BIOGRAPHY
Five years ago a group of Windham High School and Windham Academy students came together to share their voices and experiences through poetry. The Young Poets began performing at Curbstone Press in Willimantic, at the Julia de Burgos Park in 2005, thanks to Sandy Tayor.
Soon their open mic poetry readings were a monthly event at Wrench in the Works. They opened the Freedom Writers Diary at the Movie Plex theater in Mansfield, and were guests on the Wayne Norman morning show at WILI. In March of 2006 they raised enough money to see Erin Gruwell and Maria Reyes at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford. Erin invited them to the VIP room where the Poets performed for Erin and guests. In July, 2008, they went to New York City where they met up with Chris "Kazi" Rolle and performed at the Nuyorican Poet Cafe. The Poets stayed overnight at the Marriott Hotel and were on Good Morning America the following morning.
This past spring several of The Young Poets competed for a place on the state youth Poetry Slam Team. Three Poets made it to the finals, Ben Fitzsimmons, Trey Vaz and Carmen Rentas. Both Ben and Carmen earned a place on the team and traveled to Chicago the summer of 2009 to compete at Brave New Voices. They also received the NEAG Award for Creativity in July, from the University of Connecticut and the state Latino Community Service Award in November 2009. The Poets continue to perform in our community, including the WindhamARTS Collaborative, ECSU and UCONN.
Come join the Young Poets as they take you on an up-close and personal journey through the darkness and the light of real life. These amazing, talented students will reel you in and you will never be able to look at the world in quite the same way.
They are always a work in progress, and you will see them change and grow over the course of the year. You can view individual Poets' pages by clicking on their links.
The Young Poets have published a book of their poetry titled, The Streets Hold No Secrets.. It can be purchased at Amazon. They are in the process of publishing their second book, Voices Rising from the Streets.
Click on right side of picture to view slide show.
