Background
Kay, a graduate of Brown University, was born in New York City, New York to a Japanese American mother and a Jewish American father.
Kay, a graduate of Brown University, was born in New York City, New York to a Japanese American mother and a Jewish American father.
Sarah Kay now currently writes, reads, and performs poetry for all different kinds of audiences. She began performing poetry at the Bowery Poetry Club in the East Village at the age of 14, joining their Slam Team in 2006. That year, she was the youngest person competing in the National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas.
She has participated in many poetry slams.
In 2007 Kay made her television debut, performing the poem "Hands" on Home Box Office"s Def Poetry Jam. She has performed at events and venues like the Lincoln Center, the Tribeca Film Festival, and at the United Nations where she was a featured performer for the launch of the 2004 World Youth Report.
In May 2010, she performed at *spark!, a benefit for the Acumen Fund in New York, New New York On March 3, 2011, she performed at the TED conference in Long Beach, California as part of a series entitled "Beauty, Imagination, Enchantment." Along with a talk about her upbringing, she performed the poems "B" and "Hiroshima".
Kay performed at The Nantucket Project, a festival of ideas in Nantucket, Massachusetts.