Poet, spoken word artist, author and Oakland native Jessica Holter will perform  pieces from her novel, "The Punany Experience" in Berkeley later this month.

The performance, held at the Black Repertory Group Theater will be the first performance of another international tour, this one titled “Jessica Holter’s Public Display of Affection.”

During the event, Holter and other members of the Punany Poets, including DJ Blackmon, will be performing various poems, scenes and spoken word pieces from "The Punany Experience."  

Besides the tour kick off, the group of poets also will be celebrating the 15-year anniversary of their first performance, which was held at the BRT. 

"Mrs. Vaughn [mother of current C.E.O Sean Vaughn Scott] was still alive," Holter said. "She took a chance on The Punany Poets, even though we were considered very taboo back then."

Since the mid-90s, the Punany Poets have been working to break that taboo. Holter described being concerned about AIDS since her tenure at Fremont High School and writing about it in the school paper. After her friend Oakland rapper Eric "Eazy E" Wright died from AIDS she became motivated to expand her message.

"I couldn’t even get support for my book from the Black Coalition on AIDS in San Francisco," Holter said of the beginning. "They said they had no funding for female-focused programs." At the time, Black women were only 23 percent of the newly diagnosed cases among all black people. Today, women make up about 30 percent of all black Americans diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Holter is a captivating storyteller. In a reading from her novel, the audience sometimes seemed visibly uncomfortable due to graphic depictions of sex - giggles were frequently heard - but they never shied away from the candid conversations Holter engaged them in.

“After years of working on 'The Punany Project,' I can tell you without a doubt, people will tell you anything if they feel you are not going to judge them.”

Holter said she hopes to start a conversation among her audience members, as well. She said she continues to perform her work, “so that people can talk about anything with the one they love. This is why I have Q&A’s and public love confessions as part of my show, to lead people into conversation.”

If You Go

Jessica Holter’s Public Displays of Affection
Note: This is an adult only show

When: 7 p.mm Saturday, Oct. 27

Where: Black Repertory Group Theater, 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley