I clearly remember a few years ago when my wife said (proudly), “I don’t text.”

That was when she had a phone without a keypad. Now, she loves texting. We communicate/coordinate/touch base with one another through texting. The fact is, texting is a convenient, concise and very user-friendly mode of communication.

And teen girls between the ages of 14-17 seem to agree as the latest data shows that this demographic is now sending approximately 100 text messages per day.

That’s 700 per week.

That’s 3,000 per month.

That’s around 36,000 per year.

And what does that tell us?

1) Get your kid an unlimited texting plan or you are going to pay through the wazoo!

2) Fill in your own blank. If you want to view these numbers through a sour P.O.V. you certainly have the ammo to rail against the influence of hand-held media devices on the youth of today. On the other hand, if you see the upside of new literacies and want to make a case for the role of embracing these tools into the modern day classroom (as opposed to outlawing their use) you certainly have a few arrows in your quiver as well.

Ellen Hopkins has written some ferocious books. Brave, gritty, hard-hitting and read by lots and lots and LOTS of teens. I am a big fan of her work.

Interestingly, a brouhaha has recently surfaced about Ellen’s “dis-invitation” to speak at a Teen Lit Fest in Texas.

I use quotes around the words “dis-invitation” because I really have no idea what actually went down. Where it stands now is that Ellen wrote a blog post called CENSORSHIP BITES that has raged through cyber-space… and now the Teen Lit Fest is being accused of all sorts of things and a bunch of celebrated YA authors have backed out of appearing (after previously accepting an invite) to take a stance against censorship.

The mainstream news has even caught up with the story and now things are really starting to hit the fan. And the people in Texas are looking as if they have big egg on their face. (FYI, Ellen has written some edgy books and is no stranger to having her work censored, I am sure, due to the graphic nature of the content.)

However, some event organizers claim that Ellen was never officially invited – a non-formal inquiry was supposedly floated to her, but not an official invitation – and people are jumping the gun by saying she was dis-invited when in fact, she was never even invited in the first place. (Ellen addresses this quite passionately in her blog post linked above. She clearly states she was indeed invited and then dis-invited.)

So perhaps this is a case of miscommunication combining with the forces of the world wide web to create a kerfuffle where there never really was one? Or perhaps it’s not and people are trying to censor Ellen Hopkins. I don’t know.

But no matter what happened, a big boo-boo was made somewhere and a Teen Reading Festival could be forced to go try and be festive without any authors to add some festivity.

Texas at the center of another storm. Sheesh, they keep this up and New York is gonna be getting jealous pretty soon.

I am a HUGE fan of poetry. And I love the way that Spoken Word Poetry has literally breathed new life into a beautiful art form.

Let’s face it, there was a time there when “the powers that be in our schools” tried to kill poetry.

Tried to bludgeon it.

Tried beat the joy of reading or writing poetry out of every student who dared to cross through their halls.

And yet, poetry survived in spite of school, not because of it. (Trust me, I was there when all this happened. It was hurtful and it was ugly… and I am still scarred.)

Yet today I come with GREAT NEWS. My good friend and fellow co-writer for two of my book projects, Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics for the Classroom as well as The Poetry Jam, just… well… I’ll just paste the news release down below.

I mean it’s not like you don’t stand a good chance of hearing about it anyway. After all, HBO is going to show it in prime time in the fall.

If you don’t know the work of Michael Cirelli, poet, author, executive director of Urban Word New York City, you ought to.

He is bringing poetry into American classrooms in a way that that is fresh, dynamic, rigorous, phenomenally exciting and deep. These kids are simply awesome.

Congrats on the victory, Michael… you really are blazing new territory.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Mikal Amin Lee (212.352.3495)

URBAN WORD NYC WINS

Brave New Voices International Teen Poetry Slam

Featured on HBO this Fall

Los Angeles, CA – The six young poets from the award-winning literary arts organization, Urban Word NYC, took the crown this weekend at the Brave New Voices International Teen Poetry Slam. Over the course of the week-long festival, the New York City teen poets bested 51 teams from across the U.S. and abroad, were undefeated in all preliminary and semifinal competition bouts, and went on to win the Grand Slam Final at Los Angeles’ historic Saban Theater. The finals were hosted by rapper/actor Common and actress Rosario Dawson, and documented by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ production company for an HBO special to be aired this fall. The teens representing Urban Word NYC were Justin Long, 17; Jesica Blandon, 17; Jay Davis, 17; Ishmael Islam, 18; and Sean B, 18. They were mentored and coached by award-winning poet and mentor Mahogany Browne and youth alum Carvens Lissaint.

“This year’s team made us proud because they authentically represented the values of our organization. The poets were humble, honest, brave, and exhibited a commitment to writing, performance and community that was unmatched,” commented Urban Word NYC’s Executive Director, Michael Cirelli. Winning teen poet Ka’Mone Felix reflected, “It was such a blessing to bring our voices and integrity to the stage, and
represent our home, our city.”

Back in NYC, the team will be engaged in various readings and public service projects to give back to their communities. They will also be performing at a welcome back celebration and showcase on Wednesday, August 11th at The Point in the Bronx to raise funds for Urban Word’s after school writing workshops and college prep courses for teens.

For more information and opportunities to book these poets visit www.urbanwordnyc.org

All poets, coaches, mentors and staff are available for interviews.