KAI DIATA GIOVANNI

POET, AUTHOR, ORGANIZER

Kai Diata Giovanni is the 2025 New York City Youth Poet Laureate and member of the 2026 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Slam Team. They were a finalist in the 2025 New York State Youth Poet Laureate competition, and they competed at Brave New Voices in 2024 as a member of Urban Word NYC's slam team.From Brooklyn, New York to Nairobi, Kenya, Kai has organized and performed as an artivist (artist-activist) locally, nationally, and internationally for many years. Kai’s work routinely explores race, rage, radical justice, and belonging.Kai has performed in spaces such as the Brooklyn Museum, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, the Blue Note Jazz Club, the Guggenheim, Lincoln Center, Apollo Theater, University of Nairobi, Trinity Church, and more. Kai has spoken and performed in collaboration with organizations such as the WNBA (NY Liberty), the African Literature Association, the Department of Education, Girl Be Heard, the Laundromat Project, and more.Kai published their first book of poetry, “The Words That Need To Be Heard,” at only 12 years old. They recently published their second poetry anthology, "In Season," exploring themes of identity, justice, queerness, love, grief, and transformation through a lens that is unapologetically Black, tender, and revolutionary.They currently study Creative Writing at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

POETRY &
PERFORMANCE

Writing Accomplishments/Accolades- At 13, published their first book of poems titles The Words That Need To Be Heard.
- As a 9th grader, received the 1st Place for Poetry award for the Brooklyn Public Library Ned Vizzini contest for high schoolers.
- 2024 Black Girl Magic Fellowship Winner
- 2024 NYC Youth Poet Laureate Runner-Up and Ambassador
- 2024 Urban Word NYC Slam Team member
- 2025 NYC Youth Poet Laureate
- 2026 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Slam Team member

Notable Venues- Brooklyn Children’s Museum
- The Blue Note Jazz Club
- The Nuyorican Poets Cafe
- Apollo Theater
- The Brooklyn Museum,
- Off-Broadway Triad Theatre
- The Guggenheim Museum
- Roulette Intermedium with aja monet, co-curated by Mahogany L. Browne and Lemon Anderson
- Lincoln Center
- Trinity Church
- Central Park with The Rakiem Walker Project
- Barclays Center in collaboration with WNBA's NY Liberty
- NYC Poetry Festival on Governor's Island
- Nairobi Literature Festival
- DreamYard’s Salon Series for youth artivists facilitated by author Renee Watson

EDUCATION &
FACILITATION

Experience in Education- Keynote speaker to youth at the Water Resources, Art & Poetry Celebration
- Keynote speaker and facilitator of hour-long writing workshop for teens for the Lincoln Center’s NextGen Changemaker Summit
- Co-facilitator of numerous poetry and civics workshops in NYC public schools with the Department of Education’s Civics For All programming
- Facilitator of workshop on the intersection Black, queer girlhood and the fashion industry with Sadie Nash Leadership Project
- Facilitator of virtual NJPAC Dodge Poetry teen workshop
- TEDx speaker for Tedx DeerPark Women
- Co-facilitated of roundtable discussion Waterwebs: Choreopoem as Spatial, Temporal Magics and Language at the African Literature Association Conference in Nairobi, Kenya

New Age Poetry- Established New Age Poetry, a youth-led, youth-centric poetry community
-Co-facilitator of monthly open mics, showcases and community conversations that began in Brooklyn, New York, and continue in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, Maryland.New Age Poetry seeks to bridge the gaps within the poetry community, to create spaces where intergenerational conversations can be had and fostered without unequal power dynamics– where youth voices are not only heard, but are followed. New Age centers poetry as protest: where poetry meets revolutionary work.