We are so honored to be the recipient of a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation’s Samara Fund that will help us offer eight story hours to small, rural libraries across the state in 2024. Learn more and apply using the form in the button below.

ABOUT EMOJI NIGHTMARE:

Emoji Nightmare (she/her) has been performing across Vermont and the region since 2015 and is one of the state’s leading drag entertainers. She has hosted, performed in, and/or produced several major events over the past decade, including New Queers Eve, Pride Ball, First Friday, Glitter & Duct Tape, The Vermont Pride Festival, Paint: A Drag Cabaret, Queen City Drag Cabaret, Queer Pop-Up Dance Party, and SASS. She is a multi-year nominee for Seven Days’ annual Daysies Awards for Best Drag Performer in Vermont.

In 2015, Emoji emerged onto the Burlington, VT queer scene, quickly becoming a staple performer in the region. Her first performance was at Higher Ground on April 3, 2015, as part of First Friday, opening for RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Joslyn Fox. That summer, she placed 3rd in the amateur drag competition, Vermont Drag Idol.

In 2017, with Nikki Champagne, they established NIGHTPAGNE, L3c, their performing arts entity. The two founded the Vermont Chapter of Drag Story Hour that September.

In 2021, Emoji began to write and record original music, which she started to release the next year. More recently, she had the chance to perform in NYC for the first time and represent Vermont Drag Story Hour at SXSW in Austin, TX.

Outside of drag, Justin (they/them) lives in Cambridge, VT on the former dairy farm they grew up on. They are an alum of Northern Vermont University (BA, Business Management). In 2012, they ran as an independent for Vermont House at the age of 23. They are a published editor (Tasteful Traditions, Red Barn Books, 2014), and have held or currently serve in several positions on other local non-profit or municipal boards. In 2016, they helped write the grant known as The Silo Project, which transformed two abandoned concrete silos into the largest outdoor public art installment in the state of Vermont. They are a previous board member of Outright Vermont and still spends time volunteering for the organization as a Friday Night Group co-facilitator in Lamoille County. They were the lead organizer of the Pride Vermont Parade & Festival for four years between 2018 and 2021 and worked for Pride Center of Vermont. In 2020, as chair of Cambridge Conservation Commission, they were a leader on the committee to conserve 51 acres of land in Cambridge now known as the Peter A. Krusch Nature Preserve. They have worked in Montpelier for Vermont Conservation Voters as political outreach director since 2022, and have worked on campaigns in several historic races, including Taylor Small’s 2020 election.

ABOUT KATNISS EVERQUEER:

Bold and bodacious, curvy and courageous, this fierce fat femme wants you to volunteer as tribute!

Katniss Everqueer (she/her) is a performance artist with Green Mountain Cabaret based out of Burlington, Vermont. She loves blurring the lines between dancer and audience. Her numbers are often interactive and nostalgic, referencing the beloved (Golden Girls, Mad Madam Mim, Wayne’s World) to the slightly horrific and bizarre (Silence of the Lambs, Lotso Huggin’ Bear, Tammy Faye Baker, Young Frankenstein).

Katniss won 1st place and Audience Favorite in Green Mountain Cabaret’s 2018 Newcomers Show and 1st place at Lady Luck Burlesque's 2019 amateur showcase. She’s performed in the Vermont Burlesque Festival, the Fierce Queer Burlesque Festival, EllieCon, among others, and had the honor to perform with the Screaming Chicken Theatrical Society and Foxy Tann’s Wham Bam Nation. Her digital content was featured by the Glasgow Burlesque festival, and her digital duet with Emoji Nightmare was nominated for “Best Ensemble” in the Hollywood Burlesque Film Festival. Katniss is featured in Miss Eaves's video for the single, "Belly Bounce." She’s a proud, fat, queer envelope pusher and advocate.

Outside of burlesque, Kat (she/her) works for Inclusive Arts Vermont as the Director of Communications and Development. As the Communications and Development Director, Kat gets the honor of telling and sharing the stories of the powerful and beautiful work that Inclusive Arts Vermont does, showing the poignant impact this work has across our state. Kat has been connected to the work and mission of Inclusive Arts Vermont for many years before joining the staff, collaborating on numerous exhibits, programs, trainings, and recording verbal descriptions for both the Flourish and ANEW exhibitions.

Before Inclusive Arts Vermont, Kat was the Youth Programming Manager and Accessibility Coordinator for the Flynn Center, where she dedicated her days to breaking down barriers to access for performances and programs, focusing primarily on access for individuals on the autism spectrum. Prior to the Flynn, Kat worked with youth in public libraries and taught at alternative schools serving students on the spectrum and students with intellectual, emotional, behavioral, and psychological needs. Kat loves performing, and the community created by performing arts experiences. She has her MA in Teaching Educational Theater and English from NYU and her Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Washington and a BA in English and Economics from Smith College.