Kay, Sarah (sera)

January 20, 2013
“At just 24, spoken word poet, Sarah Kay’s CV is intimidating, diverse and thankfully shows no sign of slowing down. Quixote’s Cove Bookshop and Word Warriors, in collaboration with the US Embassy brought over Sarah Kay for a week long poetry extravaganza which included workshops, performances, interaction programs and school/college tours last month. WAVE caught up with Sarah during her whirlwind tour and got her talking about spoken word poetry and its growing popularity.”

December 1, 2012
“Sarah, beautiful and effervescent, held the packed audience in a rapturous embrace. From watching her perform at TED or the myriad videos on YouTube, there are a few things that a viewer can’t quite tell. First, that she’s tall. Then, that this 23-year-old commands the stage with effortless confidence, exuding charm and spirit. But what does come across through video and in person is that her poems are so much persona, bravado, experience and emotion. There are matters of little import to others and yet, the way she tells it, she could very well be narrating the end of the world. She spoke and in speaking, gave advice. Her metaphors were insights, the melody her voice.
Walking away, there was something intangible in the air, as if struck with something too incomprehensible to behold. Maybe this is what poetry does. Walking away, men and women, girls and boys, I think we all fell in love with Sarah Kay.”

November 30, 2012
“Watch her perform once, and you can’t help but fall in love with Sarah Kay… The energetic cadences of her rendition, the way she uses her hands to liven up her performance, and the dazzling smile that lights up her face captivate and mesmerize. You can’t decide whether it’s the words or the performance that has managed to grip you. It may also be the enigmatic and fresh-faced lady. Perhaps, it’s the combination of all three. Her performances take your breath away and you just can’t ever get enough of Sarah, and that’s because her poems are spectacular and elegant—— just the way she is!”

August 17, 2012
“Sarah took some time out of her busy schedule (seriously… just this summer she’s been all over the northeast US and Central America and earlier this year to Singapore and Australia) to answer some questions for us.”

May 19, 2012
“Each time this lovely 23-year-old took the stage to perform a poem, the audience quieted, reflected, and delighted in a completely different way. On YouTube, at TED, and in classrooms around the world, Sarah Kay has become an inspiration and role model for teenagers (and others)… Listen to her closely— and take in the layers of response you have to her own poetry— and you see that she is doing something more instructive and nourishing… She puts words to what she knows about poetry, stories, and what happens within and between human beings.”

March 5, 2012
“From the Mouth of Babes: Spoken word poet Sarah Kay may only be 23, but she is already a force to be reckoned with. To call Sarah Kay eloquent is an understatement. The 23-year-old spoken word poet is an articulate force of nature, blowing audience members away with each enunciated adjective, suspenseful pause and wave of her hand…Kay is also dabbling in other projects, including plays, illustrated books, documentaries and photography. “I’m always trying to find the best way to tell each story,” she says. And at 23, it looks like Kay’s own story won’t be reaching The End anytime soon.”

November 29, 2011
“She’s young, talented, and has a true gift for language. Poet Sarah Kay, now 23, got her start as a spoken word poet at the age of 14, hiding under the famous Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan’s East Village and listening to New York’s most talented poets perform.”

November 30, 2011
“I remember watching her talk for the first time, completely mesmerized and moved.”

October 26, 2011
“Move Over, Boys. Sarah Kay Steals the Show. The Nantucket Project… featured some major financial heavyweights including Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, Larry Summers, Former Treasury Secretary and President of Harvard University and Hedge Fund Manager Eddie Lampert, among others. And yet it was an upcoming poet, named Sarah Kay, who in many ways stole the show.”

April 11, 2011
“Reminding us of the role of the arts in this society, Kay’s talk provides us with a fresh and positive perspective that seems crucial in light of recent catastrophic events.”

March 10, 2011
“Sarah Kay… was a clear superstar and mesmerizing.”

March 9, 2011
“You don’t have to be old to be wise. One of the wisest talks of the event was by the youngest speaker, 22-year-old slam poet Sarah Kay, who showed how the doors of self-expression are available to everyone.”

March 7, 2011
“Best Overall TED TALK 2011.”

March 4, 2011
“A performance poet named Sarah Kay blew down the house with her passionate wordplay.”

March 4, 2011
“Sarah’s powerful poems are open, honest, vulnerable and beautiful… and man I wish I’d had her wisdom and creative guts when I was 22 years old.”

July 23, 2010
“It’s possible to be a professional spoken word poet. Sarah at 22, is one, though a lot of her time these days is spent figuring out how to teach this art form.”

May 3, 2010
“Sarah Kay lights a spark with each poem she shares, and you, her audience, will find that you catch on fire as you listen, if you let yourself. She has shared her spark with teenagers across the country, helping them find their voices, and I have no doubt that the power of her words has helped save lives.”

April 20, 2010
“[Sarah] has continued to craft lesson plans and curricula in an effort to weave spoken word into preexisting courses, all while honing her skills at teaching this nontraditional art form… Sarah, for her part, appears so comfortable in her own skin that she draws audience members toward her with each passionate hand gesture and every perfectly articulated word.”

“Sarah is smart, talented, inspiring and humble. When Sarah speaks, she sings. When she sings, she speaks. She is wise beyond her years and, best of all, she has many more years beyond her. We’re all better people for having Sarah and her message in our lives.”

“When Sarah Kay began hanging around the Bowery Poetry Club as a teenager, she developed the reputation of being a great ”youth poet,” which was ridiculous. She was a great poet. Period. We should have known from the way she kicked our butts in the poetry slam that she is nothing less than a star. Not as in “superstar” or “movie star,” but as in “something from out of this world that gives off light, that you can use to navigate by, that you can make a wish upon.”

“This is Sarah Kay— mind like a steel trap, if inside that steel trap lived a giant, fuzzy bunny rabbit that handed out presents to orphaned children on Christmas. She knows what makes the clock tick, people! Killin’ ‘em with love. That’s how Sarah Kay rolls.”