Rieka Speaks is a versatile artist shaping narratives through poetry, acting, and comedy writing. She is the co-founder of the sketch comedy team Issa Rae's Daughters; a Best of Button poet, and the 2023 Grand Slam champion of the Writer's Den RVA.

Hosted by award-winning spoken word poet Lyrical Faith, this series invites emerging artists from campus and the community to showcase their work alongside the best spoken word poets from the national scene.

Lyrical Faith is a Black American educator, activist, and spoken word poet from the Bronx. She was the third-ranked woman poet in the world following the 2022 Womxn of the World Poetry Slam, an inaugural Bronx Poet Laureate finalist. She is a two-time recipient of the Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO Award, and was the 2015 Syracuse University Poet of the Year.

Lyrical Faith is a graduate of the public relations program at Syracuse University. She holds a master’s degree from the Higher Education and Student Affairs program at New York University, and is a social justice education doctoral student at UMass, studying the intersections of arts and activism. Her work has been featured on Write About Now Poetry, Huffington Post Black Voices, and News 12 the Bronx.

Through her poetry, Lyrical Faith strives to inspire, educate and advocate for intersectional and institutional issues by merging the arts and activism from a faith-based worldview.