Roger Bonair-Agard facts for kids
Roger Bonair-Agard is a talented poet and performance artist. He shares his poetry in many ways. He has appeared on television and radio shows. He also leads many workshops and gives lectures. He has performed his poems at universities across the United States. He has also performed at international festivals. These include events in Germany, Switzerland, Milan, and Jamaica.
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About Roger Bonair-Agard
His Journey to Poetry
Roger Bonair-Agard was born in Trinidad. He moved to the United States in 1987. He planned to go to university and study law. However, he found himself exploring different parts of New York City life. He studied Political Science at Hunter College. He was about to take a test to get into law school. But then he decided to focus on poetry instead of a law career.
Slam Poetry Success
Roger became a member of the 1997 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam team. A poetry slam is a competition where poets perform their original work. Later, he coached the 1998 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam team. His team won the National Poetry Slam Championship that year. This big event took place in Austin, Texas.
He then helped start the louderARTS Project. He was part of the louderARTS Poetry Slam teams many times. In 1999, he won the individual competition at the National Poetry Slam. He used to be the Artistic Director for louderARTS.
Teaching and Mentoring
Roger Bonair-Agard has also been a professor. He taught creative writing at Fordham University. For over ten years, he has worked with young people. He worked with Urban Word in New York City. He also worked with Volume in Ann Arbor. He helped youth poetry groups in Seattle, San Francisco, and the Adirondack Valley, New York. Roger is also a Cave Canem fellow. This means he was part of a special group for Black poets. He has studied with famous poets like Yusef Komunyakaa and Patricia Smith.
Today, he teaches creative writing. He works with the Free Write Arts & Literacy Program. This program is at the Cook County, Illinois Temporary Juvenile Detention Center. It is located in Chicago, Illinois.
His Works
Albums and Recordings
Roger Bonair-Agard has released several albums of his poetry.
- List in a Valley of Bone: New and Selected Poem Recordings (2009)
- Chantuel
- NYC Slams
- 5 Past 13
Film Appearances
Roger Bonair-Agard has also appeared in films about poetry.
- The 2000 National Poetry Slam Finals – 2000, Poetry Slam Inc.
- Poetry slam – 1999, Princeton: Films for the Humanities & Sciences (with David Deutsch, Elizabeth Farnsworth, and Ariana Waynes).
