Carrie Rudzinski knows what it means to be searingly honest, using her poetry to explore who she is, what she's lived through and what she believes in. In this powerful and emotional performance, Carrie shares two of her poems, and walks us through an exercise to find that searingly honest place within ourselves. Carrie Rudzinski is a renowned poet, performance artist, filmmaker, teacher and feminist. Born in Illinois, USA, Rudzinski has performed in 6 countries as well as nearly every state in the USA. In 2016 Rudzinski was the performance director for Rising Voices of Youth Poetry Trust, a spoken word poetry development programme for youth in New Zealand. Since 2013 she has been the national coordinator for the New Zealand Poetry Slam. She currently works as the programme coordinator for ‘The Young Writers Programme' at the Michael King Writer’s Centre, and is a Creative Writing and Performance Lecturer at the Manukau Institute of Technology. In 2019, she won the Pussy Riot award at the Auckland Fringe Festival for her performance in Long Distance Phone Calls and performed at a Pussy Riot show. Rudzinski has published four collections of poetry: A History of Silence, The Endless Return Home, The Shotgun Speaks, and The Blood Mouth. Her work has also been published in numerous anthologies. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

One of the submissions from our first-ever video contest. Keep an eye out for our next submission period, open soon! Subscribe to Button! New video daily: http://bit.ly/buttonpoetry If you loved this poem, check out Donte Collins: http://bit.ly/DonteOldRondo Button Facebook: http://facebook.com/buttonpoetry Button Twitter: http://twitter.com/buttonpoetry Button Instagram: http://instagram.com/buttonpoetry Button tumblr: http://buttonpoetry.tumblr.com About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry. We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form. Help us caption & translate this video! https://amara.org/v/CYxda/

Become a Member for exclusive perks and videos: https://bit.ly/ButtonMember Carrie Rudzinski, performing at WoWPS 2014 in Austin, TX. Help us decide which videos go up on YouTube: https://bit.ly/ButtonCurator About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry. We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

Become a Member for exclusive perks and videos: https://bit.ly/ButtonMember Carrie Rudzinski, performing at YouTube Space LA in Los Angeles, CA. Want to choose which videos run on Button: https://bit.ly/ButtonCurator About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry. We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

Become a Member for exclusive perks and videos: https://bit.ly/ButtonMember Carrie Rudzinski, performing at Art Share LA in Los Angeles, CA. Help us decide which videos go up on YouTube: https://bit.ly/ButtonCurator About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry. We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.

Carrie has toured the United States four times and represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam and twice at the National Poetry Slam in 2010 and 2011. She ranked 14th in the world at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam in Columbus, Ohio. Here she performs as the "featured" poet at the NYC Urbana Slam. Feb 2012

She has toured the United States four times and represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam and twice at the National Poetry Slam in 2010 and 2011. She ranked 14th in the world at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam in Columbus, Ohio. Here she performs as the "featured" poet at the NYC Urbana Slam. Feb 2012

Carrie has toured the United States four times and represented the Boston Poetry Slam at the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam and twice at the National Poetry Slam in 2010 and 2011. She ranked 14th in the world at the 2011 Women Of The World Poetry Slam in Columbus, Ohio. Here she performs as the "featured" poet at the NYC Urbana Slam. Feb 2012

Subscribe to Button! New video daily: http://bit.ly/buttonpoetry If you loved this poem, check out Cam Awkward-Rich: http://bit.ly/1i1Eckc Carrie Rudzinski, featuring at the Saint Paul Soap Boxing Poetry Slam. Follow Button on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SG5Xm0 About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry. We seek to showcase the power and diversity of voices in our community. By encouraging and broadcasting the best and brightest performance poets of today, we hope to broaden poetry's audience, to expand its reach and develop a greater level of cultural appreciation for the art form.