Eris Zion Venia

Eris Zion Venia Dyson is an artist.poet.activist from Cleveland Ohio. A performance poet and community outreach educator for well over a decade; eZv has performed, featured, and presented all over the United States. If you could sum up eZv in one sentence it would be: “Where entertainment and social change collide.” She holds an undergrad degree from Notre Dame College in Public Relations, and is obtaining a Masters of Psychology at Cleveland State University. She currently serves as the Regional Public Affairs Manager for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio.

eZv snuck into a bar for her very first poetry slam at the age of 17, soon after she joined Eccentric Visions of Evolution (E.V.E.), Ohio’s first all-female poetry collective in 2002. In March of 2009 eZv fulfilled her dream of performing on the Apollo Stage in Harlem, New York where she came in 2nd place. In 2013 eZv competed in the Women of the World Poetry Festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she made it to final stage and came in 7th Place representing the Lake Effect Poetry Team.

She has lectured at colleges on topics of social justice, diversity and cultural competence including Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, The Ohio State University, Kent State University, and Akron University. eZv’s writing has been featured in The Guardian, For Harriet, The Root, and she’s interviewed with the BBC, and Al Jazeera.

One of the things eZv is known for is posting to FB/Twitter/IG every day with the statement "Its Morning. We Made It. #GiveThanks.” eZv believes in the necessary conjunction of arts & activism, It is for this reason that she uses love of creative arts and community service to effect change in the city of Cleveland and beyond.