Dave G

Spoken Word/Poetry

• 2015 THON’s Got Talent winner

• 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) Co-Champion

• 3rd Cover Person of Sovereign, the first magazine for Penn State students of color

Dave G is a Philadelphia-based spoken word poet, performer and entertainer. His poetry is the tumultuous product of baptist preaching, hip-hop culture and tireless introspection. What started as writing to impress high-school girlfriends evolved into a passion to impress himself that has taken his words nationwide. He recently graduated from the Pennsylvania State University—University Park, where he made a name for himself defecting from the dominant white, greek and football-crazed culture. He competed at the 2015 Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON) with an audience of 40,000+ and won over the crowd with his poetic wordplay, charismatic delivery and shameless transparency. He organized and performed at poetry shows that attracted hundreds of students and featured popular poets such as Olivia Gatwood, Andrea Gibson, Siaara Freeman, Remi Kanazi and many more. He also assembled and earned a spot on Penn State’s first nationally competing slam poetry team, which succeeded 68 collegiate teams to a co-championship at the 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) in Chicago. His love of performance was born from watching his father preach every week at his family church in South Philadelphia; however, instead of pulpits and sermons, he uses stages and poetry to spread messages of social justice, political consciousness and self-love.