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"Clinton wowed us, Hawken inspired us, but no speaker moved us more than Kirya and her fellow poets from Youth Speaks. Kirya gets the last word here." ~Green Build International Expo 2007.

"She looks very cool. Her hair is cool. Her poem is cool. She teaches us a lot." ~Mission High school Student

Kirya Traber is a nationally awarded spoken word artist. Her work is raw, bold, honest, and unafraid to challenge, commanding attention from all sides. In 2004 she became a National Teen Poetry Slam Champion and has since featured at Robert Redford's Sundance Summit, the Bay Hip Hop Theatre Festival, the Living Word Festival, San Francisco's Lit Quake, The Stern Grove Festival, Michelle Tea's RADAR Reading series, Peace Out: The International Homo Hop Festival, The Playwright's Foundation In the Rough Series, and in Tiny Little Maps to Each Other, a collection of five young women poets published by First Word Press. In the fall of 2007 she took the traditional stage in the lead role of Bullrusher, the Pulitzer nominated play written by Eisa Davis. She is currently working as the Program Manager of residencies at Youth Speaks where she develops and facilitates spoken word workshops for bay area teens and is a member of the Brave New Voices College Tour. In April of 2009 is taking to the road with the legendary Sister Spit Tour. Look for her upcoming solo poetry collection in the Summer of 2009.