Poet and Cultural Ambassador Queena Bergen Is In Her Bamboo Season

Photo courtesy of Queena Bergen.

“Bamboo is one of the strongest materials on Earth … but [it] takes over five years to grow,” said Queena Bergen, when reflecting on her favorite poem to perform, “Bamboo Season.” Hailing from Franklin, New Jersey, Bergen is a person who cannot easily be categorized — nor does she want to be. Rather than an artist, Bergen self-identifies as a creator, someone who builds something where there was nothing and does not stay in any particular lane.

“I would define myself as a creator … because [I] don't have the same rules or guidelines that people associate with being an artist … Which is what allows me to be able to monetize my art in ways that I wouldn't be able to if I thought just like an artist,” Bergen said. “There is an infinite set of possibilities for creators.”

A poet, media producer, cultural ambassador and founder, Bergen honed her creativity growing up in a diverse town with a vibrant creative scene. However, she didn’t start telling stories because she wanted to but because she had to. 

Growing up Caribbean-American, she was often Othered. The bullying she experienced early on made her retreat at first. But it also made her study people, paying attention to who was heard and who wasn’t. Public speaking and poetry gave her confidence.

“Telling my story was really a product of me trying to fight against the bullying … it made me feel like what I had to say had value,” Bergen said. “I learned very quickly, when I start[ed] to hone in on my voice, that when I can speak eloquently, when I can command the attention of the room, all of those people that had thoughts and opinions about what I had to say were quiet now.”

In high school, she became friends with a tight-knit group of students who were all also experimenting with art. When she was an underclassman, she was already writing and performing poetry, filming and editing music videos.

Today, she still stays in contact with many creative people from her hometown, those from her generation who she says make up Franklin’s “creative force.”

“We were in an ecosystem of other people who were like, oh, you got a camera? Oh, you like to rap? … We created constantly and with each other,” Bergen said.

Bergen credits those early years with teaching her the importance of community in the creative process, but also the importance of finding your voice and defining yourself. 

Over time, Bergen expanded her definition of what poetry could do and where it could go. She noticed early that most poets stayed in certain rooms: open mics, slams, and book festivals. She decided to change things by going to new rooms. “Most poets … say to themselves, ‘I’m going to write a book,’ ‘I’m going to go to an open mic,’ ‘I hope that I go viral,’” she said. “I don’t take that route … But I have traveled the world … won Emmys … been on national television … All of that because I am in spaces that poets are not.”

In 2020, she entered an online contest with a three-minute poem, “Bamboo Season,” and ended up winning $100,000 in grant funding. The internet didn't make her go viral but helped her find the right eyes.

“[I] wasn’t going viral,” Bergen said. “It was grant money — money I didn’t have to pay back — that afforded me the opportunity to become a professional poet. A three minute video [completely] changed the course of my life, and I've been a professional artist, a professional creative, ever since.”

After that grant, Bergen started using poetry as a way into unexpected spaces: advertising agencies, international embassies and youth leadership programs.

And in 2025, she was approved to pilot Verse Rising, a global arts education initiative and cultural exchange program that teaches public speaking through poetry and performance arts. It was approved after 14 proposals and five years after she wrote her favorite poem, almost to the day.

“Perseverance is a beautiful filtering system, because when you get in front of an obstacle, does it stop you or does it propel you?” Bergen said. “If something doesn’t exist, you create it. Which is why I call myself a creator.”

Photo courtesy of Queena Bergen.

Verse Rising’s pilot program brings five U.S.-based creatives — four poets and a filmmaker — to Costa Rica for an international cultural exchange program, where they’ll teach public speaking through poetry. It is fully funded, allowing the artists to experience travel and impact communities abroad solely through their creative work.

Bergen is concerned with more than just output. Her creative philosophy is internal, built around intentional practices of stillness, discipline, and clarity. “I have a three-step process for finding the answer for anything that's going on in my life: What are you eating? Are you moving your body? When’s the last time you sat in silence?” Bergen said.

Burnout taught her boundaries. These days, she builds her schedule around three priorities: clients, projects, and herself. If something doesn’t fit, it gets a no. Not a dramatic no — just an honest one.

“I make sure I structure my schedule in a way that I have capacity for three things. And one of them gotta be me,” Bergen said.

The resourcefulness that defined her early work hasn’t gone anywhere. She still shoots and edits her own videos, writes her own pitches and runs her program without a salary, for now.

A mentor working across international lines, Bergen aims to help people communicate in their own voice, using poetry. “How can I get more people to start seeing poetry as a critical tool for them to level up their communication skills?” Bergen said. “At the end of the day, being able to connect and empathize — that’s going to be the difference between you and AI.”

Six years ago, she wrote “Bamboo Season” without knowing that the metaphor would stick. It all started with spoken word poetry but has since grown into something much bigger.

“I feel like I’m in my bamboo season now,” Bergen said. “I’m getting closer to who I am, getting closer to my impact, and I’m finally starting to see it show.”

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Watch the documentary for Bergen's pilot residency here.