2022 Tiny Residents

Aerik Francis

Spring Tiny Resident

phaentompoet aka Aerik Francis is a Queer Black & Latinx poet & teaching artist based in Denver, Colorado, USA. They are a Canto Mundo poetry fellow and a The Watering Hole fellow. They are also a poetry reader for Underblong poetry journal and a coordinator with Slam Nuba. Aerik recently released an EP of poetry-songs called SYZYGY (available now on bandcamp), and they have a chapbook titled BODYELECTRONIC forthcoming April 2022 from Trouble Department Press. They have poetry published widely, links of which may be found at their website phaentompoet.com . Find them on IG/TW/youtube/soundcloud @phaentompoet

Workshop: Human//Body: Body Politics & Body Poetics

I believe that all poetry flows from the body in some capacity. This generative writing workshop is an invitation to check in with our bodies and consider our bodies alongside our writing. In this 2-day workshop series, each workshop will begin with an invitation to free write, stretch, and engage in a breathwork session to get us physically and mentally in touch with our bodies. We will then spend the workshop discussing poetry related to themes on body poetics. Participants will be given time to write new work and share it within our collective space. We’ll draw inspiration from work by authors like Audre Lorde, Lucille Clifton, Morgan Parker, torrin a greathouse, Aracelis Girmay, Natalie Diaz, and Yesenia Montilla.

Aerik’s workshop was April 23-24, 12-2 PM MST.

Safiyya Bintali

Fall Tiny Resident

Safiyya “Saff” Bintali is a freelance writer, an illustrator, and a college student double-majoring in English – Creative Writing and in Secondary Education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her short stories have been published in Beyond ThoughtYou Might Need to Hear This, and Bridge Eight Press, and her comic art in I Don’t Do Comics. In her free time, she enjoys reading (especially comics!), gaming, hiking, and studying classic cars. You can find her on her website at www.safiyyabintali.com.

Art at the Intersections: Translating Between Mediums

One piece of art can be “translated” into many mediums–from plays to poems, novel excerpts to comics, story to dance. By translating our work, we can more deeply connect with the intersections of our creative self and explore new ways to adapt our work into new forms. This 2-day workshop series will be both informative and a creative practice. We will absorb and discuss other “translations” in media, such as the poem-short story-mini film translations of “There Will Come Soft Rains” (Bradbury/Teasdale) or comic-animated film translation of “Persepolis” (Satrapi), and later explore the ways we can adapt our own work. Participants can bring pre-existing work to “translate”, or bring a fresh new script/painting/anything they wish to the table to begin their journey into inter-medium translation.

Sign up now for Safiyya’s workshop: October 22-23, 12-2 PM MST / 2-4 PM EST.