New Voices is a program designed for emerging poets under the age of 25. It aims to create a platform for young poets by welcoming them into the larger Philadelphia poetry collaborative and giving them the opportunity to share their work with a wide audience.

Hazel The Aura is a Poetic Artist born and raised in Philly. Through spoken word and music Hazel The Aura celebrates the voices, rhythms, and language of her neighborhood. Her debut chapbook Next Hood Over will be published by ToHo Journal at the top of 2020. If you would like to be neighbors please follow @HazelTheAura on Instagram.

Gretel Cuevas, 21, was born in Celaya, Mexico, a small city at the heart of the country and has lived in Mexico, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. She possesses a unique perspective of the world and herself, is a Political Science major at Bryn Mawr College, and an innate explorer, which has driven her interests in everything from politics to economics to social activism to fiction writing. In 2016, she co-authored her first novel, “The Century of Broken Hopes,” which was the beginning of her passion and life mission as a fiction writer. Gretel is the type of person that meditates every day, prefers espressos over cappuccinos, believes in destiny, and enjoys having long walks with good company.

Yves-Melsein Metellus, 14, is a student at Franklin Learning Center. He enjoys writing poetry to express himself and explore his emotions. Yves-Melsein also likes to play chess and he is currently training to be really good at it.

Krisann Janowitz, Host – Open Reading Follows