York College student’s poetry brings social awareness
Teen recognized as 2019 Youth Poet Laureate for bringing attention to societal issues
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Camryn Bruno was named
New York City’s 2019 Youth
Poet Laureate in November.
The 19-year-old student
from York College in Jamaica
hopes to use her new
platform to elevate social
issues through poetry and
spoken word.
Urban Word NYC and
NYC Votes sponsored the
poetry contest, which Bruno
described as a “monthlong,
vigorous” workshop
involving herself and 14
other finalists.
Since 2008, Urban Word
NYC has been bestowing
teens between the ages of 14
to 19 the honor of Youth Poet
Laureate. As the 2019 winner,
Bruno will get the opportunity
to publish a book of poetry
with Penmanship books,
in addition to conducting a
reading tour and special appearances
for one year.
“We are very proud of
Camryn Bruno and the fact
that York College is host to
New York City’s 2019 Youth
Poet Laureate,” Interim
Chancellor Vita C. Rabinowitz
said. “Through her
words, Camryn encourages
us all to think critically
about the world and to become
civically engaged. As
Camryn progresses through
CUNY and beyond, we know
she will continue to call attention
to important issues
in our society.”
The winning poem is
called “Politics Bite,” which
Bruno said was a call for citizens
to vote. Her inspiration
for the piece stemmed from
the outrage and apathy that
people felt for the government
despite “persistent inequality
and corruption.”
She shared a phrase often
spoken in Trinidad and Tobago,
where she was raised,
wherein people said that
“politicians are dogs.” Playing
on this theme, Bruno employed
the use of metaphors
to compare animals to “the
system and politics.”
Originally born in Queens
before going to Trinidad and
Tobago, Bruno said she loved
“seeing protests and people
taking action” but didn’t
know how to participate in
those types of activities.
She was introduced to
spoken-word poetry in 2014
as a participant in the 2
Cents Movement, a spokenword
poetry program back
in Tobago. Through the program
she met Derron Sandy,
who would later serve as her
mentor and encouraged her
to develop her skills.
“I used to write all the
time, but I didn’t think that
what I was writing was
spoken-word poetry,” Bruno
said.
As she progressed, she
said she learned to use her
poetry as a tool to convey
important messages related
to marginalized groups including
women, immigrants
and minorities as well as
issues such as colorism,
CAMRYN BRUNO
racism and the Black Lives
Matter movement.
“I think it’s more about
getting the social issues
out there, and that’s where
I started off, writing about
teenage pregnancy and the
school-to-prison pipeline,”
said Bruno. “It’s really about
finding social issues and
finding a new way to speak
about them.”
During her yearlong appointment
as Youth Poet Laureate,
Bruno said that she is
excited to get the opportunity
to “speak for and to youth
around New York City.” She
added that it’s always “amazing,
refreshing and motivating”
to see the impact her
words have on the youth and
hopes to work as teaching
artist in the future.
Bruno participated in
Bishop High School’s poetry
slam each year until she
graduated. The decorated author
has won the 2015 Zelma
A. Cowie Award for Civic
Mindedness, the Ms. Tobago
Heritage Personality Competition,
and several Trinidad
and Tobago National Literary
Youth Awards.
In 2017, she became the
youngest competitor to win
Trinidad and Tobago’s First
Citizens Bank National Poetry
Slam Championship.
To learn more about Bruno,
visit her website at camrynbruno.
com
Relieve Pain.
Regain Your Life.
ONE ON ONE PATIENT CARE
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