Biobook

ASHLEE CONNORS https://www.createspace.com/5493276

In a sea of T-Shirt and jeans, this fashion forward poet stands out. Though at first glance, one would assume Ashlee Connors is a model about to walk the runway, but it is when she walks to the mic the crowd is in for a stylish surprise.

Beyond what you see, she knows what it’s like to be broken, silenced and not able to share. Through poetry, Ashlee has found the beauty in what she writes, speaks, & shares because she knows the power of her gift.

Ashlee has a unique style which the stitches stanzas, weaves word play, and hems rough topics. Poems like “Crown of Confidence”,”Thy Shall Know Your Worth”, and “7 Minutes” (which is about a man racing against the clock to regain love) have received the much acclaim. She delivers a couture brand of poetry that she has been working on since the age of 8.

Growing up with Caribbean roots, she grew up learning about Shakespeare but wanting to study law. Although she found comfort in writing, Ashlee never gave much thought to writing being a viable career.

Ashlee credits her creative rhetoric to her various life experiences. She has inspired many by tapping into the emotional chambers of the heart and appealing to what the audience needs to hear. Authoring two books entitled “Pieces of Me” and “Lessons in Discovery”, she writes to encourage the masses. All while standing on stages from Atlanta, GA to Raleigh, NC with the likes of Dichotomy, Georgiame, Queen Sheba, and Ed Mabrey. Recently she become a member of The Marquis Slam team attending Southern Fried Poetry Slam 2016 and National Poetry Slam.

It was her purpose, and passion to fashion poetry that cuts couture. She writes because she knows what it’s like to be broken, she speaks because she knows what it’s like to be silenced, she shares because she knows her gift is meant to be shared with style on stage.

Trin-A-Thoughtz

ALL ABOARD. Those are two words that come to mind when you hear the name, Trin-A-Thoughtz. She will take you on a lyrical journey exploring different parts of her mind while leaving you mesmerized with messages you won't ever forget. She can not or will not be boxed in as just another poet.

"Instead call me a JUST ENOUGH POET. I want to give you just enough knowledge, just enough substance and just enough thought." Serving you a buffet of poetry but leaving room for more, Thoughtz will feed your soul. You won't become TOO FULL off of poetry, but you will have JUST ENOUGH. When she steps on the stage, SHE WILL BE REMEMBERED. Some have felt the gentleness of her poetic expressions and compared her to a modern day Maya Angeleou. While others may have felt the wrath of her bite and named her the Millie Jackson of Poetry. " I just laugh, because what people don't understand about me is that I will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get my point across. I TRAIN THOUGHTZ. That's what I do, That's all I do. And she does just that.

She does not does not bite her tongue nor does she sugar coat anything. As stated

by Thoughtz, "We live in a society where people need to quit tip-toeing around the harshness of reality and save our people lives. We are losing our youth & adults to the streets and I plan to help save them... ONE POEM AT A TIME. Her catalog includes thousands of poems with titles such as "Black Jewel", "Ghetto Princess" and "The Melody Of A Rose" just to name a few. She can be found facilitating workshops, giving keynote speeches and is a community activist speaking out against a variety of topics which include....HIV/AIDS Awareness, Diabetes, Cancer, Infant Mortality, Sickle Cell, Gang Violence and more.

She has had her commercial on rotation of UPN channel 28 as well as broadcast on K97.5, The Light and Foxy 104. Trina can also be found training thoughtz on stages so get ALL ABOARD.

https://issuu.com/flameproduction/docs/trinacoveramw

Dylan Collins

Wherever Dylan Collins hits the stage; Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Richmond, for 10 years now, Dylan has been captivating audiences with his wit, wordplay, and wisdom.

He hits the stage and with words, his impact is felt with poems like “still confidence”, “the ways we fall” and “this mic is a weapon.” He has been giving just a small taste of his poetic range to the North Carolina audiences for three years now. Using his degree in English & Education from University of Southern Maine, Dylan manages a creative writing program at Pathways for People. Not only has poetry been able to open doors for himself, but others. As a writer, poet and teacher Dylan works with teens/adults with disabilities and has been able to teach them the power of poetry, all while working on a masters in special education from NC State University.

