Traci Neal lives in the United States as a performing poet and professional writer. She is featured in The New York Times, Storyberries, Sheen Magazine, and InspireMore to name a few. She is the third place 2022 poetry winner in the United Kingdom Thalassemia Society for their Global Arts and Poetry Competition, the 2022 poetry winner of Empowering Justice Foundation Poetry Contest, the third-place 2022 State Winner of the SCCDA Poetry and Art Contest, and the 2021 second-place winner of the virtual poetry slam "Taking It Global" in Toronto, Canada.

To the Editor (New York Times) - April 17, 2021:
Imagine a young, Black, Southern teenage girl in middle school with thick glasses. This girl wants to do so well in school. She wishes she were popular. She desires to have more friends and be liked. She loves to read. She loves poetry. This girl was me.
I have one philosophy. In my teenage years and now in adulthood, I have believed that rejection motivates reach. Poetry would become my outlet in life. In high school, college and adulthood, rejection would follow me constantly. Still, it became my motivation to reach out to the hurting, helpless and those hungry for hope.
Rejection pushes poetry out of me. Poetry propels me to release my pain. Rejection motivates me to never give up. I think we all have felt rejection at some point in our lives. Let rejection be your motivation to reach.

Traci Neal
Columbia, S.C.

Website: https://www.tracinealspeakerpoet.com
Thank you: https://www.tracinealspeakerpoet.com/thank-you-blogs-articles
Poets & Writers: https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/traci_neal