MEET THE TEAM

We’re a ragtag bunch of artists who volunteer together. Feel free to talk to us at our shows — we’re here to answer all your poetry-related questions!

  • Astrid Drew

    CO-DIRECTOR & FINANCE CHAIR

  • Chrysanthemum

    CO-DIRECTOR & PROGRAMMING CHAIR

  • Naffisatou Koulibaly

    CO-DIRECTOR & YOUTH CHAIR

  • Devin Samuels

    STAFF (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

  • Alyssa St. Franc

    PROGRAM OPERATIONS

  • Michelle Pouliot

    OPERATION COORDINATOR

  • Kleo Sincere

    FORMER CO-DIRECTOR

  • Charlotte Abotsi

    FORMER CO-DIRECTOR

  • Muggs Fogarty

    FORMER CO-DIRECTOR

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ASTRID DREW

CO-DIRECTOR & FINANCE CHAIR

Astrid Drew is a writer and archivist based in Providence, Rhode Island. She has been part of the staff of the Providence Poetry Slam for many years, and was a member of the 2014 Providence Slam team. Her work tends to focus on interrogating history, heritage and lineage, as well as finding beauty in unlikely places. She believes that poetry can be something powerful.

CHRYSANTHEMUM

CO-DIRECTOR & PROGRAMMING CHAIR

Chrysanthemum is a poet, performance artist, and public historian. A staff member for almost a decade, she’s coached youth teams, facilitated writing workshops, and coordinated shows. A champion of the Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam and the first-ever FEM Slam, she represented ProvSlam at the National Poetry Slam and the Women of the World Poetry Slam, where she became the first trans woman finalist of the tournament in 2016.

Her recognitions include a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, a Kundiman Fellowship, a Justin Chin Memorial Scholarship from Lambda Literary, and a MacColl Johnson Fellowship from the Rhode Island Foundation. Her current focus is preserving, sharing, and commemorating the history of ProvSlam since its founding at AS220 in 1992.

NAFFISATOU KOULIBALY

CO-DIRECTOR & YOUTH CHAIR

Naffisatou Koulibaly is a ProvSlam Youth alum, and has been part of the arts community in Providence for many years. Naffi is focused on developing the youth program in between time to write, and involvement with the Dirt Palace Collective, where she is an artist in residence.

Naffi’s body of work is interested in examining the phenomenon of growing up, the inherent heartbreak of being a 23 year old girl and everything that makes the experience so beautiful and tragic.

DEVIN SAMUELS

STAFF (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

Devin Samuels is a poet educator who has been performing on local and national stages for the last 15 years. With a strong investment in community, Devin has spent years cultivating youth arts spaces throughout New England and the Midwest. In Detroit, he worked with Inside Out Literary Arts Project supplying poetry programming to youth throughout the city. His pedagogy utilizes poetics to grow critical thinking, self-reflection, and empathy within students. Devin is a 2017 poetry Foundation Incubator Fellow and his work can be found in City & Sea poetry Anthology, Slag Review, Wayne Literary Review 2018 and Systematic Crises of Global Climate Change: Intersections of Race, Class and Gender.

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ALYSSA ST. FRANC

PROGRAM OPERATIONS

Alyssa St. Franc is a black queer poet living in Providence. Alyssa represented Providence on the Brave New Voices team in 2016 and 2017. Alyssa has featured at Providence Poetry Slam and Chat Club PVD. Alyssa’s work explores queerness, blackness, mental health, and topics near and dear to her heart. Alyssa has been attending Providence Poetry Slam since 2012, slamming and reading on the open mic. Alyssa enjoys listening to podcasts, baking, spending time with loved ones, and reading.

MICHELLE POULIOT

OPERATIONS COORDINATOR

Michelle Pouliot is a poet, student, and data scientist from Rhode Island. She represented the Providence Poetry Slam at the 2015 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam and has touched stages across the north east.  You can find her in the library, at school, or panic writing in the corner moments before she’s called up to read the poem.

KLEO SINCERE

STAFF (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

Kleo Sincere is an artist from Providence, Rhode Island. She is a screen-printer, photographer, and writers everything from poetry to short stories. Kleo likes to focus on themes of the taboo and unconformity, trying to seek answers to the questions that some fear to ask. Kleo represented Providence at Brave New Voices in 2017, and 2018 as Youth Grand Slam Champion. In 2017, she was awarded the title of Youth Poet Laureate of Rhode Island and attended YouthSpeaks in 2019 for poetry and spoken word.

CHARLOTTE ABOTSI

FINAL GIRL (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

Charlotte Abotsi is a poet raised in Providence, Rhode Island. As a spoken word poet, she has competed in several international poetry slams. Her work has been written about in HuffPost and Mic.com, and her poems can be read in Wax Nine journal and The Chicago Reader. She has received fellowships from the Pink Door Writing Retreat, the Incubator for Community-Engaged Poets, Tin House, DreamYard’s Rad(ical) Poetry Consortium, AIR Serenbe, Define American, and Undocupoets. She co-curated season two of the poetry-based web series Ours Poetica for The Poetry Foundation.

MUGGS FOGARTY

GRANDPA (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

Muggs Fogarty is a writer, performer, and vocalist from Providence, Rhode Island. Muggs has represented Providence in national poetry slam competition eight times respectively and is a 2017 FEMS Slam champion, a National Poetry Slam semi-finalist, and a Brave New Voices finalist. Muggs is a former director of award-winning Providence Poetry Slam and ProvSlam Youth, and has coached several youth and collegiate level slam teams, particularly through UCONN, Brown University, and RISD. Muggs has also worked as an arts mentor with local organizations such as New Urban Arts, CityArts, and PASA, and has received awards from the Rhode Island State Council on The Arts.

Muggs is the author of chapbooks Unburn (Ghost Hum Arts 2016) and Sex Camel (Game Over Books 2018). Muggs can also be found fronting their own solo loop pedal project, Sweetpea Pumpkin, as well as the local darkpop band, Lookers, whose EP “Mirage” (Sad Cactus Records 2018) was released this past November and is available on all streaming platforms. Muggs is a resident at the non-profit community arts space, AS220, and practices bodywork as an LMT in Providence.

STAFF

REN L[I]U

ERIN VACHON

STAFF EMERITUS

JOHN-FRANCIS QUIÑONEZ

ILYUS EVANDER

JUSTICE AMEER

CORY ROSS

VATIC KUUMBA (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

FRANNY CHOI (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

LAURA LAMB BROWN-LAOVIE (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

MEGAN THOMA (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)

JARED PAUL (FORMER CO-DIRECTOR)