Speakers Sarah Kay: Poet

Sarah Kay

A performing poet since she was 14 years old, Sarah Kay is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E., teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States.

Why you should listen to her:

hands are not about politics / this is a poem about love / and fingers/ fingers interlock like a beautiful zipper of prayer

--Sarah Kay

Plenty of 14-year-old girls write poetry. But few hide under the bar of the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village absorbing the talents of New York’s most exciting poets. Sarah Kay also had the guts to take its stage and hold her own against performers at least a decade her senior. Her talent for weaving words into poignant, funny, and powerful performances paid off.

Now 22, Kay is a successful spoken word poet and codirects Project V.O.I.C.E. (Vocal Outreach Into Creative Expression). Founded by Kay in 2004, Project V.O.I.C.E. encourages people, particularly teenagers, to use spoken word as a tool for understanding the world and self, and a medium for vital expression.

Her poem "B" has been turned into a hardcover book >>

"A day with Sarah Kay reminded me of poetry's power to help us make sense of our lives, to see the world in a new way."
Deb Martin, Rowan University

Email to a friend »

Quotes by Sarah Kay

  • “I use poetry to help me work through what I don’t understand, but I show up to each new poem with a backpack full of everywhere else that I’ve been.”

    Watch this talk »

  • “I want [my daughter] to look at the world through the underside of a glass-bottom boat, to look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind.”

    Watch this talk »

  • “It’s not just the adage ‘write what you know,’ it’s about gathering up all of the knowledge and experience you’ve collected up to now to help you dive into the things you don’t know.”

    Watch this talk »

More TEDQuotes…