Always striving to be better at his craft, Dylan began to SLAM (competitive poetry) and found himself on stages performing poems that scored high enough to get him acclaim.

He has been on the Port Veritas finals stage four times and at the Marquis Slam in Fayetteville twice. Dylan has been able to stand on stages with and be mentored by, @Wil Gibson, @Betsy Sholl, @Dasan Ahanu and @ Church Da’Poet. Through their mentorship Dylan accredits them for helping to keep him motivated and guiding him to become not only a better poet, but a better person.

Dylan recently released his chapbook “4 views of a Razor Wire Fence” and is now on the west coast sharing his poetry. Make sure to catch Dylan on tour in a city near you, because you never know what kind of impact his words will have on you.

PJ MCKEITHAN WWW.PJMCKEITHAN.COM

PJ McKeithan shares a life changing experience through hardships of poverty and addictions. Born a pastor's grandson, he always knew of Jesus but was caught up in chasing worldly desires. Eventually hitting rock bottom like never before PJ surrendered his life to Jesus Christ in the midst of losing his mind. After a long journey to redemption PJ gives back his gift of poetry and music to his Lord and Savior. PJ is truly a worshiper of HIM and proclaims boldly to know of His Goodness and Greatness.

You can hear Who Jesus is in his music through testimony, you can see the passion and zeal for God's grace and mercy in his every step.

Joined with HIS Push Team, RoyalBoy Entertainment, and Under The Radar Records, they proceed to take praise to new dimensions in their Christian walk. Worship is just not music, worship is a lifestyle for him. Revival is here!

KELLY RAE

http://sablebooks.org/real-girls-have-real-problems/

For the last 10 years, Kelly Rae Williams has had a true passion for connecting women and artists through community programming. After working for 5 women’s nonprofits in North Carolina, Kelly Rae has been responsible for starting three women’s organizations both on the college level and in the community. Her on and off career in poetry has led to travel the U.S. competing and attending all the major national poetry competitions. Kelly Rae believes that starting Poet.she Performing Arts is truly her greatest achievement. Her work with Poet. she has led to countless awards and recognition for her writing. Kelly Rae’s published her first book in 2012, Real Girls Have Real Problems. She is a recent graduate of the Queens University Masters in poetry program in Charlotte NC. She is working on her full length poetry book and thesis project, entitled Poetry as Protest.

For the last 10 years, Kelly Rae Williams has had atrue passion for connecting women and artists through community programming. After working for 5 women’s nonprofits in North Carolina, Kelly Rae has been responsible for starting three women’s organizations both on the college level and in the community. Her on and off career in poetry has led to travel the U.S. competing and attending all the major national poetry competitions. Kelly Rae believes that starting Poet.she Performing Arts is truly her greatest achievement. Her work with Poet. she has led to countless awards and recognition for her writing. Kelly Rae’s published her first book in 2012, Real Girls Have Real Problems. She is a recent graduate of the Queens University Masters in poetry program in Charlotte NC. She is working on her full length poetry book and thesis project, entitled Poetry as Protest.

LYRICALLY BLESSED

The spotlight drops as Lyrically Blessed (L.B.) stands center stage, motionless, in front of an audience that has no idea they are sitting in front of one of todays’ most prolific storytellers. When L.B. begins to speak, the audience meets “Christopher Reeves” and are left on the edge of their seats as they find out what happens when SuperMan, falls out of the sky.

L.B. is more than a poet, but an actor as his ability to write a character to life, using skills like vocal variety, facial expressions and stage presence, make you forget your at a poetry event.

