Emji Saint Spero is a writer, performer, and pervert living in Los Angeles. They are curious about the potential of creative intimacies. Their practice a series of approaches: documentation, personal ephemera, and somatic ritual. Through movement and collaborative performance they seek to queer the familiar, mapping the boundaries of collective engagement.
projects + collaborations
Communicator Series | Los Angeles | 2024-present
Founder and Curator of monthly, language-curious queer and trans* performance series, in collaboration w/ Poetic Research Bureau.
UpMoon Station | Los Angeles | 2023-present
A projector for various audio activities, radio selections, and sonic clusterfuckery w/ jeremy kennedy.
curbAlert | Oakland / Los Angeles | 2017-2021
Co-curator of site-responsive performances, interactive events, and roving installations w/ J Shelley Harrison.
Timeless, Infinite Light | Oakland | 2014-2019
Co-founder and Creative Director at queer small press and performance art collective w/ Joel Gregory.
Material Print Machine | Oakland | 2014-2016
Co-founder, collective member, workshop facilitator and event programmer of artist-run printing and binding studio at Omni Commons.
Omni Commons | Oakland | 2013-2018
Co-founder, collective member, curator, and event programmer at collectively-run community space.
books
Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects (nonfiction) | The Museum of Trans Hirstory and Art (MOTHA) + Hirmer Publishers | 2024
Surveying over three centuries of trans life, this volume brings together a capacious selection of artworks, archival documents, publications, and artifacts. Co-edited by David Evans Frantz, Christina Linden, and Chris E. Vargas.
disgust (poetry) | Nomadic Press | 2021
Preface by Brontez Purnell.
We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan (nonfiction) | Nightboat Books + Timeless, Infinite Light | 2019
Developmental Editor. Collaborated with Eds. Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma to publish the diaries of gay trans man, historian, and AIDS activist, Lou Sullivan. Preface by Susan Stryker.
almost any shit will do (poetry) | Timeless, Infinite Light | 2014
Letterpress artist edition + Trade paperback
Multivocal audio recording read by Holiday Black, Joel Gregory, Crystal Sasaki, and emji saint spero.
chapbooks + artist books
A Place to Stay (poetry) | Los Angeles LGBT Center | 2023
Publication celebrating trans* brilliance and Trans Pride, created for A Place to Stay, a group exhibition of Los Angeles artists whose selected works focus on themes of respite and shelter. Curated by Pau S. Pescador.
folie à deux (à la table bleue) w/ jeremy kennedy (script) | Rebel Hands Press | 2021
Handbound artist book and chapbook, written and designed in the form of a deposition.
HOUSEWORK: Spero & Suemnicht (poetry) | Vox Populi | 2018
Split chapbook with Brett Erich Suemnicht, created for a performance and discussion at Vox Populi. Curated by Levi Bentley and Ted Rees.
Bad Fags (poetry) | Featherboard Writing Series, Aggregate Space Gallery | 2016
Written in response to Jamil Hellu’s exhibition All Ways Lead to the Mill during a residency at Aggregate Space Gallery.
Fire4Fire (poetry)
Split chapbook with Andrea Abi Karam, created as part of the Desert Lust Tour.
connection/exhaustion (poetry) | Timeless, Infinite Light | 2015
Split dos-à-dos chapbook with Joel Gregory, created as part of The Sleeping Together Tour. Letterpress-printed by the artists at Material Print Machine.
#BlockThe Boat (poetic essay) | The Port of Oakland | 2014
In solidarity with the Palestinian people, Bay Area activists blocked the Israeli ship Zim from unloading its cargo at the Port of Oakland, for four days in a row—the longest blockade of an Israeli ship in history. This chapbook features four poetic essays by Oakland-based writers: Jess Heaney, Judy Bals, Emji Saint Spero, and Nora Mck. Each piece interrogates a Block the Boat shift in which the writer participated.
nothing rooms (artist books) | 2012
Series of three sculptural poems housed in cigar boxes.
performance + installation
Skulls & Stairs | Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles | 2023
Performing Breath w/ Sophie Dupont and Jessica Dillon | Praxinoscope Summer Solstice Happening | Taller Alturas, Los Angeles | 2023
A Retching | Praxinoscope: Writing Performance | Stories Books, Los Angeles | 2023
Performance and artist-designed risograph-printed poster featuring work from A Retching, the third book in The Exhaustion Trilogy. Curated by Derek Denckla.
