Angel Price-Montgomery, an eighth grader from West Chatham Middle School, has been tapped as Deep Laureate for winter 2020 by Deep Center. This honor recognizes Angel as Savannah's “deepest" young author, whose creative writing is among the most skilled, original, and fearless in the county. Angel's powerful piece, “I Am," won the honor.
“I am really blown away by the honor and want to use my writing as a way to inspire others to use their voice," Angel said. “I write because I want people to know they aren't alone, and because I want to be able to reach someone's heart with my craft."
Angel was one of the 180 youth who completed Deep Center's Young Author Project in the fall of 2019, and she was voted to receive the honor by a combination of her program peers, the general public through a social-media campaign, and Deep's staff.
"Angel's writing exemplifies what we at Deep hope to empower our young people to create: pieces that allow youth to claim agency over their own lives and stories," said Maria Zoccola, program manager of the Young Author Project. “As Deep Laureate, Angel represents the power of imaginative youth voice in Savannah. We're very proud of her."
Works by all participating students have been published in five anthologies, which are on sale for $12 through Deep and in circulation within the Live Oak Public Library system. All book-sale proceeds support Deep's nonprofit creative-writing workshops.
Photos of Angel and her poem “I Am" can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/s8bxkcv
