Poets Don't Sleep at Night

Poetry by Taya Vasilyeva
​Videography by Angelina Tolstykh

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Poet:

Taya Vasilyeva is a Russian-American poet, mother, author, and she is both writer and  illustrator of Gratitude, a book for children. She volunteers her time teaching creative writing to middle and high school students, and she loves bringing meaningful messages to young people through her clear language and easy-to-read rhymes. For her peers, she writes mostly on issues of the stigma of mental health, political and cultural bias, emotional trauma, honesty, pain, and love. True rhyme always plays a key role in her poetry. She also hopes her poetry can be an agent for change, by engaging others so deeply they will tackle issues outside their comfort zones.

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Videographer:

Angelina Tolstykh is a freelance videographer and photographer based in Novosibirsk, Russia. She is mostly known for her experimental projects of intimate and provocative fusion style. In the last few years Angelina has worked on a variety of projects, mostly for nonprofit and arts organizations. She also has created music videos, commercial projects, video portraits, social ads, and poetry videos. “I see the beauty in raw emotion and energy that a person exhumes. Every body is perfect.”