Every Day. Every Time. Happy Days. In the Life. (the exhibition before the sequel) | Backspace Gallery, Bloomington | 2023
Performance and collaborative visual artwork w/ jeremy kennedy as part of The Post-Elevator Tour: the (f) of July Edition)
SPILLOVER w/ Ryat Yezbick | Bendix Building, Los Angeles | 2022
Movement piece featuring collaborative writing on queer experiences of the pandemic.
The Post-Elevator Tour NxSW w/ jeremy kennedy | 2022
Verbatim Books, San Diego
Trans/Space is Expanding, Institute for LGBT Studies, Tucson
Device Grip, Splinter Collective, Tucson
No Name Cinema, Santa Fe
DISGUST: unhealthy practices | east window SOUTH, Boulder | 2022
Text-art installation, video-poem, and publication as part of international group exhibit on the theme of disgust, curated by Todd Edward Hermann.
The Post-Elevator Tour: Northeast Parts w/ jeremy kennedy | 2022
Riffraff Bookstore and Gallery, Providence
Black Lace, Providence
Looky Here, Greenfield
The But Also Reading Series, Northampton
10 Forward, Greenfield
The Post-Contemporary, Troy
“let’s get food” | Praxinoscope No.1 | Bar 1642, Los Angeles | 2022
Performance of “let’s get food,” from a glimpse into verbal disappointment / arithmetics was hard, a play written and performed w/ jeremy kennedy. Curated by Derek Denckla.
Herko: An Adaptation | Poetic Research Bureau | 2022
Movement piece / video poem is dedicated to Fred Herko, a queer choreographer, dancer, musician, actor.
Abba Zaba Open House #2 | Hotel Cortez, Las Vegas | 2021
Part of The Post-Elevator Tour w/ jeremy kennedy.
disgust NY Book Release | Club Wonder: Angel Numbers | Heaven or Las Vegas, Brooklyn | 2021
disgust LA Book Release | Poetic Research Bureau, Los Angeles | 2021
Curated event and performed work from disgust, alongside Pau S. Pescador, Paul Outlaw, and Alsea Diana
disgust SF Book Release | Alley Cat Books & Gallery | 2021
Curated event and performed work from disgust, alongside Ryanaustin Dennis, Dana Iwaniec, and Levi Maxwell, and PIANO RAIN.
disgust Oakland Book Release | Tribune Tower, Oakland | 2021
Curated event and performed work from disgust, alongisde Brontez Purnell, Leila Weefur, Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta, and WELIVEINPARADI$E.
“gumshots” w/ Joel Gregory | Intersection for the Arts, Oakland | 2021
“Smell Dating” | The Glass Room, San Francisco | 2020
Installation w/ Tega Brain and Tiare Ribeaux.
curbAlert presents The Honeymoon Tour w/ J Shelley Harrison | 2019
"The Proposal” | Bar 355, Oakland CA
”The Prenup” w/ Matthew Kellegrew, Esq. | Peppermill Casino, Reno NV
”The Fight” (cut piece) | Werkshop Wednesdays | Kremwerk, Seattle WA
Katya Presents LEVEL UP | Whiskey Bar, Portland WA
”Let’s Make-up” | The Stud, San Francisco CA
”Bachellorex Party” | The Fillmore, Oakland CA
”The Wedding” | The White Horse Inn, Berkeley CA
”The Honeymoon” | The Standard, Los Angeles CA
“I could tell you” | BAMPFA, Berkeley | 2018
Performance and artist talk
A Retching | HUSH-HUSH | 2727 California Street, Berkeley | 2019
“page 66” | Naming Gallery, Oakland | 2019
Performance at J Shelley Harrison’s installation, One Night Stand
“Already Dead” | The Poetry Project, New York | 2018
Spring Thing! | Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, New York | 2018
The Pain Store w/ Timeelss Infinite Light | Common Grounds Arts Festival, San Francisco | 2017
Hybrid pop-up bookstore, art installation, and event series activating public urban space in a parking lot in San Francisco.
