Poetic Works... Introducing Underground Poets To Mainstream America

Published On: Sun, Aug 30th, 2009

Community | By Urban Jibaro

Poetic Works… Introducing Underground Poets To Mainstream America

Familia…

If you know me, you know I love spoken word. Although I have been real low profile as a performer these days you can see my passion through my work with my partner PaPo Swiggity and our Capicu Poetry movement. Today I want to introduce you to another movement that has been taking the web by storm…that movement is called Poetic Works.

Poetic Works has put together a very interesting community on the web for poets and lovers of spoken words that is hard to compare to anything else. Utilizing multimedia on their website they have created a common ground for poets to interact, socialize, share information with their fans.

I love this website and everything it stands for…check it out!!!!

Check them out today at www.poeticworks.com

As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro

Here is some information from their website…

Mission Statement

To provide you with the highest quality in performing artists, places
and events anywhere! The artists, shows, and events that we promote are
hand picked by our staff and recommended by other members in order to
provide you with the best in Spoken Word, poetry, music and
entertainment. We take great pride in providing maximum exposure for
our members.

About Us

PoeticWorks was originally established in 2004. It was designed to
introduce underground poets to mainstream America. Over 400 poets were
apart of the community and with assistance from PoeticWorks Publishing
Company, 35 poets were published in 2 Anthologies between 2005 and
2006.

EMichele Paul, the founder of PoeticWorks, also hosted several shows in
and around San Diego, California and produced San Diego's first Battle
of the Poets in 2005. From that show, 2 of this country's finest Spoken
Word Artists were crowned "Top Notch Poet".

PoeticWorks is constantly finding ways to re-invent itself to give
poets the best outlet for their work. We are determined to provide a
quality site to match the work of the Artists that become apart of our
community.

As we continue to grow our community we will also increase our vision so stick around and see what's in store for us all!

EMichele Paul

Founder/Director

Poet

EMichele Paul is a native of Beaumont Texas. She is a graduate of West
Brook High. She has spent the last 18 years, serving her country honorably
as a United States Marine and will retire June 2010. She has deployed to
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in support of Joint Task Force 160, as well as Al
Taqaddum, Iraq twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She is the
mother of 2 sons and is the oldest sibling out of 4. EMichele Paul is a
published author of "Yes Girl…Even YOU!!!" and "Soulutions and
Affirmations (from a poet's perspective)". She considers herself a
conscious poet. She has been writing poetry since the 3rd grade and
performing Spoken Word since 2005. Her main goals in life are to raise
good, God-fearing, loving and confident men and to set a postive example for
our youth and anyone she comes into contact with.

Flora Montes

Director of CommonUnity/Admin

Poet

Flora Montes AKA LaPoeta was born & raised in the South Bronx to a single
teen mom. Painful circumstances of her childhood made her grow up way before
her time. From those experiences & hardships grew a desire to accomplish
more & end the cycle of abuse that came in many shapes & forms throughout
her life. It fired up a strength and a determination to want more and end
the cycle. She married and moved to Connecticut with her 2 yr old son in
hopes of escaping certain memories and making a better life for herself and
her child. She had a daughter & tried living the ''white picket fence
fantasy'' not realizing that she had to learn to forgive & let go of the
pain. Through her writing she found poeticworks.com and met Michele the
founder of Poeticworks. Michele has been her guardian angel and inspiration.
Writing has also allowed her to shed the layers of pain that were buried
deep within. She works full time for Roy Publishing group in addition to
going to Culinary school full time. La Poeta is also Director of
The Common Unity Project.

Jose Enriquez

Creative Advisor/Custom Book Designer

Author/Illustrator

Jose Enriquez was born in Texas, raised in Puerto Rico and eventually moved to New York. He is an
author/illustrator. He has written and illustrated 5 children's books (1 in
spanish). You can catch him most of time drawing or trying to create new
characters that are appealing to kids. When he's not drawing or illustrating
book covers, he works as a full-time teacher's assistant for a third grade
bilingual classes. This is where he gets most of his inspiration and main
ideas for his stories. He likes to write and illustrate books that are
compelling to the kids – books that make kids forget about their video games
– and have them reading more because of the pure enjoyment of the book's
plots and characters. Igniting that creative spark in a child's mind is the
most rewarding gift I can get from writing and illustrating these books.

Nasstassia Sitze

Promotions/Recording Engineer/MixTape Producer

Poet/Spoken Word Artist

Nasstassia Sitze is from the "Lone Star State", Lufkin, Texas. With a love
for Hip Hop, she began writing and recording around 1995. She didn't
graduate High School but instead obtained her GED in 2001 and decided to
serve her country with the U.S. Army. She has been around the world and on
two deployments to Iraq where 4 poets got together to create 3rd Eye Alumni.
Founded in 2007 these poets had a vision to re-define poetry through spoken
word with an unforgettable style of performing. After serving 4 years in the
military, Nasstassia now attends Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida
studying Recording Arts with a concentration on Entertainment Business.
Life, people, and God are her inspirations and at this point in her life she
is unstoppable. Her goals are to be well rounded in the industry ready to
take on any mission that will make a difference in the world.

Demi Davis

Host of the PWRadio Show

Poet

Writing History…
I took on the role of a poet back in '87. It all started with a few
love letters to my high school sweetheart. Soon the letters I wrote
became poems. Every time I got the urge to write something, it had to
be poetic. I've written poems and stories for love and the broken
hearted, including the good times, bad times and loneliness. Everyone
can relate 2 at least 1 of my pieces. I've been on stage [open
mic-nites, contests] a few times. I enjoy the interaction with an
audience and fellow poets/spoken word artists.

My inspirations…
Inspiration is everywhere. Love is 1 of the biggest sources of
inspiration for me. I find the words very easily. I'm overwhelmed with
inspiration [and hope] from the incomparable, Dr. Maya Angleou and Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Life itself is an immeasurable source of
inspiration. If u 'act' as a 'receiver' in your life, you are certain
to receive inspiration from somewhere, something or someone. Over the
years my passion for writing has continued to grow. It's not over you
see, 'cause I know I got mo' n me.

I've been
doing live performances for the past 8yrs @ various venues in Palmdale,
Lancaster, LA, Hollywood and San Diego. I'm a regular performer @
Spoken Funk and Da Poetry Lounge in LA and a very active member of the
world famous Poetic Works.

ALEXIS "R*NAVAJA" MALDONADO TORRES

Co-Host of XPRESSIONS

POET / BARBER

Alexis "R*Navaja" MaldonadoTorres
is a native New Yorker (Yonkers). As an only child growing up in a
single mother home, he had his fare share of trouble. It wasn't until
16 that he changed his life around by becoming a barber and later at 18
enlisted in the Marine Corps. He has been writing poetry on and off
since the age of 13. At 21 was reintroduced to the poetry scene by Miss
Paul. He currently resides in California and is the co-host of
Xpressions.