This week, Amanda has a chat with Dhayana Alejandrina! Dhayana is a Dominican writer, poet, and storyteller. Dhayana started to write around the age of nine when she lived in the Dominican Republic, then continued to after immigrating to the United States in 2009 with her family. Her writings explore different topics such as growth, love, loss, culture, healing, and spirituality. In 2018, she had her first spoken word performance at a lyrical lounge in Okinawa, Japan. Since then, Dhayana devoted time to developing her craft and submitting her poetry to different publishing platforms and magazines. As a result, her work has been published on the Soul Candy Anthology by Writer’s Pocket, Issue 5 of the International Magazine PottedPurple, The Dominican Writers Collective Newsletter, Robert Writes Production, Medium, OurMOTIF, Wellspringwords, and the Kindness Book by UNESCO MGIEP and Penguin India Publishing. In Fall 2021, Dhayana published her first poetry and prose collection Agridulce. The book is a combination of emotions, thoughts, and experiences. The title means “bittersweet” in Spanish. Agridulce is divided into two sections: Lo Agrio and Lo Dulce. The poems and proses in each of these sections are inspired by life stories, obstacles, lessons, and connections with people that made an impact on her personal growth. She hopes to continue to share her words with the world and create a space where people feels safe to communicate and embrace their emotions as part of their self-discovery journey.

Be sure to become a Poetry Lab Partner and attend a monthly workshop led by a teaching artist who represents a fresh new voice in the writing world. It’s only $35 a month!

Sign up at: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/labpartners

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Dhayana's Links:
https://dhayana-alejandrina.square.site/


Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions!

To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link:

https://www.amandaeke.com/services