https://kailahfigueroa.com kailah figueroa Fri, 26 Sep 2025 17:50:52 +0000 https://kailahfigueroa.com en https://kailahfigueroa.com/Welcome-Mat Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:37:01 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/Welcome-Mat Kailah Figueroa r h e t o r i c a l&nbsp; e n g i n e e r : : ︎ Biography ︎ Selected Works ︎ Fellowships &amp; Residencies︎ Readings &amp; Events ︎&nbsp;Curriculum Vitae ︎&nbsp;Newsletter ︎ Instagram︎&nbsp;Contact https://kailahfigueroa.com/Bio Fri, 25 Sep 2020 02:51:14 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/Bio R h e t o r i c a l E n g i n e e r&nbsp; <img width="2343" height="3099" width_o="2343" height_o="3099" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/db7df2da01d665833cbb329d5ae60bb4cbc774a75c01b1b32500690c031c9d80/kailah_bioimage2.jpg" data-mid="248415269" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/db7df2da01d665833cbb329d5ae60bb4cbc774a75c01b1b32500690c031c9d80/kailah_bioimage2.jpg" /> Photo: Hannah Berman Kailah Figueroa (she/her) is a rhetorical engineer, memory archivist, and part-time prose stylist. Her work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, Callaloo Journal, The Cincinnati Review, Indiana Review, Lampblack Magazine, The McNeese Review, North American Review, Pigeon Pages, Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, Torch Literary Arts, and wildness. A Best New Poets and Pushcart Prize nominee, Figueroa has received support and fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Cave Canem Foundation, Fine Arts Work Center, US-UK Fulbright Commission, and Vermont Studio Center.Born in New York City and raised in Towson, Maryland, Figueroa holds a BA in Creative Writing, and English: Publishing and Editing from Susquehanna University, and subsequently earned an MFA in Poetry from Rutgers University-Newark where she taught Creative Writing to undergraduate students. Her manuscript,&nbsp;Before The Bull Dreams Me (Poetry, full-length) was selected as a finalist for the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics 2025 Book Prize. She is working on a novel. She loves fresh flowers, karaoke, Alice Coltrane and Ethel Cain; her biggest dream is for her and all her friends to live on the same street. You can follow her on Instagram, read her Newsletter, or visit her CV. https://kailahfigueroa.com/Selected-Works Mon, 26 Jun 2023 03:15:28 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/Selected-Works s e l e c t e d p o e t r y 2027 “Emmett Till Redux“ Indiana Review&nbsp;(forthcoming 48.2 Winter 2026/27) “Timeline on Grief” North American Review (forthcoming) 2026 2 poems&nbsp;— “Dream Scenario” and “Riding Lessons With The Bull” Callaloo (Volume 44.2)*print (avaliable to read on Instagram) “I Dove Into The Lake and Tried to Swallow but Floated Instead” The McNeese Review (vol. 63) *print (avaliable to read on Instagram) “The Bull Teaches Me Dawn” Ploughshares (winter 2025-2026) *print (avaliable to read on Project Muse and Instagram) 2025&nbsp;4 poems — “The Gate”; “Paint Brush or A Theory of Black Hair I”; “Paint Brush or A Theory of Black Hair II”; “Paint Brush or A Theory of Black Hair III”&nbsp; Lampblack Magazine (issue 5) *print (avaliable to read on Instagram) “Clarity of Purpose”&nbsp; Wildness Journal (no. 38) “america, my ex-husband, won’t stop calling me” Black Warrior Review (vol. 51.1)&nbsp; *print 2024 “When I Was a Boxer”&nbsp; Cincinnati Review&nbsp;*nominated for Best New Poets 2 poems&nbsp;—&nbsp;"Two Inlets in Winter"; "Our Names Are Not On the Mortgage but We Are Playing Homeowners For a Bit"&nbsp; Pigeon Pages&nbsp; “Alternate Holocene Where I Am The Maker (&amp; you