Roscoe Burnems

Roscoe Burnems

Roscoe Burnems, also known as Douglas Powell, is a father, author, spoken-word artist, educator, and Richmond, Virginia’s first poet laureate. He is the author of the collections God, Love, Death and Other Synonyms (310 Brown Street, 2019); Chrysalis Under Fire (The Writer’s Den, LLC, 2018); Fighting Demons (Prysmatic Dreams Publishing, 2014), and defyne (Lift Bridge Publishing, 2024). During his time as a slam poet, Burnems has been a three-time Southern regional team finalist, National Poetry Slam Champion, and two-time NUPIC/Undeground Poetry Slam Champion. As a poetry slam coach, he has been a NPS Group Piece finalist and taken Virginia Commonwealth University’s poetry team to rank third internationally. Burnems is a TEDx speaker and the founder of the poetry-based art collective The Writer’s Den. In 2021, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship. He recently claimed two Telly Awards as a host and producer of "Verses" for VPM.