Susan Justiniano, Paterson born, found her performance voice in Jersey City. She is a self-taught bilingual poet, with a deep love for knowledge, music, coffee, food, dogs, and the color red (not always in that order). 

Words are embedded in her life. Her passion for them started at age 9 with a dictionary, notebook, and the latest paperback she could get her hands on.

In 2006 RescuePoetix™ emerged as a professional artist business designed to meet artists' entrepreneurial, creative, and collaborative needs. In addition to being a published and performing poet, RescuePoetix™ has recorded over fifty original poems to music, in English and Spanish, and is deeply immersed in the Arts across communities by actively working in a variety of capacities of several arts organizations in Jersey City, Oradell, Paterson, NJ and private entities.

She is twice honored as Poet Laureate: The first Puerto Rican woman Poet Laureate of Jersey City, NJ (2020-2022) and State of New Jersey Beat Poet Laureate (2022-2024). She expands the position of Poet Laureate to engage artists of varied cultures and languages to reflect the diversity of the Literary and Performing Arts communities, advocate for artists as professionals and establish that multilingual events, including ASL and trilingual translations, are mainstream.

 Some of her poems published in print and digital platforms for 2022 include: Bedouin in print (January 2022) Every Kinda Lady and Her Sisters' Pages: Poetic Monologues, Four Chambers digital publication (January 2022) Robles Writes Productions, La Libreta, Exposed in the upcoming Brownstone Poets 2022 Anthology (Summer 2022), 3 (not so) Simple Questions, OyeDrum Magazine, Volume 5: Madness (Summer 2022), Everything in its Place, WNYC Poetry NaPoMo 2022: Normalcy (April 2022), Summer in the City, Annual Poetry Month Celebration Anthology in April 2022, New Brunswick Free Public Library, co-sponsored by the Raritan Valley Federation of Libraries, Raspberry Kisses The Rainbow Project, Poets Wear Prada's Digital Print & Audio Podcast (June 2022), Spare Tire NAMI NJ Dara Axelrod Expressive Arts 2022 Mental Health Poetry Contest (Shortlisted), Movimiento, Walk_bye Public Art Group Show - "Real Democracy" (April 2022) and continues to be published through public art, digital, print, video and audio anthologies.

Susan has the honor of being a 2023 New Jersey Poetry Out Loud Region 5 judge and  awarded grants/funding for National Day of Racial Healing and her first play by New York’s Downtown Urban Arts Festival. She serves as the representative for Puerto Rico of the 2021 Grand Marshall Class for the Jersey City West Indian American Caribbean American Carnival Association. She is listed in the Latino Book Review Database of Latino Poet Laureates in the US. She is the Poet in Residence for Walk_Bye Public Art, Jersey City NJ. Susan also serves on the Hudson County Community College Poetry Collective (Jersey City), as an adviser, collaborator, and event producer. She is also the Regional Leader for Free Mom Hugs NJ - Hudson County. She serves on the boards of In Full Color (Jersey City), Art Pride NJ (Co-Lead, Independent Advisory Board), Art Pride NJ Strategic Planning Committee, House on the Waterfront MD (DMV – Founding Partner), Bergen County Players, EDI Committee (co-chair, Oradell NJ) and committees throughout the USA with a focus on equity and equality in the Arts.

As an Arts Advocate, she performs, organizes, and facilitates public cultural arts projects and workshops extensively throughout New Jersey and globally. As Poet Laureate Emeritus of Jersey City and 2022-2024 State of NJ Beat Poet Laureate, Susan has developed a body of work that is community focused and spotlights artists through the rich linguistic diversity that poetry makes space for, connecting literary, performing, and visual arts to bring together collaborative multi-genre and multimedia projects. 

As a teaching artist, her advocacy includes bringing the arts to youth and adult scholars by engaging other teaching artists in an environment conducive to learning and growth. 

RescuePoetix™ poetry is motivational, uplifting, and empowering; designed to connect on a level far deeper than what the eye can perceive. Spinning verses in Spanish and English, her words weave stories of strength, growth, experience, and love in its many evolving forms.

More info: https://linktr.ee/rescuepoetix