Of Mexican and German descent, I identify as a hybrid: half in/half out, disparate parts brought together to make a whole. I think I have always been drawn to poetry for its similar hybrid possibilities. As a poet, I am interested in incorporating multiple voices on the page, exploring diverse disciplines through the lens of poetry, using language as a tool for empowerment and building community, and always expanding the parameters of poetry as a dynamic medium to interpret and challenge our ever-changing world. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and an MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College. Under my maiden name, Nicole Pollentier, my poetry has appeared in Bird Dog, Alice Blue, Fourteen Hills, and others, as well as included in the anthologies ¡Floricanto Sí! (Penguin) and Daughters of the Fifth Sun (Riverhead Books). Awards include a Fulbright Fellowship in Iceland for a poetry and video art project, a writer’s residency at Fundación Valparaíso in Mojácar, Spain, and a grant from the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. I was a semi-finalist for the Sawtooth Poetry Prize from Ahsahta Press and came in second place for the Five Fingers Review Poetry Award. My first chapbook, smolt, was the winner of the Poesía Tejana award and published by Wings Press. I currently live in Lockhart, Texas, with my husband and three cats, in a hundred-year-old house that we are continually refurbishing. I work at a small community grocery shop and am in a ukulele band called Four String Animals.


BIPOC Bio

Thank you for kindly taking the time to read and consider the anatomy lab, patients, and insides, portions of my book-length poem The Frog Poem Project, for publication in Ars Medica. I call the larger manuscript a project because more than a compilation of poems it is a linguistic experiment, looking at technical terms and physiological language about the body through the lens of poetry, and proposing poetry as a medium for exploring imagery invoked by a scientific vocabulary. These three selections were partially informed by gaining access to an anatomy lab at San Francisco City College, where I examined human cadavers.

I have work forthcoming in SEISMA, an online literary magazine that highlights crossovers between science and art. Under my maiden name, Nicole Pollentier, my poetry has appeared in Bird Dog, Alice Blue, Fourteen Hills, and others, as well as included in the anthologies ¡Floricanto Sí! (Penguin) and Daughters of the Fifth Sun (Riverhead Books).  I have an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and an MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College. Awards include a Fulbright Fellowship in Iceland for a poetry and video art project, a writer’s residency at Fundación Valparaíso in Mojácar, Spain, and a grant from the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. I was a semi-finalist for the Sawtooth Poetry Prize from Ahsahta Press and came in second place for the Five Fingers Review Poetry Award. My first chapbook, smolt, was the winner of the Poesía Tejana award and published by Wings Press. 

Of Mexican and German descent, I currently live in Lockhart, Texas, with my husband and three cats, in a hundred-year-old house that we are continually refurbishing. I work at a small community grocery shop and am in a ukulele band called Four String Animals.  As a poet, I am interested in incorporating multiple voices on the page, exploring diverse disciplines through the lens of poetry, using language as a tool for empowerment and building community, and always expanding the parameters of poetry as a dynamic medium to interpret and challenge our ever-changing world.

Many thanks again for considering my work. I really hope you enjoy it.