Lyrical Faith, host of the Fine Arts Center’s Bright Moments Spoken Word Night, was named as the inaugural Ignite Fellow at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, a nonprofit interdisciplinary arts venue in Greater Boston.
The fellowship, part of the center’s new artist in residence program, is dedicated to uplifting new, emerging, and local talent by providing them the time and space needed to create, experiment, and grow.
Aliana de la Guardia, executive director of the Mosesian Center for the Arts, said that the fellowship is offered to someone “whose art is really groundbreaking — and that’s why it’s called ‘Ignite.’”
“My hope is that we can connect the community to these artists so we start following them and following their careers,” de la Guardia added.
Lyrical Faith is the Fine Arts Center’s brilliant host of the Bright Moments Spoken Word Night series. In addition to hosting and performing her own work, Lyrical Faith curates poets from the national scene to perform their spoken word, creating space for diverse voices and perspectives.
Being named the inaugural Ignite Fellow represents an opportunity, she said, to work in new ways with artists and to invest in a major artistic project, including a full length manuscript, spoken word album, and live productions.
“I am excited for the opportunity to grow, for the opportunity to push myself, to learn from others, and to work with artists that have amazing talents and us both having the ability to do something magical together,” Lyrical Faith said.
Lyrical Faith is an international award-winning spoken word poet and advanced educational researcher in Social Justice Education at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Hailing from and currently residing in the Bronx, she has toured colleges and universities across the country. She has featured in prominent venues such as the World Famous Apollo Theatre as well as global platforms in Paris, South Africa, Ukraine, New Zealand, Mexico and Belize. She is a three-time Women of the World Poetry Slam finalist, a two-time Bronx Poet Laureate finalist, the 2015 Syracuse University Poet of the Year, and the Inaugural UMass Amherst W.E.B. Du Bois Center Poet-In-Residence. She's performed live for the studio audience while being featured on four episodes of America’s favorite game show, Family Feud. She’s shared stages with icons from Dr. Marc Lamont Hill to Ms. Lauryn Hill. Upon introducing her to perform at the 2025 Malcolm X Centennial birthday fundraiser, Marc Lamont Hill described her as "one of the finest poets of her generation."
She has served as an officer for the largest educational research association in the world (American Educational Research Association), where she was a leader in the Hip-Hop Special Interest Group. She’s the founder of a nationwide event known as the Black Artistic Freedom Conference, the head coach of an undergraduate poetry slam team, the recipient of the 2025 Commitment to Diversity Award, and recognized by the African-American Female Professor Awards Association for her devotion to promoting education and activism through the arts.