Nia Boulware

“The unfortunate fact is that the stories are always told by the survivors, and those victors teach the next generations.“ -Nia Boulware

Nia Boulware is a storyteller. She describes her favorite pastime as sitting along and “creating her own version of the world.” Yet she is very much a survivor herself, in the here and now, a performer, a poet, and a writer who draws upon her own history and the stories of those around her. In September of 2014, on the basis of her exceptional talent for writing, Nia attended the prestigious Telluride Film Festival in Colorado. In her own words, “While there we met with phenomenal filmmakers and directors such as Linda Jones Clough, Gregory Nava, and Walter Murch. I could see a passion in each of their eyes; their hunger to create was as humbling as the mountains. The trip included an opportunity to build relationships with other aspiring filmmakers our own age. The schedule was always full . . . There were lessons taught that were too authentic to receive from anywhere else.”

Currently Nia is a junior in the Literary Media and Communications Program at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington, D.C.  In 2015 she was awarded a Gold Key in Poetry from the D.C. Metro Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Competition for her poem entitled “Saturday notes to my little brother.” She and another student performed this piece at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Nia also received an Honorable Mention for writing a Flash fiction entitled “Williams,” a story based on the life and death of her grandfather.

Nia also writes about issues and current events. For Daisy James, the school newspaper, she contributes articles on topics that range from Langston Hughes to religious stereotypes. For her essay, “MLK isn’t dead . . . and everything else,” she was awarded first place in the 2015 Founders Scholarship essay contest sponsored by the non-profit Race and Reconciliation in America (RARIA). In addition to a scholarship prize, Nia also received an invitation to be an intern in the RARIA office.

One day she hopes to establish a writing program for teens in her community. After graduation from High School, Nia plans to attend Spelman College where she will work on a degree in creative writing.