“I AM MY MOTHER’S CHILD”

Born to Jamaican parents, in Brooklyn, NY (USA) at Cumberland Hospital – As Maxine A. Moncrieffe aka Maxwanette A Poetess. One of Maxwanette’s favorite sayings is “Poetry Is In My DNA,” with her Mother being her 1st Introduction to Poetry. Maxine went on to further expose herself to Louise Bennett, Claude McKay, Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, and so many more.

Maxine wrote her first poem, at the age of 5; a Haiku, and she wrote one for her Mother every day for a month. Thus began her journey with Poetry in hand. It was in the early 1980s, and by the age of 12, Ms. Moncrieffe did her first poetry recital in Brooklyn, NY, at a place formerly known as The New Muse. She received awards & certificates for writing and accompanied her Mother at recitals, readings, and functions, which included great griots and activists such as the legendary, Louis Reyes Rivera. Maxwanette states, “When I met Mr. Rivera, I noticed we were around the same height. I wondered about this man, as a child would. But when I heard him recite, I knew then, that I was Poetry & that Poetry was me.”

Considered the Underdog & homeless in Brooklyn, NY by the age of 11; as the struggle her family experienced, leaving the island of Jamaica. Trying to get their footing in America; mental illness and abusive experiences wreaked havoc in her family and Maxine’s life. How could she reach them? How could she change the narrative? How could she change herself for the better? She decided, that connecting people through words, was key. No matter the experiences, which changed her, in a myriad of ways, However, Maxwanette, never stopped writing.

A part of Maxine’s, life goals is to link Poets, Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Humanity across the globe by assisting; uplifting, encouraging, and spreading love and positivity as much as possible. Why? She states it helps to heal her and others. She considers it a necessity, to change former old & outdated narratives, and to have a genuine link with individuals through Creativity.

Maxine A. Moncrieffe is a  licensed business owner: P.L.O.T.S.~PROOFING & PROMOTING SERVICES, LLC & dba Cyber Clerical Associates – both are online entities, a published poet of, “Poetry, Language Of The SOul, Volume I.”, & “The Poetic Storm, Volume II,”and her mother’s book “The Unlimited Mind,” by Hyacinth Williams-Moncrieffe (all books are available on Amazon) & Poetry Language Of The SOul is also available at Barnes & Noble bookstores. Maxine is also a Self-Publisher – and publishes books through KDP Amazon, a former Co-Host on “The Real Stuff Podcast,” – an affiliate of the solidified Jamaican online radio station: Reggaenostalgia, host of PLOTS – PODCAST w/Maxwanette A Poetess, {P.L.O.T.S.} – The Creatives Magazine & The Creatives Bridge – both of which were created, founded and currently operated by Maxine and her sister Denise. Her fantastic Staff/Team & Family; Elizabeth Esguerra Castillo (President – Philipines), Shahid Abbas (Vice-President – Pakistan), & Ras Atiba aka Emile Ivy (Jamaica’s Representative & Magazine Contributor – MC Brooklyn, NY USA), Noreen Ann Snyder (International Magazine Consultant – IMC – Florida,USA), Ilona Lakatos (International Public Relations Consultant – IPRC – Hungary), and Dr. Shalini Yadav (International Director of Academic & Literary Affairs -India). Maxine established her business during the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 17, 2020, kept it afloat during her survival through Hurricane Ian in Kissimmee, FL on September 28th, 2022, through disaster victim housing discrimination in Georgia, to be relocated to Ulster County, NY officially on June 1st, 2023. When asked how she did it, Maxine response was “I don’t know how to give-up. My Mother taught me at a very young age, that being disabled wasn’t an excuse to just drop dead and become stagnant. You keep going. Never giving-up, and never giving-in. Even if you make mistakes, even if you get it all wrong, even if it’s not your fault…even if it is, you must keep going forward. For only then can things change.”

Maxine believes in not only “paying it forward,” in life, but also in shedding a spotlight on CREATIVES & ENTREPRENEURS, across the Universe. In the interim, she tries to be a reminder, that we need one another, as her famous motto & mantra states: “We’re All In This Thing Called Life, TOGETHER…Remember?”

Maxine looks forward to establishing a strong Creative foothold in Ulster County, NY, seeking sponsors, maintaining a building for the Creatives to be, come, perform, and showcase their works, and intertwining with the Creatives there, taking her magazine and the creatives she promotes to higher heights. She goes forth with a smile on her face, that reaches her eyes. She states, “Creativity Is Humanity’s Algorithm.”