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| Photo by MeaLee Thomas |
April “Ap” Smith—more affectionately known as A.p.—is a visual and imagist poet who bends the corners of expectation and perception around the day-to-day and makes the mundane political. She has been speaking for ten years, representing her work both locally and nationally in venues that range from small coffee shops to colleges and/or universities and theaters. She is a member of the Atlanta Art Amok Slam Team, ranking fourth out of 64 teams in the 2009 National Poetry Slam Group piece finals and in the top 10 (out of 74 teams) at the 2010 National Poetry Slam. She is an affiliate of Rock Star Poets on Tour with poet activists, Theresa Davis and Alice Lovelace and co-founder of Armed-with-Art (AwA), a collective of various artists focused on using their mediums as a weapon for social change.
Smith’s poems have appeared in The University of West Georgia’s literary magazine, Eclectic; Georgia Perimeter College’s Creative License; and In Motion magazine. In addition, she is the author of a collection of poems entitled, “From Radical to Natural.” As a poet and performing artist Smith has been blessed to share the stage with literary and musical artists, Jon Goode, Paula Larke, Kelly Love Jones, Tommy Bottoms, Julie Dexter, Rachel McKibbens, Malik Salaam, Minton Sparks, Sonya Renee, and more. In 2009, she was the winner of the Knight Tyme Enterprise $1,000 Poetry Slam and the Art Fusion 40 $500 Poetry Slam. And in 2010, she won the opportunity to represent Charlotte, North Carolina at the 2011 Women of the World Poetry Slam.
Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Georgia State University. In her spare time, she copy edits a variety of written works from novels and books of poetry to essays and scientific articles.
