Meilani Clay

Meilani Clay
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Writer and Poet

Meilani Clay (born January 11, 1988) is a conscious writer, educator and poetry slam champion from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. She emerged as part of Youth Speaks, a youth performance poetry and creative writing program founded in 1996, and served on SPOKES (Selected-Poets-Organizing-Kreating-&-Expanding-Spoken Word), a Youth Advisory Board and paid internship program.

Clay also taught in an academic enrichment program, formerly known as Summerbridge National, which caters to urban youth with high potential but limited resources. She was a Bay Area representative at the Ninth Annual Brave New Voices (BNV) International Youth Poetry Slam Contest in New York City. Clay performed at the Grand Slam Finals in the world famous Apollo Theater and helped her team win the top prize.

Clay graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in English, and was a contributing editor for the university's Amistad literary magazine.

Television and Film

Meilani Clay was a featured poet on Episode 3 of the sixth season of HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. She performed a piece about questioning God, entitled "Lost."

Clay was featured in 2nd Verse: The Rebirth of Poetry, a documentary-drama from director Carl Brown and Corduroy Media. In 2011, she was a featured poet on The Angle Show, a web documentary series by Park Triangle Productions.

Published Media

• Society, (2004). Bringing The Noise Vol. 4, vocal, writer. (Youth Speaks Inc./Hard Knock Radio)
• Loads, (2005). Bringing The Noise Vol. 4, vocal, writer. (Youth Speaks Inc./Hard Knock Radio)
• Search For Home, (2008). (self-published)
• Poetry Anthology, in production. (First Word Press)

External links

• Youth Speaks Official Site
• "Cool Kids" Clay's Poem on The Angle Show
• "Loads" Clay's Poem on Uth TV
• "Lost" Clay's Poem on Fempire
• "My Only Other Holiday Poem" Clay's Poem on The California Report