Africana Studies / Rites and Reason Theatre

alea adigweme is an antidisciplinary Igbo-Vincentian-U.S.-ian cultural worker who utilizes the mediums of creative writing, book arts, performance, community engagement, installation, video, and other visual media. Her critical and creative labors are undergirded by interests in archives, the politics of pleasure, the (hyper/in)visibility of Blackness, and the lived experiences and semi-autobiographical cultural work of femmes of African descent [particularly in the U.S. and Anglophone Caribbean], all of which have influenced her public-facing work as an interviewer, moderator, panelist, and educator. alea is the author of birdbolt idolatry, a poetry chapbook (dancing girl press, 2015), and her written work has been published by outlets including Bustle, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Fightland, Gawker, and the Iowa Review blog. Her visual work has been shown at Public Space One (Iowa City), New Wight Gallery (Los Angeles), Grrl Haus Cinema (Berlin), and online. In 2020, her experimental short film [untitled] screened in competition at the New Orleans Film Festival. 

After earning a BA in Russian literature from Reed College, she graduated from the University of Iowa with an MFA in Nonfiction Writing; an MA in Media Studies; and a graduate certificate in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. She also holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studio Art from UCLA. alea is an active volunteer at her undergraduate alma mater, where she is currently an Alumni Trustee on the Reed College Board of Trustees.