Esoteric Therapy | MoMA PS1 + Knockdown Center, New York | 2016
Videos featured at Cold Open Verse, an installation with Blonde Art Books
Possession with Joel Gregory | LoBot Gallery, Oakland | 2016
Backyard Garden Reading Series, Brooklyn | 2016
Curated by Melissa Buzzeo
“Bad Fags” | Featherboard Writing Series | Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland | 2016
Fair Weather Reading Series | Casa Libre en la Solana, Tucson | 2015
We Were Bound to Do Something Stupid in Public (Attachment Can Be Problematic) w/ Judy Bals | YBCA, San Francisco | 2014
Manifest Reading Series | East Bay Poetry Summit | Tender Oracle, Oakland | 2014
Curated by Kate Beckwith, Brittany Billmeyer-Finn, and Francis Marie Lo
LitQuake Mixer 2.0 | Cat Club, San Francisco | 2014
Curated by Sean Labrador y Manzano, Nick Johnson, and Jeff Von Ward
This Body Public w/ Jess Marks Gale | Johannson Projects, Oakland | 2014
Installation featuring embroidered text-art pieces connected across the gallery with languid cotton thread, and book launch for almost any shit will do.
curatorial / events
Communicator Series | Poetic Research Bureau, Los Angeles | 2024
Founder and Curator of ongoing monthly, language-curious queer and trans* performance series.
Trans* Temporal Resistances | CounterPulse, San Francisco | 2024
Trans* Temporal Resistances | Tenderloin Museum, San Francisco | 2024
Co-curated performance series with artist Leila Weefur, inviting artists deconstruct trans* archives and architectures through textual and movement-based approaches. In collaboration with the TurkxTaylor Initiative.
un•rest | CounterPulse Festival, Oakland | 2021
A roving performance, a play in three parts written, directed, and produced by curbAlert (J Shelley Harrison + Emji Saint Spero).
CONTRAVERSE | CounterPulse, San Francisco | 2017
Curated event in which human interaction alters the visual and sonic landscape, featuring DROUGHT SPA, XUXA SANTAMARIA, and Rebecca Heikkila.
Sick Fest | Chapter 510, Oakland | 2016
Co-curated performances and talks on disability, queerness, and capitalism, with Johanna Hedva and Amy Berkowitz
SALTA is Timeless, Infinite Light | LoBot Gallery, Oakland | 2016
Co-curated hybrid-genre event comprised of durational interactive performances with SALTA Collective.
Open Press | Insert Blanc + Poetic Research Bureau, Los Angeles | 2015
Curated simultaneous performance event featuring Timeless, Infinite Light authors and collective members Angel Dominguez, Angel Dominguez, Ivy Johnson, JH Phrydas, Emji Saint Spero, and Emerson Whitney.
UpMoon Station | KCHUNG Radio | MOCA Geffen, Los Angeles | 2023
A terrestrial audio project w/ jeremy kennedy, performed live from the red trailer at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.
