Workshops – Cydney Edwards

Cydney Edwards

Cydney Edwards (she/her) is a poet, performer, actress, director and educator from the Southside of Chicago. She joined the poetry community in 7th grade turning in original work for the annual story submission, Young Authors, which proved to be one of the most integral decisions to her poetry career. She first represented Chicago at Brave New Voices poetry festival in 2006, and has continued to serve in a multitude of roles throughout the 24 year history of the festival., including most recently as Festival Co Director. As an alum of Young Chicago Authors, Chicago Debates Kuumba Lynx and also First Wave, she has studied Hip Hop arts and poetry under a number of pedagogies. In 2010, she was a member of the First Wave touring ensemble that represented the US at Contacting the World. Now, Cydney serves as Program Director of the Miami-Dade Urban Debate League and understands the intersectionality of identity, debate and poetry and is excited to begin at YCA as Education Associate.