In Focus — September 2026
Kenzo Sunya Heartnette is a Chicago-based poet, theatre artist, and spell weaver raised in the art of rebellion. A graduate of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a degree in Theatre Performance and Creative Writing, Kenzo has spent years turning stages, classrooms, and community spaces into places where language can misbehave. A former Louder Than A Bomb competitor and LTAB University finalist, Kenzo has performed everywhere from the Saint Louis History Museum to Black Lives Matter conferences, collegiate stages, poetry slams, and community events across the Midwest. He is the author of sandpaperkisses: Letters Lamenting a Living Lilith and co-host of Rhythm & Release, a Chicago open mic rooted in connection, experimentation, and unapologetic expression. His work lives somewhere between spoken word, theatre, mythology, Black cultural language, and a little witchcraft. Kenzo doesn’t simply recite poems—he builds worlds, bends language, and turns the audience into part of the spell. His performances explore otherness, rebellion, identity, Blackness, masculinity, softness, and the beautiful trouble of refusing to make yourself smaller for the comfort of a room. Whether he’s performing a feature, teaching a workshop, commanding a ceremony, or conjuring something entirely new, Kenzo’s goal is simple: make the room feel something it can’t unfeel.