Born Eric Thompson, L.B. is known for capturing the voices, stories and sharing them on stages nationally. Writing since middle school, he realized that poetry was not only a way of shedding light on topics, but giving new perspectives. L.B. has added his voice to speak about everything from family relationships, political arena, and even Gummi Bears. His “one man show” approach to poetry leaves the audience wanting more with poems like “Forgetting”, “Superhuman”, and “Texas Franklin”. Eric has also been able to work on keeping his poetry conversational by being apart of nationally recognized slam team, Bull City Slam Team. Working closely with Dasan Ahanu, Wendy Jones, and being apart of the team has opened doors of opportunity to stand on stages and captivate thru the power of poetic storytelling. Currently you can find L.B. in the studio working on his first album slated to be called “Human the Scientific Method” and chapbook yet to be named. He is doing all this while traveling nationally and hosting poetry events in the Wilmington, NC area. If you are looking to be entertained by a poet who not only writes the story, but also brings it to life on stage, look no farther then one Lyrically Blessed.

RIKO MARCUS DELBAS

Born in Miami Florida and raised in Fayetteville North Carolina, Marcus “RIKO�

Delbas is a singer/rapper on the rise. Being no stranger to performing his stage presence and In-Your-Face lyrics has captivated audiences of all kinds. Since his debut to the music scene he has written and produced his own music.

His soft, tenor vocals command the attention of the ladies and his male perspective is compelling for the gentlemen. His ability to sing, rap and dance makes him a triple threat of the mic and when on it, his attributes makes him an amazing entertainer. RIKO’s fan base continues to grow among his generation, rising star, His creativity will bring him along far in life. So join the ride in his journey to greatness.

DASAN AHANU www.dasanahanu.com

Dasan Ahanu is a artist, educator, and organizer living in Durham, North Carolina. In addition to performing across the country, Dasan has hosted or coordinated many poetry, jazz, Hip Hop, and cultural arts events. He has helped to establish and grow cultural and performing arts organizations in North Carolina. Dasan is one of the founders of Black Poetry Theatre (BPT) where he is a writer, director, producer, and cast member. Started in 2008, Black Poetry Theatre creates original productions featuring artists from the community. Dasan has been featured on national radio and TV and has published three books of poetry. He has also released a number of Hip Hop and Spokenword recordings.

Dasan has served as a Artist-in-Residence and Assistant Professor of English at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, NC since 2006. He is a resident artist at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham and the 2015-2016 Nasir Jones Fellow with the Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.

He is currently a visiting lecturer at UNC Chapel Hill in the African American & African Diaspora Studies department.

WildPerfection DEBRITA CHANNELLE Wild Perfection definitely fits this fiery ball of energy, swaying in from Raleigh, NC. After deciding to take her word play seriously in 2015, her name has been hard for many to forget. She's vivacious, sexy, bold, and her poetry friends affectionately call her "real talk" because she isn't afraid to walk on stage say precisely what is on her mind, no matter how hard it makes you gasp. Having graduated from UNC Greensboro with her degree in theatre, she is able to mix in her words with a solid stage presence that makes it hard to look away. Her goal is to make you get on touch with feelings you didn't even realize you had.

JAMELA LRATO

"Life is really not that complicated.

Don't over think it. Just live it" Organic Mother of 9 beautiful warriors, Poet, Thinker and The Urban Gorilla Gardenista.

All descriptions of NC native artist Jamela Lrato.

Jamela infuses music with words to create a melodic lyrical ivasion of the artistic soul. She is the owner and CEO of Divine 9 Design and Rise 9 Organics. She has hosted a number of spoken word events such as Rock Hard Poetry , The Urban Cypher and Illusions one of the longest running open mics in eastern nc and is now hosting a running open mic every Friday night called the Zen Cypher in Goldsboro nc a collaboration of Urban Cypher and ZenNubian 7 Tea House of Goldsboro nc.

She has toured this country with the Spitting Lady Tour spreading the joys of poetic verse. She was also one of the original members of I Am Damaged Goods the women's empowerment movement. She is presently blazing the mic at numerous different events.

Just recently one of those events include the production titled The Southern SiStars of Spoken Word.

She has a cd of a collection of her poems titled The Chaos Theory. Jamela believes that poetry is God's breath whispering deliverance through ink.

https://www.facebook.com/poetrywithapurpose/

J. ALDEN

https://www.theluxblognc.com/blog/2017/2/15/fv9nb6f0k4nktfjtoud784b69rq4h4