In Conversation: Taylor Johnson & Nakita Reed

This Black History Month, join us as two visionary creators from distinct disciplines reflect on how they engage with and honor the past. Poet Taylor Johnson and architect Nakita Reed will share their work and welcome your questions.

About the Presenters:

Poet Taylor Johnson, the Pratt Library's 2025–26 Hackerman Writer in Residence, is from Washington, DC. He is the author of Inheritance (Alice James Books, 2020), winner of the 2021 Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America and a 2024 Whiting Award. His work appears in Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, The Baffler, Scalawag, and elsewhere. Johnson is a Cave Canem graduate fellow and a recipient of the 2017 Larry Neal Writers’ Award from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the 2021 Judith A. Markowitz Award for Emerging Writers from Lambda Literary. Taylor was the inaugural 2022 Poet-in-Residence at the Guggenheim Museum. He was the Poet Laureate of Takoma Park, Maryland, from 2022 to 2025. Learn more about Taylor Johnson.

Nakita Reed is an award-winning architect, specializing in utilizing sustainable strategies in the adaptive reuse of existing and historic buildings. She is an Associate Principal at Quinn Evans and serves on the boards of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Heritage Buildings (ZNCC), and Built Buildings Lab. She is also the host of Tangible Remnants, a podcast that demystifies the building reuse process for building owners and developers. She has a Master of Architecture and a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. She is a registered architect, a LEED®-Accredited Professional, and a certified Passive House Consultant. Learn more about Nakita Reed.

About the Program:

• To attend in person, please register.
• A local bookseller will be on-site and will have Taylor Johnson's book available for purchase.
• Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) while supplies last. Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.
• There is no registration required for virtual attendance. Simply visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Facebook or YouTube page.

Funding for this program has been provided through the generosity of The Hackerman Foundation.

Photo of Taylor Johnson by S*an D. Henry-Smith.

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