Photo courtesy of Jean-Jacques Tiziou
Samantha Barrow is a nationally celebrated poet, performer, activist and educator. She’s been known to ride her motorcycle around the country, sharing her work in bars, universities, libraries, cafes and sex shops. Her radio appearances have ranged from late night anarchist programs to mainstream prime time. She has received multiple grants from the Leeway Foundation to tour and to facilitate Sound / Body / Love / Poem; gently erotic poetry workshops for survivors of sexual abuse (click here for a PDF brochure). Because of this work, she was honored to speak alongside Sonia Sanchez and Marjorie Agosin on a panel entitled Betrayed: Violence Against Women.
Samantha is admired for her ability to combine vulnerability with strength, humor with pain. Her words emerge in rhythms that bear her unmistakable imprint. Katz of the Athens Boys Choir says, "Sam Barrow is smart and sassy, empowering and brave. You can feel soul oozing out of each word," while the Feminist Review writes, "Her voice is that of a woman who has the ability to make the intangible become tangible right before our very eyes. Barrow's book maintains the idea of hope despite painful memories, a kind of hope that can vanquish former tribulations and make way for a new, bright future. Truly inspiring."
She is the author of GRIT and tender membrane (Plan B Press), Jelly (a chapbook, Tiger / Monkey Alliance), and Chap (self published). Her poetry, prose, reviews and interviews have been widely published in places such as Off Our Backs, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia City Paper, Lesbian Nation and Feminist Review. She lives in New York City.