Elana Bell – Vocalist, Poet – New York, NY

Elana Bell has been singing since before she could speak. Her first memories are of harmonizing to 1950’s songs around the campfire with her parents in the woods of northern California. Elana has continued to use voice as her primary means of creative self-expression and communication, pursuing theatre, poetry, and song. In 2001, Elana performed at the National Black Theater Festival in Minus One, an educational musical about violence in teen relationships. In 2004 Elana was selected as the winner of the Stephen Dunn Poetry Award. A resident artist with the louderARTS Project, Elana has been a featured poet at Bar 13, the NuYorican Poets Cafe, Hunter College, Teachers and Writers Collaborative, The Bowery Poetry Club, Cornelia Street Café, and at the Indian Institute for Advanced Studies in Simla, India. Currently, Elana serves as the writer-in-residence for the Bronx Academy of Letters and sings in the women’s world music trio, Saheli.