Jayshawn Lee is a Harlem-based poet, scholar, and cultural strategist whose work expands poetry beyond the page—into public space, performance, and participatory experience. Blending artistic practice with social impact, he uses poetry as a tool for connection, reflection, and collective storytelling.
He is the creator of The People’s Poetry Cart, a mobile poetry initiative that transforms everyday environments into sites of exchange. Through live, typewriter-written poems, the cart invites strangers into intimate moments of dialogue, turning sidewalks, museums, and public gatherings into spaces where language becomes both offering and archive. Central to his practice is the typewriter, not only as a writing tool but as an instrument of improvisation—one that allows poetry to unfold in real time, shaped by conversation, presence, and place.
His work spans performance, installation, and exhibition. He has presented at Governors Island through the Climate Imaginarium, served as poet-in-residence with Amnesty International USA, and brought The People’s Poetry Cart to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. His practice also extends into education, where he works as a teaching artist with Poets House, engaging students and communities in creative expression and literary exploration.
Jayshawn is the co-creator of Climate Haikus, an evolving poetic archive that explores climate justice through collective authorship. The project invites participants to contribute their own reflections while also receiving custom-written poems, building a living body of work that captures diverse emotional and political responses to the climate crisis. Climate Haikus was nominated for the Human Impacts Institute Creative Climate Awards in 2025
Beyond individual projects, Jayshawn is the founder of the Elysium for Social Poets, an initiative dedicated to empowering communities through poetry, storytelling, and social action. His work consistently centers accessibility, ensuring that poetry is not confined to literary spaces but is experienced by broad and diverse audiences.
He has been featured on the Today Show, where he spoke on the role of typewriter poetry in fostering community and meaningful human connection. Across his work, he continues to explore how poetry can function as both art and intervention—bridging people, spaces, and ideas in ways that are immediate, intimate, and enduring.
Jayshawn holds an Associate’s degree from Borough of Manhattan Community College and was recognized as a CUNY 50 Under 50 honoree. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study as a GUIDE Scholar, focusing on the Political Economy of Global Equity, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University.
Awards & Academic Mentions
Climate Storytellers 2075 Cohort 3
Creative Climate Awards, Human Impacts Institute, 2025
Award for Artistic Activism, OpenEARTHstudio, 2021
James Tolan Writing Award, Borough of Manhattan Community College 2019
James Tolan Writing Award, Borough of Manhattan Community College 2018
Jayshawn lives in Harlem, New York, and is slowly making his way around the globe. Outside of his lavish projects, you can usually find him working on his first manuscript, kayaking, or thrifting in Manhattan
JayshawnLLee@gmail.com