Sainey Ceesay (she/they) is a Gambian/Black American poet from Prince George's County, Maryland. In 2021, she served as the Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate. Sainey is the Words Beats and Life 2020 Grand Slam Champion, a Joe's Movement Emporium Creative Works alum, a WBL Slam Team alum, and a dedicated facilitating teaching artist.

Sainey has performed nationally and across the DMV area, captivating audiences at events such as Brave New Voices, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, Blues Alley Jazz Club, Planet Word, the Kennedy Center, and Busboys and Poets. Her work has also been featured on BBC International News, NBC 4, Channel 9, and PGCTV.

Her residencies include Washington Performing Arts, Wellsprings Manor, and the Strathmore, and she is a current Watering Hole Fellow.

Sainey’s poetry communes with the external natural world as it mirrors inner geographies, using the information received from both as a tonic and roadmap to further survival, resilience and reach for greater understanding.  As a youth teaching artist, she aims to be a good steward of the soil, using the pen to provide the next generation with new tools and definitions of possibility.  She believes that poetry can save lives, and should be utilized to address both the literacy and mental health crises facing our youth.