Meet Yvonne Buckner. A poet, mother, spoken word artist, and wife. Yvonne is a native Chicagoan, and a writer of poetry since the age of seven. Prior to writing poetry, Yvonne remembers writing short stories and letters to family members as early as five-years-old. It’s fair to say that Yvonne has been a writer almost as long as she’s been breathing. One day as she walked under a canopy of trees, she opened her mouth and spoke a poem out loud that she made up as she walked along. From that moment, a poet and spoken word artist began to emerge. Yvonne attributes her strong vocabulary and wordplay to hours of reading literature including Webster’s dictionary. As a youth, she indulged in reading and memorizing the poetry of great American poets. Some of her favorite poets include Paul Laurence Dunbar, Phillis Wheatley, Countee Cullen, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost and Gwendolyn Brooks of whom her middle name honors. From reading her poetry in sixth grade over the school's intercom to competing in poetry and oratory competitions in and outside of Providence St. Mel high school, whenever there was an opportunity, Yvonne challenged herself to write, memorize, and recite inspirational and relevant poetry. Yvonne has performed at some of Chicago’s nostalgic literary venues including Literary Explosion (Lit-Ex) and the Guild Complex. Yvonne’s first play, Brown Flowers was published when she was only seventeen years old. The Pegasus Players Theater of Harry Truman College read Brown Flowers live at the Chicago Cultural Center. When she was twenty years old, Yvonne started reciting her poetry on the Dan Ryan red line train in Chicago on her commute to work. Ironically, Yvonne met her husband, Corey Buckner, an artist, poet, and web developer on 95th and the Dan Ryan and the two have enjoyed marriage for over ten years. In 2005, Yvonne published her first collection of poetry, Time of My New. In addition to publishing the eighty-six-page anthology, Yvonne recorded a spoken word CD with a live band to accompany the book. Five years later, Yvonne went back into the studio and recorded the musical jambalaya of poetry and sound, A Ministry of Spoken Word, now available on iTunes and all major online music stores. Yvonne’s effervescent ability to flow is evident in each dramatic presentation of spoken word that she gives. Beyond her prowess to write and memorize poetry, she is known for her unique ability to do improv poetry and spoken word, often making up poems on the spot in her appearances. Yvonne allows people an open door to her life and is known to write and slip poems into the hands of complete strangers when she senses that words of encouragement are needed. Yvonne is a highly sought after feature poet and was featured on the Poetry Rocks Showcase TV Pilot for BET. Yvonne holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Governors State University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and studied Advertising and Public Relations. She is also a member of the Lambda Pi Eta National Honor Society for Communications.