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Sarah Kay

2017 Speaker

SARAH KAY uses the power of spoken word to inspire creativity and self-empowerment in others. Her now-famous TED talk inspired two standing ovations and has been seen by over seven million people online. In it, she tells the story of her metamorphosis from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse in New York’s iconic Bowery Poetry Club, to becoming a teacher. Kay is the founder and co-director of Project V.O.I.C.E., an education organization that celebrates and inspires self-expression in youth through spoken-word poetry. She is also a documentary filmmaker, playwright, singer, songwriter, photographer, and editor for Write Bloody Publishing. Kay has performed her poetry in venues across the United States, including the Lincoln Center, the Tribeca Film Festival, and the United Nations, where she was a featured performer for the launch of the 2004 World Youth Report. She is the author of the book B, which was ranked the number one poetry title on Amazon.com, and her newest work, No Matter The Wreckage, is an American poetry best-seller. Her work can also be found in literary journals, such as Foundling Review, Damselfly Press, decomP, the Literary Bohemian, and Pear Noir! Kay earned an MA in The Art of Teaching from Brown University, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Grinnell College. @kaysarahsera