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Porsha Olayiwola is a writer, performer, educator, and curator. Originally from Chicago, Olayiwola earned a BA in African American Studies and Gender and Women Studies from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and is an MFA candidate at Emerson College. Olayiwola is the author of the collection i shimmer sometimes, too (Button Poetry, 2019). An Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the artistic director at MassLEAP, a literary youth organization, Olayiwola is the current poet laureate for the city of Boston.
Read about Porsha Olayiwola’s 2020 Poets Laureate Fellowship project.
In 2020, Porsha Olayiwola was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow.