Poetry Open Mic at The Dalí

Helen Pruitt Wallace’s first collection of poems, Shimming the Glass House, won the Richard Snyder Prize for Poetry and a Florida Book Award, and her chapbook, Pink Streets, was published by Yellow Jacket Press. Helen’s individual poems have been published in journals and anthologies including The Literary Review, Harvard Review, Plume, River Teeth and The Slowdown podcast edited by Major Jackson. She earned her Ph.D. in English/Creative Writing from FSU, and taught poetry and non-fiction at Eckerd College before serving as Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg (2016-2022). Helen initiated and has served as curator of the Dali Poetry Series since 2015.

Curtis Davis was born and raised in Tampa, FL. He has been writing and performing poetry since a youth in high school and has since traveled all over the states competing in international, national, and regional poetry slam competitions. In 2018, Curtis was ranked the eight poet in the world after becoming a finalist in the Individual World Poetry Slam held in San Diego, CA. He is the Creative Director of 501c3 Non-Profit Heard ‘Em Say Youth Arts Collective and is the Co-Founder of GrowHouse with Dennis Amadeus. GrowHouse is an artist collective dedicated to growing community, growing culture and growing creatives through poetry and hip-hop. They host a monthly poetry slam and weekly poetry workshops inside the historical Kress building in Ybor City. Learn more about Curtis on his Instagram.

Dennis Amadeus has built a career grounded by his passion to teach and inspire young people about the transformative power of education and expression, from mentoring youth poets and keynote speaking engagements to curriculum design and implementation of dynamic art-based educational programming. As an artist/teaching artist, Dennis has traveled extensively across the nation, performing and conducting art-based educational workshops aimed at getting youth to see their creative potential. He has also organized multiple community fundraisers and book drives to support domestic and international causes, including organizing 1000 books to be sent to Swaziland, Africa, to build a community library. Dennis’ continued community and civic engagement exhibit his desire to use his creativity and ability to bring people together to change communities on a local and international level. Dennis is a writer, educator, performance artist and a community organizer determined to use his creative talents to transform communities and the minds of young people.