Help Us Send Our Kids to Chicago!

Six Birmingham teens have been accepted to compete at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam. These teens have spent at least a year working in their school and at BPL under the guidance of Real Life Poets, a local poetry and spoken word non-profit. Please consider a gift to BPL’s Teen Poetry Initiatives to help them and others continue learning about poetry, performance, personal expression, and public speaking.

Below are a couple of the students who need your help to attend. Click here to contribute.

Justin Wright, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate

"When I write, I try to take on the persona of that person to bring their experiences and hardships into a piece to make them feel that they are not, in fact, alone; that there is someone, somewhere out there who can understand, or at least attempt to understand how they feel. I would also like to start, in the future, some other summer program that is centered on the education and wholeness of the child. It would be a camp based on the idea or setting of a book to provide an enjoyable experience, while at the same time, strengthening educational aspirations. These goals are important to me because my passions are writing and helping people, and I plan to do all that I can to achieve these goals."

 
Miaya Webster, ASFA

"I believe that education is the gateway to greatness and without it, it is much easier to fail. Achieving good grades is not an easy task, but it is an important one. ART speaks and there is no mistake in art. Creativity to me is being oneself allowing the spirit within to be expressed. Creativity is unique with each person. It is not and can not be restricted it must be free. That is creativity to me.”