Justin Spring is a prizewinning poet, writer,
and video artist who works in many mediums: print, audio (CD), video (DVD;
Internet).
Among the poetry prizes and honors he has received for his written poetry are: The 1997 State of Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, Finalist 1994 and 1997 Academy of American Poets Walt Whitman National Prize Contest.
Among the prizes he has received for his Video Poetry (Dreamstories) are: the 2005 John Ringling Individual Artist Fellowship and 2006 State of Florida Individual Artist fellowship.
He recently received the 2010 Ringling Towers Literary Award for his novel ALICE HICKEY. He is the author of six collections of written poetry and seven CDs of spontaneous oral poetry. In addition, he has created over 100 DREAMSTORY videos, as well as three books about preliterate poetry: Mirrors, SOULSPEAK: The Outward Journey of the Soul and ALICE HICKEY: Between Worlds.
Justin Spring is one of the few poets who works not only in the written mode of composition but also in a contemporary version of preliterate oral poetry called SOULSPEAK—as well as in a new, revolutionary video form called DREAMSTORIES. Many consider his work in the oral and audio/visual area to be pioneering.
He is also a pioneer in the use of spontaneous oral poetry in therapeutic situations. Over 3000 people of all ages have participated in Therapeutic SOULSPEAK programs. For his work in therapeutic poetry, he received the 2003 Images and Voices of Hope Award, 2003 Point of Life Award for Excellence.
In 2009 he received the Ringling "Ageless Creativity" award for his lifelong contributions to poetry. In 2010 he received the Ringling Towers Literary Award for ALICE HICKEY: Between Worlds.
He was educated at Columbia College and is the founder of SOULSPEAK (www.soulspeak.org). Mr. Spring divides his time between Florida and Mexico