Above: This year’s finalists stand beside their mentor, spoken word artist and 2023 Piedmont Laureate Dasan Ahanu, who spearheaded the program in partnership with local arts organizations.
story by JANICE LEWINE
photos courtesy of CINDY McENERY
Behind confident stances, hearts race with vulnerability as young people confront identity, injustice, heartbreak, and hope with words that cut deep—far wiser than their years. This fearless expression unfolds in the High School Spoken Word Contest, sponsored by United Arts of Wake County and the Raleigh Fine Arts Society.
Each year, students from Durham, Orange, and Wake counties submit original poems under three minutes for the contest, the brainchild of 2023 Piedmont Laureate Dasan Ahanu. Twelve finalists compete for first-, second-, and third-place honors, judged by a panel of spoken word artists.
Driven to nurture emerging talent and inspire the next generation through poetry and spoken word, Ahanu—a Southern storyteller and respected recording artist who has collaborated with jazz, soul, and hip-hop greats—teamed up with local arts organizations two years ago to launch the inaugural High School Spoken Word Contest, culminating in an awards ceremony brimming with emotion and applause.
At this year’s third annual event on February 11 at the North Carolina Museum of Art, students’ dynamic performances—punctuated by the snap of fingers, a customary sign of instant approval—were celebrated, fostering collective understanding and paving the way for next year’s poets to shine. Their courage reminds us that powerful storytelling knows no age limit and leaves a lasting mark long after the final word.
Excerpts from the following poems by the three award recipients are reprinted with permission.
Marks/Not Alone
Sophie Brinton, a freshman at Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh, delivered a raw exploration of the immense challenges teens face—including the risk of suicide—in “Marks/Not Alone.” Every point landed with force, earning her the first-place $1,000 cash prize. Some excerpts:
This is for the screamers that go unheard.
This is for the dreamers that can’t speak their words.
This is for everyone, anyone, who feels like dying
is a better option than being here tomorrow.
You are not alone.
This doesn’t have to be how your story goes,
How it ends, because not one person deserves to feel like
they aren’t worth being amended.
Even when it feels like it.
Even when you are.
You are not alone.
Brinton calls “Marks/Not Alone” one of her earliest poems, yet she handles performing it with ease. “I take comfort in a lot of things that make people uncomfortable,” she explains. “The first parts of my poem are very personal to me, but I thought, how can I turn this into something people can feel themselves without it being sympathy rather than empathy? Suicide awareness is extremely heavy. It’s not about me, but my kindred and everyone who feels this way as a whole. We all want to help each other feel better.
“Poetry has done more for me than I could have ever imagined. It’s my outlet. It’s how I say everything that I cannot express.”
Invisible Hand
Selina Sentosa Harjo, a senior at Green Hope High School, performed “Invisible Hand,” which hit with vivid imagery, social critique, and ironic bite—including this passage:
a hand so intangible,
has turned me into a product
has turned me into a cannibal,
has turned me into a tax deduct.
a hand so rumoured
has turned me into a rabid consumer,
as i turn a blind eye to the tumour
that grows
and slows all critical thinking
‘cause all I can hear
is the sound of the sneers and the winking,
of the big wigs in big chairs.
and,
“is there such thing as an ethical billionaire?”
“As someone who’s about to turn 18 and go into the real world, a lot of what has been weighing on my mind are the downsides of capitalism,” says Sentosa Harjo, whose poem won $500 for second place. “Geopolitics is very interesting to me, and I thought it would be great if I could turn it into an artistic expression. It hits harder that way.”
She encourages any student even remotely interested in spoken word to “go for it” and share a heartfelt piece. “Poetry is universal. I’m glad we have this avenue to convey thoughts out loud. It’s shown me the impact I can have. The common thing I heard from people is, ‘I felt like you were talking to me.’ It was very gratifying.”
A taste of the Black Experience
Shia Raine Edwards, an Enloe sophomore, dazzled in “A taste of the Black Experience,” drawing on her own encounters with racism. A glimpse of her hard-hitting poem follows; the full piece earned her $300 for third place.
“you see, there are so many small acts and hints of racism we as black people have to face on the daily. but it doesn’t make sense to you, it just seems like we’re making a big deal out of nothing. but just like the explanation of the oxygen you breathe, just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. what you don’t understand is, it hurts. it makes our minds time travel to all the pain and hurt and suffering that we had to fight to get past yet we still can’t get past because it happens every day. I am so tired of fighting. I am so tired of hiding. I am so tired of saying, I am not a monkey so don’t compare me to one. You can’t touch my hair, I am not a dog.”
“It flowed out easily because of my experiences as an African American, that are most relatable among our community,” Edwards says. “People don’t have the intention to be offensive or be all touchy, but respecting boundaries matters. It makes me feel glad I chose to speak about it rather than shying away.”
Watching Ahanu deliver an electrifying spoken word performance at Enloe inspired her to enter the contest. “I was instantly mesmerized. He gave me a beautiful example of how I wanted to portray my writing. With spoken word, it’s definitely in your delivery. You can change people’s lives with that.”
Literary Contest Chair Mary Gulledge of the Raleigh Fine Arts Society echoes those sentiments, saying, “The connection between poet and audience is palpable: when the students share with literary finesse their vulnerabilities, concerns, joys, and sorrows, the audience responds with a powerful awareness that the students individual thoughts and feelings are part of the human experience that unites us all. I’m overcome with gratitude to be part of a group that provides this opportunity for high school students to showcase their literary talents.”
View the performances of all 12 finalists—each of whom received a $100 Amazon gift card for their bold and compelling presentations—at unitedarts.org/programs/high-school-spoken-word-contest.
Sophie Brinton (left), Shia Raine Edwards (center), and Selina Sentosa Harjo (right) celebrate their victories at the
High School Spoken Word Contest awards ceremony February 11.