Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts

Amanda Shea is a distinguished spoken word artist, multidisciplinary creator, educator, and advocate, celebrated for her dynamic contributions to the arts and community activism. Her notable roles include hosting BAMSFest and numerous poetry events, leading youth workshops in spoken word, visual arts, and public speaking, and working as a publicist for hip-hop artist Brandie Blaze. Recognized among WBUR The ARTery's 25 artists of color shaping the cultural scene in 2021, Shea has significantly impacted the Boston arts community.

In 2022, Shea was honored as the first Spoken Word Artist of the Year at the Boston Music Awards. Her work has been showcased in venues such as the Museum of Fine Arts and on TEDX and Netflix. Shea is also the driving force behind GBH's “Outspoken Saturdays,” offering a stage for poets in New England. 

Grey Held is a recipient of a NEA Fellowship in Creative Writing, and the 2019 Future Cycle Poetry Book Prize Winner. Three books of his poetry have been published.

His poems have been included in numerous anthologies. He works with Newton arts organizations to direct projects that connect contemporary poets (and their poetry) with a wider audience. He is also a visual artist who, together with his wife, Leslie Held, has been creating public art in Newton – on doors for Newton OutDoors, on Artful Pianos, and on Jersey barriers repurposed (during Covid) to create outdoor dining places in village center parking spots.

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