Guests: Adriana Monsalve and Unique Robinson Host: Christopher Kardambikis Recorded on February 6, 2026 in Takoma Park, MD This is the first of three episodes focusing on the recent publication: Even the Score, guest edited by Lindsay Buchman and published by Homie House Press. Adriana Monsalve – (they/she) is an artist, educator, cultural worker and collaborative publisher working (mostly) in the photobook medium. Along with Caterina Ragg, Monsalve is co-founder of Homie House Press, a radical cooperative platform that challenges the ever-changing forms of storytelling with image and text. Within her photographic practice, Monsalve is an archivist and visual communicator who produces in-depth stories on identity through the nuances in between race, gender, and immigrant adjacent experiences. Within her cultural work as a collaborative publisher, she holds space for and with underrepresented communities through the multidisciplinary platform of Homie House Press (HHP); a cooperative playground where fotos become books, a safe space for secret stories and an open house for honest content that meets at the intersection of personal, political, and poetic. She is rigorously pushing towards finding ways for photographers and publishers to cultivate the capacity for care and tenderness within structures that actively work against their manifestations. She defines intimacy as the experience of being genuinely seen, heard, and held by another person or group of people. Unique Robinson is a poet/MC, professor, community educator, host, and proud Baltimore native. She received her MFA in English/Creative Writing from Mills College, and a BA in Creative Writing/Black Studies from Hampshire College. Unique has a background in Community Organizing and national Reproductive Justice work, and is a lifelong artivist, with 20+ years of performance experience throughout the US and Havana, Cuba. Through writing and performance, she consistently works within communities to promote change and collective healing through creativity. Locally, Unique has worked as a Poetry Teaching Artist, and in administrative roles for various organizations, including DewMore Baltimore, AFRO Charities, & The Lyric Baltimore. Unique received the Emerging Teaching Artist award from Arts Every Day in 2017, The Grit Fund Grant in 2019, and a Lab410 Fellowship with Baltimore Center Stage in 2025. She was the cover feature for Baltimore Magazine’s GameChangers in 2022, and a Baker Artist Awards Finalist in 2025. Unique is the Director of MICA’s MFA Community Arts Program, and the facilitator for The LightHouse, a FREE monthly writing workshop at Motor House for intergenerational communities. Unique has also facilitated arts education literary programming for Baltimore Museum of Art, American Visionary Art Museum, and has been the Curator for The Walters Art Museum’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration for three consecutive years (2024-2026). Unique has released a variety of zines, short films, and musical projects available on online/streaming platforms. Her latest book of poetry, (not) in service, published by homie house press, was released in 2024. Episode artwork by Homie House Press “Paper Cuts Theme” by The Early @theearly_band // http://theearly.net
