Sandra Proto is a literary, performance, interdisciplinary, and teaching artist. She has self-published five books of poetry and her poems have been published in numerous literary journals in print and online. Sandra has been a featured reader at several poetry events hosted by art exhibits, libraries, historical museums, and cafés. She has performed and recorded her poetry with musical bands for live performances and CDs. Also, Sandra’s poems and broadsides have been displayed in art exhibits as well as at the Lewis Latimer House Museum. Through her company Girls Read to Write, an educational LLC established in 2015, Sandra has taught young ladies ages 8 through 13 years old creative writing. Sandra earned her BS in Theatre at SUNY College at Brockport and lives in Long Island with her husband and two daughters. 

 

Artist Statement

 

Being dark-skinned with very thick eyeglasses as a child, I was teased. I was not teased the way our children are today teased to the point of extreme bullying, but I did develop low self-esteem. I, in turn, wrote a poem called “Blackberry Beauty” when I was twelve years old. At twelve, I was looking for my voice and I found out that I could find it by linking words together to create poetry. As I continue my literary journey through poetry, which has been forty-plus years, I realize that not only can I find my voice, but I can help other people find theirs with my personal retelling of my stories and observations. What I learned from writing poetry is that it is accessible and a way to broaden communication lines.