The winners of the 2024 Jaki Shelton Green Performance Poetry Prize have been announced by contest judge Dasan Ahanu:
1st Place: “Tondu: The Tragicomedy of the Black Boy” by Edward Mabrey
As a prolific poet and slam poetry performer, Edward Mabrey has 4 World Championships, 7 Regional Championships, and over 500 other wins to his name. During over a decade living in North Carolina, Mabrey participated in countless open mics and poetry slams and taught workshops throughout the state. An NAACP Image Award Nominee, Mabrey has been on TV One, as well as ABC, FOX, HBO, CNN, Crackle, CBS, and NBC and has performed at over 400 colleges. A Cave Canem fellow, Watering Hole graduate fellow, and Scioto Retreat Cohort, Mabrey is a Pushcart nominee and was commissioned to craft a speech encompassing the Freedom Award recipients for 2017-2021 on behalf of the National Civil Rights Museum. Mabrey is a choreopoet, screenwriter, and actor. Most recently, he is a 2023-2024 Grammy Voting Member and proud member of Phi Theta Kappa.
2nd Place: “Foundations” by Jess Kennedy
Jess Kennedy, now a resident of Washington, NC, is an Ohio native. She was introduced to slam poetry in high school where she competed in her school district’s annual poetry slam and has pursued it since, including attendance at Ravensun’s Wellspring of Imagination youth writing retreat in 2018.
3rd Place: “Hey America” by Marcial “CL” Harper
Marcial “CL” Harper, who performs under the name “CL Tha Artist,” is a multi-faceted poet, rapper, health coach and business consultant. CL has performed poetry at various events across the Southeastern US and Virgin Islands.
Honorable Mention: Alessandra Nysether-Santos. Alessandra Nysether-Santos is a Brazilian American writer and educator who now lives in Florida after eight years in North Carolina. In addition to their 2023 Applewhite finalist poem in the North Carolina Literary Review, their work can be found in Sad Girl Review, SOUP CAN Magazine, the lickety~split, and more.
Honorable Mention: Brenda Bailey. Brenda Bailey, artistically known as Loc’d, is an educator and performance artist. Her artistic passion ranges from dance to theater to spoken word to song. She has performed in various local theatrical productions, appeared in award-winning short films, competed in poetry slams, hosted poetry events, headlined with bands, and recorded critically acclaimed music.
Honorable Mention: Regina YC Garcia. Regina YC Garcia is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and ECU and has served as an English Professor and the Global Programs Coordinator at Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC since 1999. Regina is a DAR American Heritage Poetry Award winner, a two-time James Applewhite Semifinalist, a finalist in the Charlotte Lit/South Award, and a Pushcart Nominee. She has been published in Up the Staircase Quarterly, South Florida Poetry Journal, Amistad, The Elevation Review, Black Joy Unbound, and numerous other reviews and anthologies. Her recent book, The Firetalker’s Daughter, was released in March 2023 by Finishing Line Press.