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Zayra Yves is an International mixed media artist, photographer, filmmaker, storyteller, creative writer and poet.
Zayra's creative writing is published in numerous print journals, anthologies, on-line e-zines and magazines: The Zimbabwe Situation, Panhandler Quarterly, Voices for Africa, Eyes of the Poet, Kreativ, Reflections IIT Madras (India), Edge Life Magazine, Poetry Life & Times, Astropoetica, Alehouse Press, 34th Parallel, Feeling is First, Memoir (and), Aquillrelle, The Enchanting Verses International Journal, The Cherry Muse, Open Your Eyes, Poetic Velocity, Fractured Poetics, and Some Voices Sing.
She has appeared as a featured artist and/or guest speaker at: New Sun Celebration; CIIS California Institute of Integral Studies; on Ken Wilber's Integral Life;OneMindVillage; West Marin Community Radio; SW Radio Africa; North Western University Chicago; Zimvibes; Coolfire (UK); Women's Radio Network; Perfectly Said; Mazungue Studio One; TWiN (UK); Genpo Roshi and Bill Harris' Big Heart/Big Mind seminar; UltraFeel TV; UniVerse of Poetry; BlogTalk Radio, The Awareness Network and Today’s Revolutionary Women of Color.
AWARDS:
2010 Zayra was the winning poet from the "An African Legend: White Lions and Leopards" contest 2010. She was awarded the gift of joining the conservation team at Tsau where the White Lions live in Timbavati, South Africa, plus publication in two of their books.
2012 she received the World Poetry Empowered Poet 2012 award beside several other amazing International poets at the World Poetry Canada & International Peace Festival 2012.
2013 she received the “Woman of Goodwill Award” and “Plaque of Appreciation” for her role as a Panelist at Pentasi B in the Philippines.
2014 she received the "Distinguished Poet Award" from the Writer's International Network Canada.
Her short story "Exit Ashes, Exit Blues, Exit This Life" won an honorable mention in Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope All Story contest.
ART EXHIBITIONS:
Zayra's fine art collection has appeared from 1998 to present at the following California locations: Dore Dore Gallery, San Mateo; Somar Gallery, San Francisco; UC Berkeley, San Francisco Campus; Body Harmony, San Francisco; Dana Street Cafe, Mountain View; Cafe Libro, Mountain View; Maitri Art Show & Auction, Embarcadero Center; Cad's Coffee Shop, Los Osos; One World Cafe, San Francisco; The Hive Gallery, Los Angeles; The Artist's Alley, San Francisco. Minna Gallery, San Francisco. The Twitter Postcard Exhibition, International; FUSE collective exhibitions at Citadel Art Gallery 2017-2018; Arterra, San Francisco, December 2016-January 2017; Pho 69, San Jose SOFA First Fridays, Phantom Galleries, December 2017-March 2018; Ameriprise Financial, San Jose, April-June 2019; Dr. Lin Chiropractic, Cupertino, current.
She has four audio collections:
1.) Crowned Compassion
2.) Sleep in the Sea Tonight with Me
3.) Retrograde Motion (retired)
4.) Lanterns
She is the author of five books:
1.) Empty as Nirvana
2.) Ordinary Substance
3.) Color Me Pomegranate
4.) Leaving You Unpainted
5.) Floating in the Dark
These collections are easy to find directly online...for more information send an email to: zky@zayrayves.com _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
REVIEWS:
"Zayra Yves is a Divinely inspired poet in communication with the Sacred and our Ancestors." - Linda Tucker, CEO & Founder of White Lion Trust Foundation (www.whitelions.org)
"Whether she speaks of love and passion, or pain and the mystery behind all human experience (for Zayra is a mystic in the truest sense of the word), her words will speak to a place deep inside of you that, once called, awakens—and once awakened, changes you forever. I once told my students that Zayra’s poetry would make their toes curl. I should have said that it would make their souls curl." - Bill Harris - Spiritual Teacher, Centerpointe Research Institute (www.centerpointe.com)
Zayra Yves poems are often spiritual without being religious, and she writes boldly and unflinchingly about subjects which are often controversial and sometimes painful. She values sincerity and openness and those values are obvious in her writing. In the time I've known her, I've come to value Zayra as much for her sensitivity as for her amazing writing. I hope that everyone who sees this will have already read her book and be as cognizant as I am of the high quality with which Zayra endows everything she does.
