Assistant Professor Jennine Krueger Recognized as 2023 City of Austin and Mindpop Emerging Teaching Artist Fellow!
Monday Apr, 10 2023
Austin, TX – With the end of the academic year quickly approaching, most university faculty members are looking forward to their much-deserved three-month vacation. But for one local professor, there is still so much to do before she can even begin thinking about taking a break.
Jennine Krueger, professor in the English department at Huston-Tillotson University (HT), will be extremely busy for the next few weeks. She is currently developing a musical through the Theatre Now (TNNY), New York’s national musical lab. The project began as a way to make medieval texts more accessible by translating classic tales into urban language. Her musical, Green, is the retelling of the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in “hip hop” language and is infused with elements from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, along with a sprinkling of “black girl magic” from Lady Morgan LeFay and characteristics of black college culture with the inclusion of the fraternity of knights.
This project came on the heels of her performance at The Player’s Club in New York City in celebration of TNNY’s 10th anniversary.
“Doc,” as she is fondly called by members of the HT community, is also developing an anime series around poetry and mental health. Titled Ars Poetica, this project stemmed from her own experience of using poetry as a liberating catharsis in dealing with her own personal trauma.
The University’s resident poet laureate, Krueger is researching for the urban translations of Dante’s Inferno, as well as the Canterbury Tales and other classics. Additionally, Krueger consistently leads writing workshops locally and nationally, and serves as a performance coach and mentor for drama and spoken word projects.
She will make several local appearances throughout the month of April, beginning on the 13th with a performance at Breaking Water: Poetry and Storytelling, hosted by the Torch Literary Arts and Black Mamas. On the 15th, she will appear alongside author Joe Brundidge for the release of the second edition of his book of poetry at Kick Butt Coffee. She will serve as a co-curator with Torch Literary Arts and multiples collectives in and around Austin for a poetry show to be filmed locally on the 18th. When completed, the film will be aired for National Poetry Month. On the 19th and 20th, she will perform at the Austin Poetry Slam at the Barrel of Fun at the Alamo Drafthouse/Mueller and during HT’s Poetry Showcase and Spoken Word on campus, respectively.
An award-winning poetess and spoken work artist, Krueger is highly lauded and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. She earned her bachelor’s degree from HT, a master’s in fine arts from Spalding University, a master’s in education administration from Concordia University, and is currently pursuing a master’s in literature from Texas State University.
