Down With the Ship

Tom Leveille

POETRY

Tom Leveille is a 29-year-old non binary spoken word artist hailing from Newport News, Virginia - born and raised. Leveille studied at Old Dominion University but did not throw a hat into the poetry scene until very recently.

They discovered the world of poetry and spoken word through Twitter. Tom owns and operates the legendary @avxlanche account, which since August 2014 has exploded to over 55,000 followers and growing. They are also active in the community as a staunch member of Slam Richmond leading writing workshops, and cohosting the weekly slam/open mic.

A Richmond slam champion, a writers den slam champion, College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational 2015 Sacrificial Poet, Southern Fried 2016 competitor, and Texas Grand Slam 2016 competitor Tom has, in addition to this collection, published a chapbook through Impossible Wings Press entitled "the year no one said hallelujah.” Their work has been featured in various places including altdaily.com, samueljay.co.uk, and the pulp zine.

Recently branching out as a touring poet, Leveille is slated to perform at over a dozen colleges & slams across the Atlantic seaboard in the spring of 2016, with another tour spanning the entirety of the south: from Virginia to Arizona and back.

Online Videos of Tom's work may be viewed at the following links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD7-h8yI6vo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PpMNlXwT04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXdrzspPt8Y

Praise for Tom Leveille:

“The stark dusk of memory. The deepest tones of our most subtle moments. An eerie, inexplicable wisdom from a voice in the dark. One that knows what keeps you strong and can lead you there. Tom Leveille is a whirling ghost that sings in the language of a heart you didn’t know you had. This poetry is the answer to a question you just discovered in your palms.”

- jamie j. mortara, author of some planet