Nehassaiu deGannes (’94, ’03): Nehassaiu deGannes is a poet whose love of language encompasses a life in the theater. She has two award-winning chapbooks: Percussion, Salt & Honey (The Philbrick Prize for New England Poets, selected by Michael Harper) and Undressing The River (2011 Center For Book Arts Letterpress Award, selected by Kimiko Hahn and Sharon Dolin.) Her poems have also appeared in Callaloo, Poem Memoir Story, American Poetry Review, Caribbean Writer, Painted Bride Quarterly, Tuesday: An Art Project, TORCH, Encyclopedia Project, After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery Anthology, Crab Orchard Review, ARAVA Review and The Cave Canem XII Anthology. Nehassaiu’s fellowships and residencies include Cave Canem, The Vermont Studio Center, Soul Mountain and a Rhode Island State Council on The Arts Poetry Fellowship. She completed her MFA in Poetry at Brown University and The Graduate Acting Program at Trinity Rep Conservatory. www.nehassaiu.com