 2024 Peace Calendar, Syracuse Cultural Workers
2022
“Locked In, Locked Out, Interlocked” (photo collage) | EcoTheo Review, EcoTheo Collective
“Intersecting” (chalk pastels, digitally modified) | 2023 Art Calendar, Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center
"Snails in Scotland" (photography) | Issue 65: Sex, Geez magazine
"Feelings" (photography and digital collage) | Issue 65: Sex, Geez magazine
2021
"On the James" (photography) | Take Me Away - Summer Fun and Vacations juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond
"On truth and purity" (photography) | 2020 Visions: Imagining (Post-) COVID Worlds Series; Edge Effects; Center for Culture, History, and Environment; University of Wisconsin-Madison
"Carried Away: Cedar Rapids, IA Summer 2008" 1 &2 (photography) | Best Depiction of Theme Award, Flood Awareness Week juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond
"LA Escape" (photography) | Juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond
2020
"Biloxi Shrine" 1 & 2 (photography) | Flood Awareness Week juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond
Awards & Fellowships
2023
About You, About Me Workshop, Collegeville Institute
Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholar, Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference
Artist Residency | Peter Bullough Foundation
2022
Artist Residency | Foundation House
1st Prize in the Humor for Serious Subjects category, Thinking Funny Humor Writing Contest
2021
Resident Artist - Storyteller | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute [virtual]
2020
Resident Artist - Storyteller | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute [virtual]
2019
Resident Artist - Storyteller | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
2017
Writing Spirit, Writing Faith Workshop, Collegeville Institute
Offered but Unable to Attend / Accept
2023
Oak Spring Garden Foundation Scholarship, Writing the Landscape
Creative Writing Residency, Visual Arts Center of Richmond
Professional Activities
2023
Organizer | Contemplative Co-working for Writers Retreat, Mountain Light Retreat
Artist Talk | Introduction to Creative Writing, St. Edward's University [virtual]
Reader | "A Voice, A Light: Protest Poetry Virtual Showcase," Kitchen Table Literary Arts and The Poetry Foundation
Artist Talk | Wild Goose Festival
Panelist | "The Future of Black: 21st Century Second-wave Afrofuturism," Poetry Society of Virginia
Artist Talk | Peter Bullough Foundation
Artist Talk | Blue Stone Writers [virtual]
2022
Panelist | "The Future of Black," American Writers Festival, American Writers Museum
2021
Panelist | "Just Work: A conversation on the progress we've made and what still remains to achieve Black liberation," Blackroots Alliance [virtual]
Presenter | "In our nature: A theopoetics of science project" poster, The Mind, the Human-Earth Connection, and the Climate Crisis, Summer Research Institute, Mind and Life Institute [virtual]
Presenter | “The AI Q&A: A design fiction look at different points of view” | Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language and Media, Northern Illinois University [virtual]
Reader | Storytellers' Showcase, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute [virtual]
2020
Contributor | "The dictionary as a work of fiction," What Kindled Your Interest in Minds? Many Minds Podcast, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
Presenter | “Levels of mind as levels of matter” poster, Cultivating Prosocial Development Across the Lifespan: Context, Relationships, and Contemplative Practices, Summer Research Institute, Mind and Life Institute [virtual]
Reader | Storytellers' Showcase, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
2019
Presenter | “Body, heart, mind & spirit: Emergent images for inspirational & intuitive practices” session, Mystic Soul Conference: Radical Wholeness, Mystic Soul Project
Presenter | “Embodying race as an emergent concept,” Embodiment and Race Conference, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Clemson University
Presenter | “Emergent levels: A framework for reimagining complex & cognitive systems,” Complexity in the Humanities and Sciences Conference, Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis
Reader | Storytellers' Showcase, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute
Education
Master of Arts in Individualized Studies, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT
Graduate coursework for Master of Arts in Social Transformation, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN
Master of Arts in Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Organizational Psychology Certificate, John F. Kennedy University, Pleasant Hill, CA
Bachelor of Science in Biology, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, VA