audio
publications
“What were you like after; what will you be like before” w/ Sammie Veeler | Praxinoscope no.4 : One of the Dozens | 2024
“California Gothic: A Final Girl” | Tyler Park Presents | 2023
Excerpt from Bad Fags | A Place to Stay | Advocate & Gochis Galleries, LA LGBT Center | 2023
Excerpt from disgust | DISGUST: unhealthy practices | east window SOUTH | 2022
“autocorrect is just another word for” | OUT!Spoken | 2022
“let’s get food” w/ jeremy kennedy | Praxinoscope no.1 : Months of the Year | 2022
“The Quotidian Is Electric and Alive: A Conversation by Angel Dominguez & Emji Saint Spero” | BOMB Magazine | 2022
“—Interrupted (A stain for Ana Mendieta)” | Vincent: A Journal of Art in Residence | Millay Arts | 2019
Radical Mycology Mixtape vol. 1 | Radical Mycology | 2017
“Freeeway Statement” | Armed Cell 12 | 2017
Excerpts from disgust and Exhaustion: A Retching” | ElevenEleven Issue 22 | 2017
“Day One (from disgust)” | ELDERLY 16: Sweet lil Sixteen | 2016
“Interview with Emji Spero, Joel Gregory, and Zoe Tuck” | Entropy Magazine | 2016
“Body and Violence: An Interview with Emji Saint Spero” | Jacket2 | 2015
PennSound Podcast 50: Gabriel Ojeda-Sague Interviews Emji Saint Spero | PennSound | 2015
“To Infinity and Beyond: Joel Gregory and Emji Spero of Timeless, Infinite Light in Conversation” | Open House | 2015
“Our Books are Spells for Unravelling Capitalism: An Interview with Timeless, Infinite Light” | Open House | 2015
“We Were Bound to Do Something Stupid in Public (Attachment Can Be Problematic)” w/ Judy Bals | Emergency INDEX vol. 4 | Ugly Duckling Press | 2014
“An Attempt at Getting Exhausted in Oscar Grant Plaza on Friday, October 20th, 2012. It Lasted an Hour, Give or Take.” | Tripwire 8 * CITIES | 2014
Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz | 2018 + 2019
ELEVATE Residency | SPT + Real Time & Space, Oakland | 2017
Featherboard Series | Aggregate Space Gallery, Oakland | 2016
Wolfman Books, Oakland | 2015
KALA Art Institute, Berkeley | 2014
residencies
talks + workshops
IDEOLOGY: A Trans* and Nonbinary Poetry Workshop Series | Millay Arts, Austerlitz, 2023
Curated a series of virtual poetry workshops featuring generative prompts and performances Millay Arts’ trans* and nonbinary Artists-in-Residence.
Experimental Confessionalism + The Fantasy of Authenticity | Looky Here, Greenfield | 2022
Collaborative poetry, bookbinding, and printmaking workshop exploring the performance of self as artistic practice, engaging personal ephemera to create deconstructed autobiographies as a kind of “self-on-self drag.” Collaboratively collaged to create a risograph-printed chapbook.
Visiting Lou Sullivan with Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma | BAMPFA, Berkeley | 2019
Experiential afternoon in celebration of queer ancestor Lou Sullivan. This program featured a discussion and readings from We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan.
“I could tell you” | BAMPFA, Berkeley | 2018
Performance and artist talk curated by MK Chavez
FUNGUS AMONG US | FRESH Festival | CounterPulse, San Francisco | 2015
A participatory discussion and workshop event with Abby Crain and Margit Galanter, comprised of mycromedial-based performance, word, and dance experiments.
“On Susan Sontag” | Under the Influence | Emerald Tablet, San Francisco | 2014
Artist talk and reading series hosted by Evan Karp and Lapo Guzzini
Panel Talk (transcript) | Summer Writing Program, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Boulder | 2013
grants + fellowships
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant | 2022
Awarded to Emji Saint Spero to present performative readings of disgust throughout the Southwest as part of The Post-Elevator Tour NxSW w/ jeremy kennedy.
Kenneth Rainin NEW Program | 2021
Awarded to curbAlert for un•rest, a roving, site-specific performance in downtown Oakland that explores, questions, and breaks down the nuances of intimacy in queer communities. Debuted at the 2021 CounterPulse Festival.
Southern Exposure Alternative Exposure Grant | 2016
Awarded to Timeless, Infinite Light for Viral Counter-Publics, a series of six experimental poetry/performance videos made by and with QTBIPOC artists.
California Arts Council Local Impact Grant | 2016
Fleishhacker Foundation Small Arts Grant | 2016
Zellerbach Family Foundation Community Arts Grant | 2016
Poets&Writers Grants | 2016
Awarded to Timeless, Infinite Light to support events featuring hybrid work by artists from marginalized and underrepresented communities.
Southern Exposure Alternative Exposure Grant | 2016
Awarded to Material Print Machine, an artist-run collective printing and binding studio at Omni Commons.
education
MFA in Creative Writing + Book Art
Mills College, Oakland | 2011-2014
BA in Queer Theory + Poetics
The Evergreen State College, Olympia | 2007-2009