Artist Statement
I often find myself awake at midnight thinking about my life experiences and how they have shaped me as a black woman. I have found that one of the best ways to capture my experiences is through poetry. By reading other black Kentucky poets, like Crystal Wilkinson and Bernard Clay, I can set a standard for how I want to use poetry to express my identity. Poetry gives me an opportunity to express myself in a way that prose could never achieve. With poetry, I can find the heart of something and with each poem, I can discover something new within my black experience. It’s what I love about poetry; I can bring my experiences into a new life to be shared with everyone.
Kiitan Adedeji's Bio
Kiitan Adedeji has always had a passion for poetry. She's been writing stories and poems since she was in elementary school. It was an astounding experience to be the first winner of the Lexington Youth Poet Laureate. She explored so many new aspects of poetry while connecting to a variety of great new people. Kiitan is excited to continue her journey as a poet as so many new and amazing young writers get to experience being the Lexington Youth Poet Laureate.
She hopes to be a published poet one day to share even more of her poetry. Kiitan loves to use poetry to express her black experience and many more things about herself. She hopes that when someone reads her poetry, it resonates with them so they can leave with a shared connection to her.
When Kiitan is not writing, she loves to read books, especially by Kentucky Poets of color like Crystal Wilkinson, Damaris B. Hill, and Bernard Clay. She also enjoys reading high-fantasy books and listening to audiobooks of memoirs. Kiitan aspires to be trilingual in French, English, and her native language, Yoruba. When she's not practicing her many hobbies, you can find her raving about matcha tea and thinking about something new to start writing.
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