Influenced by Bob Dylan and Saul Williams, Devin's name means "Poet" in Gaelic. This 18-year-old from Santa Cruz was just 10 when he got his first surf lesson; now he teaches at a surf school. A spoken word artist, Devin takes pride in aspects of his mixed ancestry. Devin explains, "I try not to think about the German or the English [parts] because they colonized half the world. I'm an 8th Cherokee and I've identified with that a lot throughout life." He also identifies strongly with his Irish heritage.

Devin got an early start in the world of poetry. "I first got a poem published when I was seven years old in the Porter Gulf Review," he says, proud that he was the youngest poet ever published in the magazine. "This community has a lot of poets," he continues. "My mother's group of friends are all writers. She's a writer. I've been immersed in literature for a while. Then spoken word came in two or three years ago. I started doing a radio show and doing it myself."

Devin finds poetry therapeutic. "Poets are the midwives of reality," he says, "so I write to interpret the world around me. It's my medium of staying sane." At Brave New Voices, Devin shares his unique perspective on life as an American teen with the community at large.