Drew Law NPM 2014

National Poetry Month Celebration

Drew Law is a nationally touring spoken word poet and teaching artist. Passionate about his American and Palestinian roots, he looks to bridge the gap between the two cultures using his spoken word and music.. A two-time member of the D.C. Beltway Slam team, and a member of D.C’s team “Treat Yo Self,” who took first place at the 2013 Southern Fried Poetry tournament.  As a spoken word poet, he has shared stages with artists such as Sunni Patterson and Andrea Gibson, and as a hip hop artist, he has opened for artists such as Slick Rick and Method Man. He has featured at prestigious venues such as the Nuyorican Poetry Café in Manhattan, and the Green Mill in Chicago, IL

As a teaching artist for Split This Rock,  an organization that uses written and spoken word as an agent for social change, and Poetry Now, a nonprofit that creates spoken word curriculum for high schools and government entities in the Northern Virginia and D.C. area , he has facilitated workshops and coached several youth poetry slam teams in the D.C. Maryland, and Virginia area. He is also a curator for the American Poetry Museum.

Accomplishments
Was apart of the first northern team to win the Southern Fried poetry tournament as apart of the DC Treat Yo Self team. That was one of those moments where I was just like "whoa did that happen in real life or nah..." I featured at the Nuyorican poetry slam which has always been a dream of mine. Great resume builder as well. Kind of lets people know you've made it in the spoken word scene. Dropped my first chapbook entitled "My Father the Giant." Poems about family and growing up, something that I think comes very natural to me. I was an assistant coach for the DC youth slam team that finished second in the country. Watched one of our kids group poems reach 1.5 million views on YouTube. Amazing to see something like that and remember the exact moment it came to fruition. I watched that poem go from idea to polished piece of spoken word. Was an honor to be apart of those kids process. 

Up next
I am very interested in playing live music as I perform spoken word. The ultimate goal is to do a one man show. I am in the process of edits for my book "Fully Clothed and Always Leaving" I plan to drop at the end of the year. As well as a spoken word/ hip hop album that would feature my own live music as well as corresponding hip hop song. We're going back to Southern Fried as defending champions and am very excited to compete again. 

I am passing the Torch to Jamila Reddy she is a fantastic conveyor of ideas as well as vastly progressive on art in open spaces. She's a poet and director and does both with conviction and flare. She's a North Carolina native (so many good poets are). And needs to have her voice heard. 

Favorite Quote
“We artists are indestructible; even in a prison, or in a concentration camp, I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell.” - Pablo Picasso