Born to a political rebel for a father, and a school teacher for a mother, poet Menya Thykeo writes with tremendous passion for the human spirit. At a tender age of 24, Menya has written and performed poems and stories on various controversial topics, including: love, relationships, poverty, self-oppression, spirituality, war and politics. She has been well-received by members of academia and contemporaries alike, performing at the Ohio State University, Ohio University, BlackPearl Poetry, Cincinnati's esteemed Greenwich Tavern, Cleveland's Kamikaze Club, Kerouac Kafe, the Dayton Poetry Slam, and Kent State University. She resides in Columbus, where she is currently working on a novel set in the city of Detroit, MI, in the post-1967 riot era, and continues to write and perform spoken word poetry.