- Jim Dunlap (author published in over 90 publications & associate editor of Alchemy Cove)
"A poetry offering by Zayra Yves can only mean new outpourings of love filtered through star fields, churned hot blue in densely swirled spirals. She reaches out again as a poet laureate of love with an elegantly produced gem of a book. Love divine, love romantic, love found quickly, and lived deeply. A narrow sliver of experience yearned for in lifetimes of desire. These intense poems are no cerebral exercise penned in quiet reflection. The words come hard earned in a stained, dog-eared, under the mattress handbook of love by a poet who lives the love of which she writes. Sometimes sweet, often erotic, always soulful, these poems speak to lovers with hearts split wide open with ecstatic joy, and soul smashing love cries. This is a wondrous work, moist with the sweetness of peaches, and the salty taste of love passions. Kisses come often here, are held deeply, and will be longingly remembered. Zayra’s love may be left unpainted, but it is not without color." - Joseph Mallon, Ph.D candidate at Stanford University
"The work of Zayra Yves is earthy, mystical, flowing - like a river that moves through the universe of stars. In its course, it reveals the human suffering that cries from the abyss, the majestic cathedral of the ceremonial soul, the erotic body of light, the undeniable presence of the muse, the great hope for a more expansive state of compassion, and the rapture of total abandonment of love. Empty as Nirvana hides nothing. This most recent book is a powerful, evocative, and beautiful collection of pure poetry by the immensely talented Zayra Yves." - Stefano Resta (filmmaker, artist and poet www.stefanoresta.com)
“Zayra Yves is a voice of clarity in the confusion of a contemporary world of turmoil. Her management spells refinement: focused and precise. Her touch speaks of dedication, truth and of compassion. She is a divine gift to mankind, willing to share her numerous talents. I am honored to work with her. - Myra Lochner (Meta-therapist and Writer, South Africa)
“A highly talented and intelligent individual. Zayra is a superb poetess with a deep understanding of the human psyche. Her work is of the highest standard, and she is a perfectionist who will not brook anything that is remotely sub-standard. Her poetic works are therefore quite phenomenal in their depth, understanding and tone. She is a master of the written and spoken word.” - Mike Begbie (Astronomy Educator, Zimbabwe)
“Zayra Yves is a mystical poet integrating heart, essence, and erotic rhythms. Her poems whisper in raw force resonating in ones deeper knowing of both beauty and pain. Zayra is undeniably digging into the grooves of enlightened poetry. While I am enjoying her written work, I recommend sitting back and listening to her sultry her spoken words. It is a must have experience.” - Malena Gamboa (author, teacher and holistic healer)
"Zayra Yves is a passion-filled force embracing both her human desires as well as the divine essence. Empty as Nirvana has been compiled from both new material and previously published poems that have been included in magazines, journals, audio recordings, radio broadcasts, and other print publications. These poems reveal the human suffering that cries from the abyss, the erotic body of light, the undeniable presence of the muse, the great hope for a more expansive state of compassion, and the rapture of total abandonment to love." - Brian Douthit (author of Perfectly Said, When Words Become Art)
“Zayra Yves has a unique perception of the world and the human condition making all her writings interesting and uplifting! It is always a learning experience reading Zayra's works. Her gift allows the reader to touch new areas of perception and nowadays when there is so much of everything out there, it is such a blessing finding an innovative writer such as Zayra.” - Tony Araujo (Mazunge Studio One)
“Zayra was professional from the start. Her positive attitude and focused drive made the job enjoyable and efficient. Poetry and intellectual thought flow through Zayra like the breeze on the sea. Take a moment to calm your soul and listen to the fine words she has to say. It was a pleasure to work with such a talented artist.” - David Hughes (Shine On Studio)
"Throughout each poem in this book are moments when the poem speaks without thinking, tracing the lineaments of desire with blind, hypnotic eyes. Summoned by the poet's passion, and speaking to an imaginary other, one who lures us into the precincts of emptiness and mysterious potential, Zayra Yves is a guide, through self-chaos and beyond." - Michael Hannon (author of Trusting Oblivion)
"Zayra Yves is a modern-day mystic. Innovative, passionate, curious, ever so aware, her poems take the reader from the mundane to the majestic, her work resonating with Spirit and the spirit of truth. To read her is to be enriched, mind, body, and soul. In short, Zayra Yves is a light to the world. Indeed, there is clarity in abundance whereas this visionary flies. And the journey has only just begun." - Richard Doiron (author of over 18 books of poetry)
"Someone once said that a true artist creates from the pulse, from a knowing that comes from deep within. Zayra Yves is such an artist: her writing originates from the river beneath the river. It summons the opening of a passageway that allows the reader to sit at the cookfire of the mystic, to hear the chiming of heartdrums, and to meet one’s own numinosity. Her poetry unravels, empties and fills you all at once. Marvelously, her words make themselves sit in your eyes; whatever you’re seeking will be within you. At times she pushes you over the edge, but I promise you, just like me, you’ll fly. Nicolette van der Walt (Author of “fire lily: flower of the flame” - South Africa)
"In the words of the infamous Marty Bales, "My compelling vestment in her expressions came with her very first and very last words. Everything else in between shook my perfect instability.” I can say the same thing without hesitation about Zayra Yves’ poetry & spoken word. It falls like spring rain in a season of bloom. Zayra’s flower life is a burst of brilliance, filled with fragrance in anticipation of an ever-changing and colorful beauty. Both readers and listeners will find a sense of all completed seasons in Zayra’s work, but they’ll also catch the aromatic nuances as fine as the kaleidoscope she wields." - Ed Balldinger (author and musician at Mood Grove)