Bianca Vivion Brooks
Youngest Ever New York Times Opinion Writer & Host of ASK VIV Podcast
Bianca Vivion Brooks
Youngest Ever New York Times Opinion Writer & Host of ASK VIV Podcast
Biography
Bianca Vivion Brooks is a writer, artist, and designer from East Atlanta, Georgia. Born in Los Angeles and later raised between Atlanta and Oakland, Brooks was marked from an early age as an imaginative storyteller and critical thinker.
At fourteen, Brooks became the youngest news correspondent to National Public Radio, where she wrote weekly commentaries for the show All Things Considered. At 16, she was chosen to head NPR’s youth news desk at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. At 17, she became the youngest journalist ever nominated for California Journalism Award for excellence in radio reporting. At 18 years old, Brooks went on to become the youngest contracted opinion writer to the New York Times, and at 21, the youngest ever New York Times writer published in print.
In 2018, Brooks graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s of arts in human rights and economics. She now works full time as an artist, public intellectual, and media consultant at VIVION CO., creating and designing under the moniker ‘Bianca Vivion’ (her first and middle name) as an ode to her 3 grandmothers Vivion, Vivienne, and Vivian whose lives embody and inspire a great deal of her writing on woman and girlhood. Although her primary medium is writing, Brooks works in an array of other media ranging from poetry to painting. She also host a weekly advice and culture podcast called ASK VIV and is set to release talk show series Generational Anxiety later this year.
Brooks welcomes the opportunity to create on any platform that welcomes critical dialogue and intellectual honesty, as this is her foremost artistic imperative. She is currently working on a memoir featuring a collection of essays entitled Swimming Backwards: Stories of A Girl Who Read The Fine Print. Bianca lives in Harlem, New York.
Speech Topics
Cultural Appropriation: Representation is More Than Skin Color
Questions of representation and identity are at the forefront of cultural dialogue these days. But is it enough to look like the artist if you do not recognize yourself in the art? Bianca Vivion muses on the measure for good art.
In the Thick of It: Solving a Generational Angst
In a generation rife with anxiety and fear of the future, what is the measure of a good life for a young person? Is it useful to measure the goodness of life at all, or is it better to find contentment in the journey?
The Danger of Being a Muse
Bianca's mother always told her the most important journey of every young person’s life is learning what love is and what it is not. But could this also be the most important journey of every artist’s life? Here Bianca Vivion muses on the dangers of being a muse crafted in the male artist gaze.