Mayda A. Del Valle, Class of 2000

Mayda Del Valle turned an independent study on spoken word and performance during her final semester at Williams in 2000 into a career as one of the country’s most renowned slam poets.  Self-performances of her poetry on issues of identity and culture at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City resulted in competition successes that led in 2001 to her becoming the youngest person and first Latina to win the National Slam Poetry title.  She subsequently appeared in four seasons of the HBO series “Def Comedy Jam” and the Tony-winning production of “Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway,” including its national tour.  She also traveled the country with the “Declare Yourself Spoken Word” tour.  Her one-woman performance at New York City’s Downtown Urban Theater Festival won an Audience Favorite Award.  The New York Times described “Def Poetry Jam on Broadway” as “the sound of youth expressing itself, at its most intense and anxious and self-conscious and self-delighted.”  Del Valle will give the main Convocation Address, titled “Life is Usually Untitled.”