Presenting the Graduates of the 2018-2019 Teaching Artist Project (TAP). This anthology is a compilation of their work, experiences, and the fun we've all had together during this academic year. Community-Word Project's TAP is in its 21st year and is the longest-standing professional development program open to the Teaching Artist field by a non-profit organization in New York City. TAP prepares Teaching Artists to provide high-quality arts education to underserved youth in N

Melissa has worked at the intersection of arts and social change work through different roles as a cultural worker/administrator, organizer, and educator while also developing a creative practice as a artist. Melissa contemplates culture, identity, and place, especially in relation to being part of the Asian diaspora, and explores cross-racial solidarity, language and interpretation, and the practice of listening through artistic process. Melissa has learned and collaborated

Phoenix was born in Manhattan but raised in the suburbs of New Jersey. Her first poems were about cutting boards and aliens. She followed her heart back to the city, where she earned her MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from The New School. In addition to the Teaching Artist Project, she is part of the New York City Teaching Collaborative to earn her master’s in English Education. Phoenix hopes to create a classroom culture that fuses a new-age style of reading and

Saba Sebhatu was born in Italy and raised in Washington DC where she completed a BA in journalism. She is a writer and photographer and believes in the arts and its ability to build confluence between cultures and societies and uses these methods in centering her teaching practice. She moved to Eritrea where she began working as a peace-building practitioner in conflict resolution initiatives in the Horn of Africa. A previous Callaloo Fellow, her current work focuses on the A

Sara Knudson was born, raised, and attended university in Sacramento, CA. Her first short story was written about a horse, and she has spent the last twenty years riding, training, and teaching students how to ride horses. With an interest in communication, whether it be silent kinesthetic communication between horse and rider, or a story conveyed through language, Sara decided to move to NYC to pursue writing and teaching the craft of writing in greater depth. She attends Sa

Sasha Warner-Berry is a writer and educator living in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Cave Canem fellow, and her poems have appeared in Blueshift Journal and Muzzle Magazine. In addition to writing, her creative pursuits include theater, photography, and dance. She has experience teaching and developing curricula for both children and adults, and has also worked in community organizing, interpretation and translation, and hospitality. She holds a BA in Africana Studies from B

Keva G is a native of The Bronx, NY. She is a poet, spoken word artist, and most recently, an emcee. She has performed at The Apollo Theatre,Nuyorican Poets Cafe. and The Schomberg Library. Currently, she is attending college in pursuit of an A.A. in Communications. Her dream is to have several collections of poetry published and drop a mixtape.

Tiffany Ramos, born and raised in Queens, New York, attended Boston University for Fine Art with a focus in Painting, primarily utilizing oil paints, while experimenting with sculpture, printmaking, collage, and illustration throughout her process. Living in a densely multicultural environment and working with multiple communities has greatly influenced her interest in identity, social communication, and connection. She has a powerful interest in how cultures change over time

Trace Howard DePass is the author of Self-portrait as the space between us (PANK Books, 2018) and editor of Scholastic’s Best Teen Writing of 2017. He served as the 2016 Teen Poet Laureate for the Borough of Queens. His work has been featured on television and radio—BET Next Level, Billboard, Blavity, and NPR’s The Takeaway—and in print—Anomalous Press, Entropy Magazine, Platypus Press, Split This Rock!, The Other Side of Violet, [SAND] Journal, & Bettering American Poetry (V

Yael Ben-Zion is a New York-based visual artist whose work considers the relationship of the personal to the political and social. She usually works on long-term lens-based projects that involve extensive research and continuing collaboration with her subjects, on or off camera. Yael was born in Minneapolis, MN and raised in Israel. She is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (LL.B/MBA), Yale Law School (LL.M; J.S.D) and the International Center of Photography (GS