are still alive)” Poetry Northwest&nbsp;(winter/Spring 2024) 2023 “After My Bipolar Diagnosis I Make Several Phone Calls &amp; Everyone Says That Makes Sense“&nbsp; Torch Literary Arts *nominated for Pushcart Prize : : s e l e c t e d p r o s e 2023 “My Lifetime of Empties”&nbsp; Lolwe Magazine&nbsp; 2022 “good things grow here”&nbsp; Passengers Journal&nbsp; 2021 “waiting room” Prose Online 2019 “Paul Henderson Exhibit Comes To The Library” Goucher Magazine&nbsp; https://kailahfigueroa.com/Curriculum-Vitae Fri, 06 Jun 2025 22:21:33 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/Curriculum-Vitae C U R R I C U L U M&nbsp; &nbsp;V I T A E&nbsp; Kailah Figueroa B i o g r a p h y b. 2001 Lives and works in New Jersey E d u c a t i o n 2025 Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing: Poetry Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, New Jersey 2023 Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing, minors in English: Publishing &amp; Editing &nbsp; Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania 2022 Study Abroad Award American College of the Mediterranean,&nbsp;Aix-en-Provence, France 2021 Fulbright Fellowship&nbsp; University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom F e l l o w s h i p s &nbsp; &amp;&nbsp; &nbsp;H o n o r s Writers Grant, PEN America (Dec 2025) Individual Artist Grant, Cave Canem Foundation (Nov 2025) Poetry Participant Scholarship, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (Aug 2025) Poetry Scholar, Fine Arts Work Center Summer Workshops (June 2025) First Year Fellow, Cave Canem Foundation &amp; Retreat (June 2025) Best New Poets Nomination, The Cincinnati Review (2025) Poetry Fellowship Finalist, Just Buffalo Literary Center (April 2025) Civil Society Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center (July–Aug 2024) Pushcart Prize Nomination, Torch Literary Arts (2023) Outstanding Senior Award for Creative Writing, Susquehanna University (May 2023) Study Abroad Award, American College of the Mediterranean (May 2022) Fulbright Summer Institute Fellowship: Arts, Activism, and Social Justice, University of Bristol (June–July 2021) Janet Weis Creative Writing Scholarship, Susquehanna University&nbsp;(Aug 2019–May 2023) M a n u s c r i p t &nbsp;&nbsp; in &nbsp; S u b m i s s i o n Before The Bull Dreams Me (Poetry, Full-length) Selected as a Book Prize Finalist, Center for African American Poetry and Poetics (June 2025) P e d a g o g i c a l&nbsp; &nbsp;E x p e r i e n c e&nbsp; Poetry Instructor and Mentor, SUNHOUSE Summer Writing Mentorship (June-Aug 2026) Poetry Workshop: “The Redux Poem”, Poetry Society of New York (April 2026) Teaching Artist, Creative Writing, James Weldon Johnson Community School of the Arts (Spring 2026) Instructor, Introduction to Creative Writing, Rutgers University-Newark (Fall 2023)&nbsp; Instructor, Introduction to Creative Writing, Rutgers University-Newark (Spring 2024)&nbsp; Instructor, Introduction to Creative Writing, Rutgers University-Newark (Fall 2024) Instructor, Introduction to Creative Writing, Rutgers University-Newark (Spring 2025) &nbsp; Teaching Assistant, Poetry Workshop, Susquehanna University (July 2022) Teaching Assistant, Fiction Workshop, Susquehanna University (July 2021) W o r k s h o p&nbsp; E x p e r i e n c e&nbsp; Poetry Workshop, Carl Phillips, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference (Aug 2025) Poetry Workshop, Cameron Awkward-Rich, Fine Arts Work Center (June 2025) Poetry Workshop, Harryette Mullen, Cave Canem (June 2025) Poetry Workshop, Remica Bingham-Risher, Cave Canem&nbsp;(June 2025) Poetry Workshop, A. Van Jordan, Cave Canem&nbsp;(June 2025) Poetry Workshop, Matthew