Hear Me Now: Eduin Turcios
Eduin Turcios is in high school and he's fallen in love.
June 1, 2013— -- Eduin Turcios is a generally quiet 16-year-old high schooler, except when he's on stage---his voice erupts like a volcano, passionately.
In our new video profile series we're calling "Hear Me Now" Eduin gives us a taste of his talent as he recites his poem "Set Me Free" in a street in Wynwood, Miami.
Eduin, who's US-born to Honduran parents, is already a prize-winning poet with numerous slams under his belt. In 2010 he won first prize among 1,200 entries in the local competition Piano Slam 3 3. The prize was $600 and a laptop.
More recently Eduin was part of the O, Miami Poetry Festival, rubbing elbows with notable speakers like Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.
Eduin says his first love wasn't poetry but hip-hop, and counts Nas, Kendrick Lamar and Tupac as his favorite artists. His poem "Set Me Free", which he wrote two years ago, is all about his discovery of poetry.
It was one of his older sisters that turned him on to poetry, she was using it to release her feelings, he says, and he found in poetry a good outlet for his own troubles.
After his parents divorced when he was two, he went to live with his mom and new boyfriend, but the young family endured violence and substance abuse problems that led them to much instability and frequent moves. However, eight years ago Eduin went to live with his dad in Miami and his life has taken a positive turn.
But his struggles at an early age inform his poetry and hip-hop work. Hear him now.
