Join Sam Arriozola, a Chicana writer, youth worker, and poet who has coached young spoken word artists to compete in the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival, to learn about the intersection of Hip-Hop and poetry in this special Valentine’s Day–inspired salon.
What’s in Store
- Learn about the history of Hip-Hop and the elements of Hip-Hop Music
- Discover what makes a love poem a love poem—and how to write your own!
“A love poem should be simple, visceral, and honest… We shouldn’t have to overcomplicate the language we are using in order to speak of complicated topics.”
Sam Arriozola
Write along with Sam’s playlist!
Prompt #1: What Do You Love?
Write a list of people, places, and/or things that you love. DON’T worry about the details!
Prompt #2: Acts of Love
Pick ONE subject, object, or place from your list. Write a list of simple acts of love connected to the subject you have chosen. Again, don’t worry about including details— think concrete over theoretical!
Prompt #3:
Begin compiling all the things on your list into a love poem.
Now you can work on bringing in the visceral, raw emotional details to your simple acts of love.
Lean in to answer why these acts of love are important to you.
This event was recorded on February 11th, 2022.
Teaching Artist
Sam Arriozola
Samantha Arriozola (she/her/hers) is a Chicana writer and youth worker from the Chicagoland-area. She has spent the past seven years working within nonprofit spaces and community centers in Madison, WI and NYC. Sam received her B.A. in English-Creative Writing as a proud member of the 8th Cohort of First Wave — a Hip-Hop and urban arts full-tuition scholarship program at UW-Madison, centering the pursuit of higher education with arts, academics, and activism. Sam is a poet with roots in the world of spoken word poetry and slam, a background which has carried over in coaching young spoken word artists to compete in the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in 2017 and 2018. Most recently, Sam has been working with Writopia Lab as a private tutor, workshop instructor, and even went to camp for the first time since she was 10 this past summer. Sam’s poetry has been published in Pinwheel Journal (2018) and Cutthroat Journal: Contemporary Chicanx Writers Anthology (2020). Sam lives in Queens with her human and plant roommates, editing both her own and fellow writers’ work with chamomile tea. She is a current fellow at Girls Write Now.
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Sam Arriozola
Samantha Arriozola (she/her/hers) is a Chicana writer and youth worker from the Chicagoland-area. She has spent the past seven years working within nonprofit spaces and community centers in Madison, WI and NYC. Sam received her B.A. in English-Creative Writing as a proud member of the 8th Cohort of First Wave -- a Hip-Hop and urban arts full-tuition scholarship program at UW-Madison, centering the pursuit of higher education with arts, academics, and activism. Sam is a poet with roots in the world of spoken word poetry and slam, a background which has carried over in coaching young spoken word artists to compete in the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in 2017 and 2018. Most recently, Sam has been working with Writopia Lab as a private tutor, workshop instructor, and even went to camp for the first time since she was 10 this past summer. Sam's poetry has been published in Pinwheel Journal (2018) and Cutthroat Journal: Contemporary Chicanx Writers Anthology (2020). Sam lives in Queens with her human and plant roommates, editing both her own and fellow writers' work with chamomile tea. She is a current fellow at Girls Write Now.