Shenoda, Cave Canem&nbsp;(June 2025) Poetry Workshop, Renia White, Rutgers University-Newark (Spring 2025) Poetry Workshop, Brenda Shaughnessy, Rutgers University-Newark (Fall 2023, Fall 2024) Poetry Workshop, Rigoberto Gonzalez, Rutgers University-Newark (Spring 2024) Poetry Workshop, Karla Kelsey, Susquehanna University (Fall 2019, Fall 2021) Fiction Workshop, Matthew Neill Null, Susquehanna University (Fall 2022) Fiction Workshop, Catherine Zobal-Dent, Susquehanna University (Spring 2021) Fiction Workshop, Naomi Jackson, Rutgers University-Newark (Fall 2023) Fiction Workshop, Eliza Minot, Rutgers University-Newark (Spring 2025) Choreopoem Workshop, Monica Prince, Susquehanna University (Spring 2023) E d i t o r i a l&nbsp; E x p e r i e n c e&nbsp; Poetry Reader, The Adroit Journal (May 2025-Present) Senior Editor, Iskanchi Press &amp; Magazine (March–July 2023) Poetry Juror, Scholastic Art &amp; Writing Awards (Dec 2021-Present) Copyright &amp; Permissions Editor, Common Reading Program at Susquehanna University (Aug 2021–Dec 2022) Executive Editor, Common Reading Program at Susquehanna University (Aug 2020–June 2021) Founding Editor-in-Chief, Mid-heaven Magazine (July 2019-July 2023) Communications Intern, Goucher College (June-Aug 2019) A r t s &nbsp;&nbsp; A d m i n i s t r a t i o n &nbsp;E x p e r i e n c e Ethics Committee Member, Lampblack Collective, (May 2026 - ) Program Co-coordinator, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Middlebury College (Jan 2026 - ) First-Year Reading Series Coordinator and Co-host, Rutgers University-Newark (Sept 2024-May 2025) Project &amp; Administrative Assistant, Leigh NY (Jan 2021–Jan 2022)Gallery Associate, Lore Degenstein Gallery (Sept 2019-May 2023) National Director of Membership, Forum for Undergraduate Student Editors (Oct 2019–Jan 2023) P u b l i c a t i o n s“Dream Scenario,”&nbsp;CALLALOO JOURNAL “Riding Lessons With The Bull,”&nbsp;CALLALOO JOURNAL “I Dove Into The Lake and Tried to Swallow but Floated Instead,” THE MCNEESE REVIEW&nbsp; “The Bull Teaches Me Dawn,” PLOUGHSHARES “The Gate,”&nbsp;LAMPBLACK&nbsp;(Issue 5) “Paint Brush, or A Theory of Black Hair I,”&nbsp;LAMPBLACK (Issue 5) “Paint Brush, or A Theory of Black Hair II,” LAMPBLACK&nbsp;(Issue 5) “Paint Brush, or A Theory of Black Hair III,” LAMPBLACK&nbsp;(Issue 5) “Clarity of Purpose,” WILDNESS JOURNAL (Issue 37)“america, my ex-husband, won’t stop calling me,” BLACK WARRIOR REVIEW (Print Issue 51.1)“When I Was a Boxer,” THE CINCINNATI REVIEW (miCRo series)"Two Inlets in Winter,"&nbsp;PIGEON PAGES "Our Names Are Not On the Mortgage but We Are Playing Homeowners For a Bit," PIGEON PAGES “Alternate Holocene Where I Am The Maker (&amp; you are still alive),” POETRY NORTHWEST (Winter/Spring 2024)“After My Bipolar Diagnosis I Make Several Phone Calls &amp; Everyone Says That Makes Sense,“ TORCH LITERARY ARTS (Friday Feature)“In Defense of Staring at the Sun,” PERHAPPENED (Issue 3: Heatwave)“somewhere on the edge of summer,” RIVERCRAFT MAGAZINE (2019 issue)“The Mirror Explains Things To Me,” ANTI-HEROIN CHIC (Farewell Issue, 2019) “The Parking Lot,” WRITE SPEAK REPEAT (2020)“june 4th, new york city,” HOMOLOGY LIT (Issue 3) “My Lifetime of Empties,” LOLWE MAGAZINE “good things grow here,” PASSENGERS JOURNAL (Vol.3 Issue 4)“waiting room,” PROSE ONLINE “Paul Henderson Exhibit Comes To The Library,” GOUCHER MAGAZINE “we were first strangers“ IAU-AMC Closing Ceremony in Aix-en-Provence, France“A Reminder” for Annual Holiday Greeting Card, Susquehanna University https://kailahfigueroa.com/Fellowships-Residences Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:47:41 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/Fellowships-Residences