Inky

I was born in Scotland, to a Turkish father and an American mother. I grew up in a small town in South Dakota, where the sky became part of my psyche- there is something that makes problems seem insignificant, under that enormous dome of the heavens, being able to see for miles and miles in any direction.

I was a talky child, and my folks gave me a tape cassette player before I could read or write, and taught me to record myself. I told the tape cassette recorder epic stories in a tiny voice, and maybe that was the beginning of things. I liked climbing things, especially the apple tree in the back yard. I liked singing to myself. I liked sketching and strawberries. These things are all still true.

I extended my “Inky” moniker to my spoken word exploits in February of 2008, during my first slam. My first slam poetry success came in the summer of 2008, when I became the Geek Slam Champ- owing heavily to my love of science in general, and my obsession with the mitochondrion in specific. I represented Minneapolis in the Women of the World poetry slam in March of 2009. In April of 2009 I received the peoples’ choice award for Best New Spoken Word Artist and a Special Recognition Award for my work on MinnesotaMicrophone.com. My poetry is very personal, and though I enjoy discussing individual poems, I don’t quite have an idea of myself as a poet yet.

I began blogging about the spoken word scene in December 2008, out of a frustration about the lack of information on the spoken word scenes in the Twin Cities. Having been involved in the spoken word scene for less than a year, I’m still learning about all the things that happen, and the history and culture behind the scene locally, and more widely. I’m excited to have made so many good connections in the past year, and to have created something that is useful to others, both to connect potential audiences to events, and to provide some sort of coverage of the events. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next year will bring- this one has been so monumental.
http://minnesotamicrophone.com

-inky

contact me at inktea at gmail dot com