CALLING ALL POETS, SPOKEN WORD ARTISTS, EMCEES & WRITERS WIN A CHANCE TO REPRESENT THE AREA OF HAMPTON ROADS AS THE FIRST EVER HAMPTON ROADS YOUTH POET LAUREATE WIN A BOOK DEAL TO PUBLISH YOUR FIRST BOOK, PERFORM & TOUR THE STATE The Hampton Roads Youth Poet Laureate Program aims to identify youth writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, poetry and performance, leadership and education across Hampton Roads.
The final winner will be announced during our Slam Festival Collaborative Partners: being held at Friday, May 5th at 6pm at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach. Seating is limited. Visit www.twpthemovement.org for tickets. PROGRAM OVERVIEW The Hampton Roads Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of Teens with a Purpose, Hampton Roads Youth Poets, and in partnership with Urban Word, supported by PEN Center USA and the Academy of American Poets. The Hampton Roads Youth Poet Laureate program aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, poetry and performance, and leader- ship and education across Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, and Suffolk.
From January 1-March 25, Teens with a Purpose will accept submissions from young poets, rappers, leaders and activists ages 14-19 from across Hampton Roads who are interested in representing our area as the Hampton Roads Youth Poet Laureate. A group of esteemed judges will select one teen to be honored with the title of Hampton Road Youth Poet Laureate on Friday, May 5th at 6pm at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach.
Along with winning the prestigious title of Hampton Roads Youth Poet Laureate, the winning poet will also win a book deal from Penmanship Books to publish their first collection of poems, as well as a library tour. The Hampton Roads Youth Poet Laureate will have numerous opportunities and platforms to share their powerful voices, their leadership, and love of Hampton Roads at numerous events.
CONTEST RULES/HOW to APPLY 1: Applicants must be from Hampton Roads, and between the ages of 14-19 years old 2: Submit 3 Original Poems / Raps / Performances (and/or YouTube Links to your poems) 3: Submit at least one poem that speaks to the themes of Human Relations, Diversity and Social Justice. 4: Include a RESUME that has your name, address, phone # and email, AS WELL AS detailing all of your accomplishments, community service, after school programs, volunteer experiences and awards (if you want a sheet for this please visit our website or ask your teacher to help) 5: ONCE you are ready, EMAIL all of this to [email protected] or apply online at http://www.twpthemovement.org
PLEASE SUBMIT ALL MATERIALS BY MAR 25, 2016 Please submit all materials by Friday March 25th, 2016 Submission materials can be EMAILED, uploaded to our website, or MAILED to: Vivian C. Mason Art & Technology Center for Teens 700 E. Olney Rd., Norfolk, VA 23504 APPLICATION Note: This RESUME Template is to help you in the process, however, if you want to use your own, feel free to email that (+ your 3 poems or YouTube links) to [email protected]. This resume is an opportunity to share Everything you have done, so put it all in there, feel free to BRAG about yourself and your accomplishments!
Please write CLEARLY or Type All Information
NAME: ______AGE: ______SCHOOL: ______EMAIL: ______ADDRESS: ______PHONE:______
AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS: ______
VOLUNTEER/COMMUNITY SERVICE: ______
CLUBS/SPORTS/AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES/EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ______
ANYTHING ELSE? ______
PLEASE EMAIL this form (or use your own Resume/CV) as an ATTACHMENT +3 poems and/or YouTube links to [email protected], or to fill this out ONLINE go to http://www.twpthemovement.org GoodLuck! ESTEEMED JUDGES Charles E. Johnson Jr. Born In Portsmouth, Virginia is a current resident of Norfolk, Virginia. He received a B.A. Degree in Social Studies and Education from Norfolk State College. Mr. Johnson is a retired Virginia Beach Public School Teacher after 42 years of service. He is committed to civic and social engagement and serves on several local boards including: Crispus Attucks Cultural Center, Norfolk Public Library Board of Trustee, Y on Granby Board Member, African-American Historical Society of Portsmouth Board, Park Place Child Life Center Board, Park Place Civic League Board, and Healthy Neighborhood Enterprise Board.
