Denice Frohman

Denice Frohman is currently writing and devising ESTO NO TIENE NOMBRE, a one-woman show centering the oral histories of Latina lesbian elders and women over 50. She is currently conducting 30 intergenerational interviews and is using them as raw material to create original poems and songs exploring Latina queer activism from the 1960's to 1990's, literary lineages, and desire. In collaboration with Intercultural Journeys as a producing organization, Denice is developing a poetic script to be performed as her first one woman show and fully realized solo work at Christ Church Neighborhood House on June 8-10, 2023.

This grant will support with documentation costs for hiring a videographer to document and edit the performance, in order to support future iterations of the piece and amplify its reach.

Denice Frohman (WOO ’19, LTA ‘12) was invited to perform as part of @interculturaljourneys’, “When I Sing,” a collaborative Project with Sister Cities
Girlchoir. "When I Sing" engages and presents women artists of color in works that interrogate and celebrate one hundred years of U.S women's history, as well as dreams of what advancing women's rights and voices could hold for the future.

Originally set to occur in-person, Denice and Intercultural Journeys are now adapting the program to be accessible online, making space for attendees and guests to interact with the poetry and performance virtually. Denice will now facilitate six, online poetry intensive sessions for young people, culminating in a virtual, final composed performance. The grant will allow Denice to reimagine the event in a digital space as well as provide her with the technical equipment needed to shift to this virtual platform.

Denice Frohman (WOO '19, LTA '12) will be attending the Tin House Summer Workshop, a weeklong intensive of workshops, seminars, panels, and readings led by prominent contemporary writers. As a writer, Denice will focus her attention toward her first full-length poetry manuscript. 

Denice is an award-winning poet, lyricist, and educator, whose multicultural upbringing inspires her to explore the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and the “in-betweeness” that exists in us all. She ranked in the Top 15 at the 2012 Women of the World Poetry Slam, and her work has been featured in Philadelphia’s citywide “UnLitter Us” Campaign, and the local literary magazine, The Apiary. She has performed and taught poetry in prestigious arts venues, classrooms, festivals, and detention centers across the country and internationally, in Toronto and Bermuda.

As a multi-cultural, Latina, queer woman, who pushes gender norms, she seeks to challenge our definitions of "normal" and question the borders that divide us. Her work questions dominant social constructs of identity, and empowers communities to be and define themselves. Social change is an intentional part of the process, vision, and sharing of her work. Through spoken word, she is able to develop deep, transformative connections with her audiences and create dialogue by merging the written and spoken word.

You can watch her performance here.