About Me – NZ Hazelton (she/her)

Shorter Verson

Hi, 👋🏾 I’m NZ Hazelton—a poet, artist-educator, and facilitator of healing spaces rooted in Harlem. I was born to a midwife from Harlem and caught, in a Harlem high rise, by the hands of a midwife. In 2020, I led the production and translation of A Fearless Spring, a twenty-eight-part poem rendered in multiple languages. I don’t travel often now, but I have in the past; the most far-flung and sweetest place I’ve visited is Pondicherry in southern India. Since 2018, I’ve led soak circles, largely out of my home. I once walked from Harlem to the Tappan Zee Bridge in one gulp. I live with too many plants—which also means, I am at plant-capacity. This journal will include mostly recent essays and reflections.

Longer Version

I am the daughter of the late master midwife Nonkululeko Tyehemba. I am a poet, artist-educator, and operations professional rooted in Harlem, New York, with a journey that has taken me through Western Massachusetts, Senegal, Ghana, New Orleans, and Cuba. I use poetry as a framework for building interconnected, multifaceted communities, facilitating reflection, creativity, and collective healing.

I hold a Bachelor’s in Black Studies from Amherst College and a Master’s in Adolescent Special Education from CUNY Hunter College. I have taught across educational levels and have spent over eight years facilitating full moon soaks—healing and connection spaces for parents, families, and artists.

Through my initiative, The Writer is N | TWIN Cafe, I coordinated A Fearless Spring, a twenty-eight-part multilingual poem, and led its translation into Asante-Twi, Amharic, Spanish, Kreyól, Wolof, griotLITE, and French. I am also developing an audio-visual documentary centering Civil Rights Freedom Rider Jerome Smith and the Black Masking Indians of New Orleans.

With over a decade of leadership experience in nonprofit organizations, I bring expertise in organizational growth, budget management, and professional development. I have managed procurement, budget tracking, and recruitment at the New York City Department of Education, and led large-scale community initiatives, including wellness programs at the Harlem Birth Action Committee and disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Internationally, I have supported grassroots projects in Cuba, Ghana, and Senegal, focusing on community organizing, environmental initiatives, and education.

A kidney transplant survivor and facilitator of healing circles, I am committed to holistic health, wellness, and collective fellowship. My work has been recognized through the Laundromat Project’s Create Change Fellowship (2025), Dance/NYC’s Disability, Dance, Artistry, and Social Justice Fellowship (2023), as well as grants from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Citizens Committee of New York City, and Northfield Mount Hermon’s Vivian Dandridge White Prize. Publications and productions include The Feminist Wire, each other’s harvest: an afternoon of poetry, community, and address by Cave Canem, Collective Fallout, and Def Dance Jam Workshop – PONO Movement Performance.

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