Poetry in motion

Anacristina Chapa performing at Write About Now, a community-oriented collective of poets.

Anacristina Chapa is more than just a dental student. She is also a poet — and a well-recognized one at that. She was named the 2016 Poetry Slam Champ of Laredo BorderSlam and has competed in various regional competitions. Last year, she was a member of Houston’s Write About Now poetry team and competed in the National Poetry Slam competition in Denver. She has received media attention for her work illustrating modern life, especially for college-age students and Latinos. Her videos with Write About Now have gone on to be shared by HuffPost, Vibe, Wearemitu, Jorge Ramos and George Takei. Excerpts of one of her poems, On Being Bilingual, was shared and has more than 1 million views.

Here is one of her poems, performed for Write About Now, that all of us can probably relate to in some way.

As Anacristina explains, “For me, poetry has become a crucial creative outlet. It has been very gratifying to be able to turn tumultuous or awkward experiences into art that connects with people on such a great level. Sometimes it is easy to feel alone or different in this world, but through slam poetry, I have learned that even your strangest thoughts or feelings will resonate with someone.”

Many of her poems bring light to issues that resonate with many of us but may not get enough attention. In a combined performance with Christopher Diaz, Anacristina shows what it feels like to have anxiety.

We students have all kinds of talents that may not come out during school. Anacristina is inspiration to share your talents, ideas and passion with the world. You can find more of her work on YouTube, including some high-quality videos for Write About Now (@WANPOETRY).

~ Rachel Bush, Las Vegas ’18, electronic editor