Asia Calcagno
Asia Calcagno is a writer, educator, and consultant who has utilized writing as a tool for liberation and dialogue for over 10 years. Her work has been featured in Poetry Magazine, West Trade Review, The Golden Shovel Anthology, Smartish Pace, riverSedge, Hartskill Review, Learn Then Burn 2, and various other journals and has been recognized by the Academy of American Poets. She has founded youth poetry education programs in Connecticut and Chicago and has performed locally and abroad. She was featured in The Limited’s national New Look of Leadership campaign which features women-identified leaders in the Chicago area. Asia holds an MFA from Bennington College and leads professional developments centering storytelling as a tool for cross-cultural dialogue to create more effective educational spaces. Currently, she serves as the Director of Programs at 826CHI.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
As I grow older, I understand my involvement in spoken word club to have gifted me with ceaseless confidence in curating and sharing my story. When I entered high school, I could not say that I knew who I was or even what I wanted to do when I got older. I may have naively said a “marine biologist” or a “veterinarian”, but science was never my strong suit. It wasn’t until I witnessed the powerful moment when a spoken word club teaching assistant silenced my rowdy freshman classroom by performing a poem that I understood what I wanted to do for the rest of my life—I wanted people to listen to me.
The first poem that I ever wrote was about a fight that my mother and I had. I shared it in front of my classmates during our classroom poetry slam. In all honestly, I do not remember my poem’s contents or if I cared about winning the slam, but I remember how everyone in the classroom leaned forward in their desks to listen intently to me and how immersed I was in the process of crafting that poem on the page. Poetry gave me a passion for storytelling, but more importantly it allowed me to understand who I wanted and needed to be. Through poetry, I was given my first memories of feeling completely seen and heard. For the rest of my life, I chased that power and wanted to give others that feeling, too.
connect with asia
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Writing Prompts
Respond to your own set of password security questions (you may use Asia’s). Be as creative as possible
Write about what your name, or others in your family, could mean.
Write about the street you grew up on.
Write about things that scare you
Write your own origin story
Poetry has followed me in every personal and professional trajectory. I’ve read poems to my therapists. It’s allowed me to heal from the most traumatic moments in my life. Poetry has allowed me to make sense of my parents and people that I’ve lost. It’s helped me gain scholarships to college and graduate school. I’ve been able to travel for creative opportunities. I’ve performed poems at graduations, ceremonies, festivals, and funerals. Poetry has allowed me to step into my power as an introvert and has allowed me to overcome imposter syndrome. The mantras that I recite to myself in my toughest moments are from poems I've encountered over the years. Poetry has undoubtedly gifted me an amazing community of creative friends and professionals.
What I find most dynamic about poetry is its ability to reach all people. In my career, I’ve held various and positions. I’ve been a high school English Language Arts teacher, a program coordinator for a youth workforce development organization, worked for one of the most reputable college scholarship programs in the country, and I’ve served as an equity and inclusion consultant. No matter the field that I’ve worked in, poetry has helped me keep creativity at the forefront in everything that I have done. As a first-generation college student, I’ve found that I’ve always had to be resourceful, and especially working in educational spaces. Quite frankly, the type of educator that I am today is because of the impact that poetry has left on me. I use creative writing activities that I’ve learned from 15 years ago to lead my teams to practice effective communication skills. I’ve utilized poems to encourage professionals to think strategically. I have sat classrooms of students down with a pen and paper to create bonds. I’ve used poetry and creative methods with students as young as 5 to adults who have been in the workforce for over 20 years. I’ve been able to create a life where storytelling is viewed as a unique power and skillset.
In my current job, I am the Director of Programs at a national creative writing and publishing organization. I oversee various creative and expository writing programs and get to advocate for literacy access and creative writing programming in Chicago neighborhoods and schools. In my day to day, I witness young people become more powerful writers and storytellers, and I see educators become overly excited about bringing literary tools into the classroom. I would have never understood the power of my position if I did not commit to making sense of my life through the page. I put a large amount of trust in the creative process at such a young age, and now I understand the return on investment.
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Poets: Yusef Komunyakaa, Patricia Smith, and Terrance Hayes
Lyricists: Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu, and Andre 3000