Season 2
Episode 11
Alice Saunders
Poet. Radio Host. Editor
Alice Saunders currently lives in Tampa, Florida. She is the author of three poetry books: Affirmation of Addiction, The Forgotten Lyrics, and Before the Epiphany. Her poems have appeared in the OW Newsletter, BLACKBERRY: a magazine, The Corner Club Press, and Literary Juice.
Alice is founder and owner of TL Publishing Group LLC, creator of the Torrid Literature Journal and Ink of Genesis open mic. She is a host/programmer for the radio show Poetry Is... on WMNF 88.5 FM and www.wmnf.org. Saunders has also been nominated for Creative Loafing's Best Local Poet (2015).
Episode 10
Xavier Alexander
Spoken Word Artist. Performer. Creator
Xavier Alexander is a Afro-Latino queer poet who loves video games and chicken. Xavier got his start in poetry when he successfully earned a spot on the Tampa Brave New Voices youth poetry slam team. He went on to compete 2 cycles of the program and at the age of 19 started his own adult poetry slam team named “WeSpoke Slam,” which placed top 22 in the nation in 2017 and top 13 in 2018.
As an individual he has competed on multiple final stages across the country such as; Southern Fried Regional Slam, Texas Grand Slam, and Black Arts Matter festival. His work has been published on Write About Now and Button Poetry.
IG @Xavier_Coolkid
Episode 9
Liz Prisely
Poet. Performer. Educator
Liz is a writer, performance poet, and educator based out of Tampa, Florida. Since 2008 she has taught many forms of writing as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, as well as at Virginia Tech, the University of Tampa, and the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. She earned her MA in English from Virginia Tech and her BA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida.
Liz is currently the Executive Director of Heard Em Say Youth Arts Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to youth empowerment through creative arts. As a slam poet, Liz has represented Tampa at regional and national competitions, and her work can be seen on “SlamFind” and “Poetry Slam, Inc.” In addition to being a boss poet, Liz is also a passionate coffee drinker and fro-yo aficionado.
Episode 8
Lyrical Faith
Spoken Word Artist. Activist. Educator
A Bronx native born and raised, Lyrical Faith is a Black American Educator, Activist and
Spoken Word Poet who believes in a future for her world, much bigger than she can see. Her award-winning poetry has been a pillar of creative expression since picking up a pen to begin writing and performing at the age of 12. Forever walking by “Faith”, (the translation of her Swahili birth name, Imani), her words have graced stages beyond NYC to impact cities around the country and around the world, such as Paris, South Africa and Belize.
She is the co-founder of a monthly open mic & showcase for young adults in Harlem known as the Harlem Bomb Shelter. She is the founder of a nonprofit organization that promotes public service through the arts, known as Poetry for Service. She is the 2015 Poet of the Year at Syracuse University and the 2016 recipient of the Syracuse University Martin Luther King Jr.
Unsung Hero Award. She has performed for the likes of Ilyasah Shabazz, Jasmine Mans,
Mahogany L. Browne, Aja Monet, Sway Calloway, Tamika Mallory and many more.
When not onstage, she is behind the scenes as an active leader in her community by holding positions in various public service organizations and empowering the youth as an educator by professional trade. She continues to tour, facilitate writer’s workshops, mentor young people and remain active in her sorority (Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and Sociology from Syracuse University (’16) and a Master of Arts in Higher Education & Student Affairs from New York University (’18).
Through her poetry, Lyrical Faith strives to inspire, educate and advocate for intersectional and institutional issues by merging the arts and activism with a faith-based worldview.