Writer/Performer
Jorah LaFleur
FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
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FIRST ANNUAL EVENT: Date TBD
Join us for the inaugural SouLit Festival of Books, a vibrant new celebration of local voices, community storytelling, and the magic of the word. Our mission is to uplift independent authors and create meaningful connections between readers and the rich literary talent in our region.
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Come explore new voices, meet the authors behind the pages, and celebrate the power of books to reflect, unite, and inspire. Whether you’re browsing, listening, learning, or dreaming up your own next chapter—there’s a place for you to get lit up with excitement at SouLit. ​
AUTHORS!
Interested in vending?
From fiction to poetry, memoirs to children’s books: calling indie authors with books to sling! Are you an author interested in vending at the inaugural SouLit Festival? ☻ Please tell us a little bit about yourself and we'll follow up with details about how to participate:
EVENT FOUNDERS
MIA
BOWMAN-MAYS
Mia Bowman-Mays was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in California and started creating stories from a very young age about the simplest things, like a blade of grass, or the unimportance of feet. This rising literary voice spent years working the night shift as a nursing assistant than a registered nurse, after having allowed life to push all of the creativity to the background, the musician and the writer, and worked as a nurse for decades, even getting her BSN, but still wanting nothing more than to create. And then she did.
Though the musician is long gone, the writer was always there, sneaking out here and there for decades until the day that person came to the forefront and took her "writeful" place.
Mia has published 24 novels, cookbooks, and self help books, with more to come and more viable ideas than time to write! From Spiritual fiction and Sci-Fi, to cookbooks, wellness courses, and short story anthologies, there is nothing she won't write once it whispers in her ear and asks to be written; and she does it well.
TREYLON
DAY
"Treylon Day first found his local footing while studying at Lane Community College. His involvement with the Black Student Union nudged him into honing his natural talents in public speaking and event organizing. “I started finding that niche of public communicating, planning, and managing events, doing all this stuff for businesses around town,” Day says. Much of his work included forging connections with entertainment venue owners, event managers, and music producers. Within a few months Day had established a personal business casting himself as a talent scout, booking agent, music producer, and promotions manager. He named his enterprise Dayinthelife Entertainment.
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Dayinthelife Entertainment’s umbrella covers a wide field of regional talent. Hip hop instrumentals and vocals. Performance poetry. Culinary expertise. Rhythm and blues. Painting. Book writing. Afrobeat. Rap. And he works with a growing list of venues. “I’ve done club shows,” Day says. “I’ve done the art walks. I’ve done the private shows. Mostly it’s that artists and businesses see what I have to offer and they say, ‘I want you to run the show.’" -Mikael Krummell, Eugene Magazine
JORAH
LAFLEUR
Jorah LaFleur is a writer/performer who has been playing with spoken word poetry all of her adult life. Along the way, she has built related skill sets: emceeing concerts/festivals and variety shows; acting; interviewing; and facilitating workshops. While Jorah enjoys being an entertainer herself, a central theme in her artistic life has been acting as a container builder and advocate for artistic expression in community. For over a decade, she ran the Eugene Poetry Slam, and for the last eight years, she has been working for the small-but-mighty literary nonprofit Wordcrafters in Eugene as a teaching artist and Writers in the Schools Coordinator.
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Jorah has published two books of poetry, but most of her poems are still shelved only in her memory banks and offered from the stage. Creating and sharing, testifying and witnessing, taking turns being seen and being heard on a mic—Jorah is continually moved by these potent and simple magics. Her current passion is working with writers who want to strengthen their relationship to reading their own work.
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