Roberto Ascalon

Artist Bio:

New York City-born Roberto Ascalon is a poet, writer, arts educator, and spoken-word performance artist who lives inside an old school building in West Seattle. He uses his love for the craft of poetry to transform the societal context that surrounds him.  He connects with audiences via universal narratives that range a wide array of topics: racism, first kisses, love for family and Spam… the canned kind. He teaches that poetry must be seen and heard and read. Roberto's classes are improvisational, fertile and safe creative spaces that give ample room for students to breathe their own personal experience into all styles of written language.

Roberto has taught for The Hugo House, Arts Corps, Youthspeaks, Seattle Arts and Lectures.  His writing has appeared in 2004’s Seattle Poetry on Buses and the 2003 National Poetry Slam Anthology.  He has also been on two Seattle National Poetry Slam teams and is an integral part of the Seattle spoken-word community.