The Work
At the heart of Faith’s writing is a deep devotion to the honest, unvarnished human experience, a body of work shaped not from the sidelines, but through deliberate, passionate immersion in the full spectrum of living. Every poem she crafts is informed by lived experience: the raw weight of grief, the quiet brilliance of joy, and the transformative labor of love. Believing that poetry must carry the grit and resonance of real life, she grounds her craft in the shared struggle and celebration of the human condition. Her work serves as an active, vital engagement with the world, an invitation to sit with the complexity of our collective pain, honor our hard-won beauty, and find deep meaning in the vibrant rhythm of everyday life.
Write It Down Collective
The Write It Down! Collective is a poetry and spoken-word-based group whose name is an invitation for writing creatives to make their work permanent and tactile by transforming them from thought to written word. We host workshops, open mics, and art-based collaborations that center and amplify the voices and poetic works of Black and Brown writers from the Chicagoland area. From virtual spaces to galleries and backyards, Write It Down!’s work is sustained by the honesty and bravery of our participants.
Founder & Director, 2020-Present
Ms. O
Ms. O began her teaching career at Illinois State University where she majored in English Teacher Education and became certified to teach grades 9-12. She moved to Chicago, IL in 2018 and began her teaching career impacting over 200 students during her time in various Chicago Public High Schools.
Educator, 2019-Present
Blanc Galleries
Blanc Gallery is excited to present the work of Chicago-based artist, Jalen Hamilton, who has transformed the gallery into a beautiful installation of photography, ephemera, audio and text with his first solo exhibition, To Whom This Ground Belongs. To Whom This Ground Belongs is curated by Faith Overall.
Collaborator, 2020 - 2024
The Rooted & Radical Youth Poetry Festival is a 6-week literary festival engaging youth, educators, and schools in the power of poetry through workshops, performances, and a culminating award-winning showcase. The festival—formerly Louder Than A Bomb—has been reimagined to focus on community, and empowering young voices.
Coach of the Year, 2026Rooted & Radical
Featured Poet & Educator, 2025Goodman Theatre
Revolution(s): Poet on the Pulse
The Goodman’s CONTEXT series invited audiences to participate in pre-show discussions, post-show engagements, behind-the-scenes events and educational opportunities that offer valuable insights into the themes, creative process and cultural context of the works of art on our stages and explore how the themes of a Goodman production intersect with contemporary issues in Chicago and beyond.
https://www.goodmantheatre.org/event/context-poet-on-the-pulse/
The Space Share Lab is where wellness, creativity, and community cross-pollinate. Relaunched with a renewed mission, the Lab now serves as a flexible, accessible, beautifully curated studio for practitioners, facilitators, educators and creators who need a professional home for their work.
