Youth centered nonprofit, Parle Endeavors, held their 2nd annual Teen Poetry Slam Series this summer. This year, the series spanned 7 events, spanning 4 of the 5 boroughs, plus a Wild Card Entry Opportunity via social media competition for Staten Island poets or any other teens who wanted to enter the slam. Culminating with the Slam Finals at Poets House in Lower Manhattan featuring 10 teens finalists vying for a $1,000 grand prize award, with 4 other cash prizes.
The semi-finals took place in Brooklyn and Harlem leading to the 10 finalists who would perform at finals.
The preliminary and semi-final rounds were also an opportunity to introduce the teens plus their friends and family to local culturally relevant venues that they might not be familiar with. Among them were Thompson Studios (Harlem), Brooklyn Poets, Brooklyn Central Library @ Grand Army Plaza, The Parkchester Branch of the New York Public Library (Bronx) and The Harvest Room (Queens).
The Teen finalists hailed from throughout the city, representing different perspectives, on different journeys, but passionate about writing and telling their story through spoken word. The ten finalists are listed below with their ages at the time of the competition, where they represent and the preliminary round they attended in parenthesis if it wasn’t their neighborhood.
Yordani Rodriguez, 18, Brooklyn
Jayden Antwine, 18, Queens
Mac Shamalova, 17, Queens
Ania Rush, 18, Brooklyn
Italy Lee, 19, Manhattan/New Jersey (Harlem)
Iylena Smalls, 16, Brooklyn (Wild Card Entry)
Paule Jena Silatchom, 19, Bronx
Aniyah Artis, 17, Brooklyn
Jaydan Rivera, 17, Queens
Mariam Dembélé, 17, Harlem (Brooklyn)
2024 Parle Endeavors Teen Poetry Slam Series Champion is Italy Lee!!!
Runner Ups:
2nd Place: Mariam Dembélé
3rd Place: Ania Rush
4th Place: Jaydan Rivera
5th Place: Paule Jena Silatchom
Image Credits: Calvin Theobalds
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