GABRIELLE CIVIL is a black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer, originally from Detroit, MI. She has premiered over fifty performance art works around the world, including as a Fulbright Fellow in Mexico. Her performance memoirs include Swallow the Fish (2017), Experiments in Joy (2019), ( ghost gestures ) (2021), and the déjà vu (2022). Her writing has also appeared in New Daughters of Africa, Teaching Black, Kitchen Table Translation, and Experiments in Joy: a Workbook. The aim of her work is to open up space.