WE SPEAK is ECA’s annual celebration of spoken word poetry and storytelling. The evening integrates critically acclaimed artists alongside talented local youth, providing a platform for artists to respond to issues that impact themselves, their communities, and the world. Past WE SPEAK artists include celebrated poets Anastacia-Reneé, Shane Koyczan, Steve Connell, Ivan Coyote, Kealoha, and Chelsey Richardson.
Amber Flame is a Seattle-based interdisciplinary artist, writer, activist and educator. Flame’s work explores spirituality and sexuality, cross-woven with themes of grief and loss, motherhood and magic, and the interstitial joy in it all. A 2016 and 2017 Pushcart Prize nominee and Jack Straw Writer Program alum, Flame has been published in diverse arenas, including Def Jam Poetry, Nailed Magazine, Winter Tangerine, The Dialogist, Split This Rock, Black Heart Magazine, Sundress Publications, CityArts Magazine, FreezeRay, Redivider Journal and more.
Sharon Nyree Williams is the former Executive Director for the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas, and the founder of The Mahogany Project, a theatre arts collaborative that focuses on allowing Black artists an opportunity to share their voice. Her work aims to be purposeful in sharing stories about imperfections in hopes of changing the world one story at a time, and sharing her truth as it relates to family, religion, depression, and being Black in America.
Genre: Spoken Word Poetry / Storytelling
What to Expect: Fresh perspectives and diverse narratives that inspire and empower.
Sponsored by Michelle Zimmerman D’Couto, David Brewster & Mary Kay Sneeringer and Edmonds Arts Commission.
