KAI DAVIS POETRY
KAi Davis
Kai Davis (she/her) is a Black Queer multi-disciplinary artist, cultural producer and educator from Philadelphia. She grew up in the Germantown neighborhood, and was influenced by its hip-hop, jazz, and spoken word scene. Kai received her BA in both Africana Studies and English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Temple University. Her work explores Blackness, Queerness, womanhood, grief, and the many ways these themes converge. Kai's writing is an attempt to demystify our most overwhelming experiences.
Kai has performed for TEDX Philly, CNN, BET, PBS, and NPR, among others. She has given readings and speeches in many notable venues, including the San Francisco Opera House, Gramercy Theater, The Kimmel Center, and The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, along with over 50 colleges across the country. Kai has delivered keynotes and facilitated workshops at several conferences, including IvyQ, The Diversity Inclusion & Fairness Conference at Georgia Southern University, and the Black Students Alliance Conference at Smith College. In 2015, Kai joined The Philly Pigeon Collective, producing live events, theater productions, workshops, and artist retreats with fellow writers, Jasmine Combs and Jacob Winterstein.
Kai is a two-time international grand slam champion, winning Brave New Voices in 2011 and The College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in 2016. In 2017 Kai received the Leeway Transformation Award for her years of art for social change work in Philadelphia. In 2023 The Philly Pigeon Collective was awarded The Poetry Foundation's Equity in Verse grant, which celebrates organizations who are committed to "increasing access to poetry and supporting poets through providing publications, educational activities, festivals, writing workshops, residencies, and more."
In 2024 Kai was named Philadelphia Poet Laureate by the City of Philadelphia. She is currently working with The Free Library of Philadelphia and their Poet Laureate Committee to provide programming that honors and engages the city's literary communities.
Kai has published four chapbooks: Music & Marrow (2013), The Falling Action (2014), Black Chronicle (2016), and Ain’t I? (2019). Her work has been published in The Offing (2018), The Shade Journal (2019), Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought (2021), and Don't Be Nice... Be Nasty and S.P.I.T.! : Spoken Word Poetry. Poets and Sacred Spaces (2023). She has also directed and produced three choreopoems with The Philly Pigeon: How To Take Space (2017), Vanishing Point (2018), and Dismantle The House (2019).
Kai has performed for TEDX Philly, CNN, BET, PBS, and NPR, among others. She has given readings and speeches in many notable venues, including the San Francisco Opera House, Gramercy Theater, The Kimmel Center, and The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, along with over 50 colleges across the country. Kai has delivered keynotes and facilitated workshops at several conferences, including IvyQ, The Diversity Inclusion & Fairness Conference at Georgia Southern University, and the Black Students Alliance Conference at Smith College. In 2015, Kai joined The Philly Pigeon Collective, producing live events, theater productions, workshops, and artist retreats with fellow writers, Jasmine Combs and Jacob Winterstein.
Kai is a two-time international grand slam champion, winning Brave New Voices in 2011 and The College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in 2016. In 2017 Kai received the Leeway Transformation Award for her years of art for social change work in Philadelphia. In 2023 The Philly Pigeon Collective was awarded The Poetry Foundation's Equity in Verse grant, which celebrates organizations who are committed to "increasing access to poetry and supporting poets through providing publications, educational activities, festivals, writing workshops, residencies, and more."
In 2024 Kai was named Philadelphia Poet Laureate by the City of Philadelphia. She is currently working with The Free Library of Philadelphia and their Poet Laureate Committee to provide programming that honors and engages the city's literary communities.
Kai has published four chapbooks: Music & Marrow (2013), The Falling Action (2014), Black Chronicle (2016), and Ain’t I? (2019). Her work has been published in The Offing (2018), The Shade Journal (2019), Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought (2021), and Don't Be Nice... Be Nasty and S.P.I.T.! : Spoken Word Poetry. Poets and Sacred Spaces (2023). She has also directed and produced three choreopoems with The Philly Pigeon: How To Take Space (2017), Vanishing Point (2018), and Dismantle The House (2019).
