If you’ve heard of Sister Spit, you’ve probably heard of Michelle Tea, the woman who noticed the popularity of spoken word poetry in the ‘90s and decided to gather a group of traveling storytellers “to build upon the national enthusiasm…carving out a space for female-centric voices that were often queer and working-class to participate.” Since then, she’s written books, toured with the Sex Workers’ Art Show, started Sister Spit: The Next Generation, and is now running a literary non-profit in San Francisco. Not only has she instigated an artistic movement and succeeded at her mission of “creating space for queer, feminist, working-class or otherwise marginalized writers, artists and performers to do their thing since 1993,” Tea also manages the most difficult feat many of us can face: maintaining “a good attitude in the face of a truly heartbreaking world.” –MF

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