Synnika Lofton is an award winning poet, a recording artist, a producer, and an educator. Lofton has recorded more than one hundred CDs, including albums, CD-singles, mixtapes of poetry, and his highly praised debut, The New Breed. He is the author of eleven books and the founder of Riot Speech, a new musical genre combining performance poetry with traditional musical forms, such as Rock, Jazz, and Hip Hop. His poems have been published in Experience Reality Magazine, Quay: A Journal of the Arts, and UpStreet: A Literary Magazine. Lofton is also the President of Guerrilla Ignition—an independent recording, publishing, and film company—and its internet superstore: www.guerrillaignitionsuperstore.com. He wrote the poem, "Sacred Drum," for the Goddard College Presidential Inauguration of former President Mark Schulman. Through his Global Poetry Project—an online initiative—his poetry has been heard in France, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, Haiti, Venezuela, and Israel. His poems, "Guerrilla Ignition" and "Love's Outlaw" appeared in the documentary, Super-Size Me Too, by Fan Productions. Lofton received a B.A. and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College.
Maura Alia Badji’s poems and essays have appeared in The Good Men Project, Barely South Review, Cobalt, ArtVoice, Switched-on Gutenberg, The Wise Woman, Exhibition, convolvulus, Spillway, teenytiny, Signals, and The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. She has written for The Buffalo Times, Soul Music of the World, and LivingSocial.com. Her blog is The Moxie Bee (http://www.themoxiebee.com). Her work was included in the anthologies In Our Own Words: A Generation Defining Itself (Volume 4); Mw Enterprises (May 15, 2002); This Far Together (Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, 1995); and Go Gently (The Healing Woman, 1995). Maura earned her MFA in Creative Writing at the University of WA, Seattle, where she was also an Editorial Assistant at The Seattle Review. She also earned an M.Ed in Migrant Special Education at SUNY New Paltz, where she obtained a BA. A former Early Childhood Special Education teacher, Maura has also taught ESL to migrant workers, and poetry to students in grades K-12 in NY and WA state public schools. A NY State native, she lives in the Seven Cities with her son. Rodney Jordan is the School Board Chairman, Norfolk Public Schools, a Digital Inclusion Visionary and Technology Consul- tant. Mr. Jordan was among the premier recipients of the Influencers and Innovators of the Internet and Technology award given by the Marketing and Opportunities in Black Entertainment organization (MOBE). Mr. Jordan and his work have been cited in such publications as The New York Times, Black Enterprise, Emerge, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and USA Today for his accomplishments in bringing business and culture to the Internet. In keeping with his family’s tradition of civic involvement, Rodney Jordan serves as Chair, Norfolk State University Science and Technology Academicians on the Road to Success (STARS) Advisory Board; Commission Member, Norfolk State University Spartan Crusade for Academic Success (SCAS); Board of Directors, Mr. Jordan is the proud father of two daughters who both attend NPS.
Shanda Buchanan Author of Who’s Afraid of Black Indians? and editor of Voices from Leimert Park, Shonda Buchanan is a nominee of the 2013 Black Caucus Literary Awards and the 2013 Virginia Literary Awards. Poet, essayist and novelist ShondaBuchanan received her B.A. and M.A. in English from Loyola Marymount University and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing at Hampton University, and Chair of the Creative Writing Committee, Shonda is the former managing editor of Turning Point Magazine and an Advisory Board member of the Poetry Society of Virginia, as well as the Hampton Roads Writers. She is a recipient of the Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship, a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and several Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grants. Shonda is a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow and a PEN Center Emerging Voices fellow. Shonda is working on two collections of poetry and a novel. For more information visit www.shondabuchanan.com or www.pw.org/content/shonda_buchanan.
Shana Smith-Coleman Wife. Mother. Poet. Teacher and Natural Hair Enthusiast Currently a student at Tidewater Community College majoring in Human Services and is an intern at Teen’s With a Purpose. She is the creator of M.O.C.A on Facebook which stands for Mothers of Children with Autism where she hopes to create a safe place for mothers of children with this disorder to share their feelings, ask questions and most importantly encourage one another. An avid reader and writer. She was introduced to poetry in the 4th grade when she heard her teacher recite the poem “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes. It was then that she learned she could express every hidden emotion with just a stroke of a pen. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA Shana moved to VA in 2002 with her husband and oldest son. She looks forward to what she calls her God given assignment….reaching lives and touching souls around the world one word at a time.
For more information or to support this work visit www.twpthemovement.org Teens With a Purpose and Urban Word would like to thank our partners: