Literature / Theatre & dance
Jessica Care moore
born 1971 · poet, performer, playwright, publisher
Detroit poet and performer who won Showtime at the Apollo five times, founded Moore Black Press and Black Women Rock!, and lives and works in downtown Detroit.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 54- Birth name
- Jessica Care Moore
- Also known as
- jessica Care moore
- Detroit years
- 1971–1990s, 2000s–present
- Field
- Literature, Theatre & dance
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Moore was born in Detroit and first reached a national audience in the 1990s when she won the Showtime at the Apollo competition five times in a row with her poetry, an unprecedented run. She founded Moore Black Press, which published her own books and early work by other poets, and built a career across page and stage with collections such as The Words Don't Fit in My Mouth, God Is Not an American and Sunlight Through Bullet Holes. Back in her hometown she created the concert series Black Women Rock!, a literacy foundation in her name, and The Missing Project: Pieces of the D, a techno-driven solo theatre piece that pays homage to Detroit. The Detroit Institute of Arts' Friends of African and African American Art gave her the Alain Locke Award in 2013; she is also a Kresge Arts fellow and a two-time Knight Arts Award winner.
Highlights
- Five-time winner of Showtime at the Apollo
- Founder of Moore Black Press and Black Women Rock!
- Alain Locke Award from the Detroit Institute of Arts (2013)
- 2016 Kresge Arts fellow; Knight Arts Awards (2017, 2019)
- Techno solo theatre piece The Missing Project: Pieces of the D