Kelly Tsai

KELLY ZEN-YIE TSAI is a Chinese Taiwanese American full-time spoken word artist, essayist, playwright, and choreographer who has been featured at over 250 performances worldwide including venues like the Nuyorican Poets Café, the House of Blues, the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and 3 seasons of the award-winning “Russell Simmons Presents HBO Def Poetry.” Originally from Chicago, now based in Brooklyn, Kelly tours the country extensively as a solo spoken word artist and previously toured with both We Got Issues! and Mango Tribe. She has been published in numerous journals and anthologies including WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER WAVE: Dispatches from the Next Wave of Feminists (Seal/Avalon), We Got Issues!: A Young Woman's Guide to a Bold, Empowered, and Courageous Life (Inner Ocean Publishing), and The Spoken Word Revolution Redux (Sourcebooks, Inc.). Her spoken word video, "By-Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime," directed by Karen Lin (ZuZu Films) is currently being screened at film festivals and venues across the US and Europe. She also recently attended the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya as a part of a delegation sent by the Hip Hop Theater Festival. In addition to her touring schedule, current projects include her recently released debut album "Infinity Breaks," her solo show "The Grieving Room," and her first full-length book of poems.