Seven of the Island’s promising young artists are today representing Bermuda at a US festival billed as bringing together “500 of the most outspoken and talented young artists”.

Courtesy of the Chewstick Foundation, the team set off yesterday to show their skills at Philadelphia’s four-day International Brave New Voices Poetry and Spoken Word Festival.

Attending are Marquedelle Rodriguez, 18, with Dascha Choudhury, 16, Hannah Smith, 16, Ashanti Stovell, 17, Rakaya Stovell, 15, Treasure Tannock, 17, and Brynn Thomas, 18 — chosen from Chewstick’s Break the Chains Youth Poetry and Spoken Word Programme.

“We were looking to put together a team that would best represent Bermuda as a nation,” said Deidra-Lee Bean, administrative officer for the Foundation, who was accompanying the young talents with educators Yesha Townsend and Mathew Johnston.

The artistic non-profit group, driven to enrich youth, culture and community through creative expression and free speech, sent local teens to attend Brave New Voices last year in Chicago, and in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2012.

This year’s students were chosen from local school competitions for “stage presence, performance and leadership skills”, Ms Bean said.

“We also looked at the content of their writing,” she added. The group represent The Bermuda High School, The Berkeley Institute, CedarBridge Academy and Warwick Academy.

Fundraising started immediately after their selection for the Bermuda National Poetry Team in May.

The Chewstick Foundation hosts venues aimed at people of all ages, where local talents can express themselves in a creative and healthy way. A series of these events helped raise funds for the seven teens to attend the festival — several of which featured participants from other Chewstick programmes.

The shows also spotlighted poetry inspiration and luminary Tiffany Paynter, of the Break The Chains programme, plus Yesha Townsend, Chewstick’s education director.

Despite these efforts, a generous donation from Marshallworx and others helped them to finally make their dream of attending the festival come true.

“The group will officially represent Bermuda at this prestigious event, which has been attended by Mos Def, Russell Simmons, Common, Saul Williams and many more renowned artists,” Ms Bean said.

The Brave New Voices Poetry and Spoken Word Festival will allow Chewstick to expand its horizons, helping the young students not only to better understand Bermuda’s culture and community but opening their eyes to the talent and culture of the world before them.

“We want to empower them to take on the world,” said Ms Bean.

Hundreds from around the US will join the young Bermudians in spoken word poetry, storytelling and other performances.

“The festival will include workshops that will allow the group to socially engage with other people, competitions and community outreach activities,” Ms Bean told The Royal Gazette.

Brave New Voices calls itself “the largest ongoing spoken word event in the world” and anticipates a substantial Philadelphia audience: admission is free for local youth.

Starting last night with opening invocations featuring Philadelphia’s young performers, the festival will provide the Bermuda contingent with opportunities to connect with like-minded aspiring artists.

“Break The Chain’s participation gives them the chance to represent Bermuda internationally, while providing them with the opportunity to grow and develop,” Ms Bean said.