It's the Season 5 Finale of The Poet Speaks Podcast! For our last episode of Season 5 we have Jack Dawkins! Jack Dawkins is a storyteller, a rapper, and a poet. But before all of that, he honed his entrepreneurial skillsets across various industries, including hospitality, consulting, and fitness.   His use of the English language has been compared to Michael Phelps’ performance on Saturday Night Live: Wildly entertaining for none of the reasons you would expect. He is, at his core, and in his music, deeply human, and a lover of excessive comma use.   Jack's links:https://jackdawkinsraps.com/ Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

Check out Amanda's conversation with Justin Patton! Justin is a spoken word artist based out of Atlanta by way of Chattanooga, TN. He is an author of his collection of poems entitled Poetry for the Hopefully. He is the curator of his monthly show ‘Soul Therapy’, brand ambassador for Urban Grind Coffee House located in Atlanta, creator of The Poet’s Perspective Podcast, and blogger where he has written over 200 articles. Justin's Links: @iamjustinpatton Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

Check out Amanda's conversation with LaLa DeVille! Lala is a writer, poet, spoken word artist and self published author from  Compton Ca, currently residing in Long Beach, Ca. Known for performing in Chuck Taylor All-Stars shoes and being dubbed "The Queen in Chucks," LaLa has been a featured poet for Kevin's Cause Suicide Prevention And Awareness 5K run in 2016, S.W.A.A.M. Spoken Word Art and Music, The 2018 Pan African Film Festival Spoken Word Fest, Soul Sundays , The Speak Easy, The Griot Cafe, Poets & Allies, Rapp Saloon, Smoke Screen, Lyrical Rhythms L.A. and The P.O.W. (Power of Words) Open Mic. In 2018, LaLa completed a book tour in Chicago, Ill where she featured for "At Ease Sundays" and "Epic Night Open Mic." She also worked with spoken word artist Blaq Ice in the studio, performing on the poetry compilation track "Beauty & Lyrical Beast." In May 2019, she performed along with Chicago poets Hood Raised and Darling Mikki, in Las Vegas and Los Angeles for V.O.C.A.L. (Voices of Chicago, California and Las Vegas) where she was one of the featured artists. In 2022, LaLa released her debut CD, "LaLa DeVille's G-Funk Poetry," a hybrid mix of poetry and rap with hard hitting G-Funk type beats. Lala's Links:  https://www.mslaladeville.com/ Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

Check out Amanda's conversation with Ashley Renee! Ashley is a writer, author and spoken word poet originally from Chicago, Illinois who has resided in Los Angeles for the past 8 years. Ashley hosts a monthly open mic + black culture trivia night at legacy lounge called: Pardon my poetry. Ashley's first poetry album, Flowers won’t fix this, is out now! Ashley's Links: @ashleyreneepoet on Instagram Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

This week we have on the podcast, Heather Pease! Heather (she/her) gives a loud voice to what has been silenced, by removing shame. As a survivor of assault, she hopes her words shimmer and resonate as she exposes the humanity of being flawed, addressing stigmatizations with blunt, riveting force, where nobody gets off the hook. Heather’s debut poetry collection is Out of the Weeds. Her work has appeared in Literary Journals such as Rogue Agent, Alpha Female Society, Rat's Ass Review, as well as several print anthologies & ebooks. She hosts OC Speakeasy, a Poetry Event at House of Blues and lives in Orange County, CA. Heather's Links: www.poeticgirl.com   Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link:https://www.amandaeke.com/services

Check out Amanda's conversation with Bridgette Bianca! Bridgette is a poet and professor from South Central Los Angeles. Her first book of poetry, be/trouble, was released by Writ Large in 2020. When she is not sharing her poetry, she hosts two Instagram series, Young, Black, and Tenure-Track where she documents her experiences in higher education and We Be Readin! Wednesdays where she discusses her romance reading obsession! Bridgette's Links: bridgettebianca.com Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

Welcome to the podcast, Kyle Tran Myhre! Kyle Tran Myhre (also known as Guante) is a poet, educator, and activist based in Minneapolis. His work explores the relationships between narrative, power, and resistance, and he’s performed everywhere from the United Nations, to music festivals like Eaux Claires and Soundset, to countless colleges, universities, and conferences. A member of two National Poetry Slam championship teams, Tran Myhre uses poems as doorways into dialogue, critical thinking, and community-building. His latest book is “Not a Lot of Reasons to Sing, but Enough” (2022 Button Poetry). Kyle's Links: https://guante.info/ Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

Welcome to the Season 5 premiere of, The Poet Speaks Podcast! Our first guest of the season is, Sapphire! Author of Push, American Dreams, The Kid, and Black Wings & Blind Angels. Push: A novel, won the Book-of-the-Month Club’s Stephen Crane award for First Fiction, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s First Novelist Award, and in Great Britain, the Mind Book of the Year Award. Named by the Village Voice and Time Out New York as one of the top ten books of 1996, Push was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction. Push was adapted into the Oscar winning film, Precious. Sapphire’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Black Scholar, Spin, and Bomb. In February of 2007 Arizona State University presented PUSHing Boundaries, PUSHing Art: A Symposium on the Works of Sapphire. Sapphire’s work has been translated into 11 languages and has been adapted for stage in the United States and Europe. Sapphire's Links: https://linktr.ee/sapphiretheauthor Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services

January 28th The Poet Speaks Podcast is BACK! With even more poets and better conversations! Get ready! Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspea... And listen to , The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE! Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF... Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/service