F e l l o w s h i p s&nbsp; R e s i d e n c i e s H o n o r s&nbsp; 2025 Individual Artist Grant Recipient Cave Canem Foundation&nbsp; 2025 Book Prize Finalist&nbsp; Center for African American Poetry &amp; Poetics 2025 Participant Scholarship in Poetry Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference 2025 Summer Workshop Poetry Scholar: Queer Week Fine Arts Work Center&nbsp; 2025 First Year Fellow Cave Canem Foundation 2025 Emerging Voices Fellow (declined) Virtual Lambda Literary Retreat Nomination for&nbsp;“When I Was a Boxer” in The Cincinnati Review Best New Poets Anthology 2025 Poetry Particpiant (declined) Tin House Summer Workshop 2025&nbsp;Poetry Fellowship Finalist Just Buffalo Poetry Fellowship “When I Was a Boxer” in The Cincinnati Review&nbsp;&nbsp; CLMP Black History Reading List 2024&nbsp;Civil Society Fellowship &amp; Writing Residency Vermont Studio Center 2024 Writing Workshop Fellowship (declined) The Watering Hole Retreat Nomination for&nbsp;“After My Bipolar Diagnosis I Make Several Phone Calls &amp; Everyone Says That Makes Sense” in Torch Literary Arts Pushcart Prize&nbsp;Anthology 2021 Fellowship Award Fulbright Summer Institute,&nbsp;University of Bristol: Arts, Activism, and Social Justice 2019-2023 Janet Weis Creative Writing Scholarship Susquehanna University https://kailahfigueroa.com/Readings Fri, 26 Sep 2025 17:50:52 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/Readings R e a d i n g s&nbsp; &nbsp;&amp;&nbsp; &nbsp;E v e n t s&nbsp; Present October 17th, 2026 Lampblack Poetry Reading at Dodge Poetry Festival 2026 New Jersey Performing Arts Center 1 Center St, Newark, NJ 07102Robert Treat Hotel (50 Park PI)Pennsylvania Room 2:00-3:10 PM<img width="1170" height="1441" width_o="1170" height_o="1441" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f036858f87f7d3e62d32c4f85db77e12806040d4d349a585950e07e929cadae5/IMG_7585.jpg" data-mid="252606882" border="0" data-scale="65" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f036858f87f7d3e62d32c4f85db77e12806040d4d349a585950e07e929cadae5/IMG_7585.jpg" /> :: March 17-20th, 2027 Association of Writers &amp; Writing Programs: Panel and Reading on the Critical Poetics of Suicide for Queer &amp; Trans People of Color Event Description: As QTBIPOC, not only are our narratives of suicidality ostracized in some circles, they have a tendency to be fetishized in others. As an underserved hyphenated community, our poetry is critical in reminding ourselves to stay alive for ourselves. Join us in a panel and reading discussion about the critical poetics of suicide for queer and trans people of color featuring Diannely Antigua, Em Dash, Kailah Figueroa, and Maya Williams. McCormick Place - Lakeside Center 2301 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60616 Time &amp; Exact Date TBD PastMay 12th, 2026“Meet a Poet" Poetry Reading and Conversation w/ Sophia Hall at the American Center in Moscow 12-1pm EDT / 20:00 MSK streaming on YouTube:: April 30th, 2026THE REDUX POEM: a virtual generative poetry workshop in partnership with THE POETRY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK :: March 4th, 2026 Association of Writers &amp; Writing Programs Offsite Reading;The Importance of Being Earnest: writers on cringe w/ B. Al-Ism, Jardana Peacock, Chen Chen, Steffan Triplett, Lydi Conklin, Jenny Xie, Anna Sandy-ElrodRed Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse3128 Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, MD &nbsp; :: November 19th, 2025BLUE PARLOR READING SERIES in NYC w/ Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference AlumniSisters Resturant 900 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11238 :: November 9th, 2025 HEAT LIGHTNING READING SERIES with Megan Pinto and Natasha Rao in collaboration with violist &amp; composer, Cindy Lan Silence Please, Listening Room &amp; Tea House132 Bowery, New York, NY 10013 :: March 28th, 2025BLACK WARRIOR REVIEW: AWP ReadingLibros Schmibros Lending Library103 N Boyle Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90033::February 28th, 2025PIGEON PAGES: Reading Series with&nbsp;Caitlin Barasch and&nbsp;Lu ChekowskyP&amp;T Knitwear Bookstore and Podcast Studio180 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002::April 5th, 2024WORD BOOKSTORE Open Mic &amp; Reading Series: Featured Reader 29 McWilliams Pl, Jersey City, NJ 07302::October 17th, 2023RUTGERS UNIVERSITY-NEWARK: MFA First Year Reading Clements Place15 Washington St, Newark, NJ 07102 https://kailahfigueroa.com/In-Defense-of-Staring-at-the-Sun Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:39:34 +0000 kailah figueroa https://kailahfigueroa.com/In-Defense-of-Staring-at-the-Sun <img width="1128" height="460" width_o="1128" height_o="460" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2f59c10a50ecebf24bd9fd1fcd4529e1720fe90a2ca6bc1213f0fd96bc12511/Egfh3raUwAA9l-D.jpeg" data-mid="235888966" border="0" data-scale="94" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a2f59c10a50ecebf24bd9fd1fcd4529e1720fe90a2ca6bc1213f0fd96bc12511/Egfh3raUwAA9l-D.jpeg" /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; IN DEFENSE AT STARING AT THE SUN &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; i don’t think i qualified for the it-girl residency this year, &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; my application got denied because i’ve never been off the east coast, &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &amp; now i can’t stand the sound of california in everyone’s mouths — &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; i don’t need to stand on the production-lot of a hollywood blockbuster &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; to know of nepotism, to know that good art &amp; good candidates are rarely seen. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; i think i typed “da innernet” instead of “The Internet” &nbsp; &nbsp; because i thought that the job was here for “diversity” &nbsp; &nbsp; maybe i didn’t qualify because they thought i couldn’t swim &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp; would drown in the valley of LA traffic. &nbsp; &nbsp; but i told them that east coast traffic is just as bad too &nbsp; &nbsp; if you’re driving through virginia during the holidays. &nbsp; &nbsp; i imagine i’ll be twentysomething living in the city &nbsp; &nbsp; at a corporate job &amp; my cute corporate coworker turned work-husband &nbsp; &nbsp; will smile at me &amp; i’ll smile at him but eye contact is hard when &nbsp; &nbsp; your contacts are drying at the center of your irises, &nbsp; &nbsp; so i keep blinking, trying to alleviate the dryness &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp; now he thinks i'm strange because i can’t blink correctly &nbsp; &nbsp; but blinking is involuntary like blushing or breathing &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp; maybe he thinks i’m a cool girl for my rare &amp; niche hobby &nbsp; &nbsp; of bodily autonomy &amp; then i’ll tell him about &nbsp; &nbsp; the endeavors of bathroom conversations — not a conversation &nbsp; &nbsp; held in a bathroom but a conversation about bathrooms &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp; how for a long time i missed standing barefoot in a shower&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp; not worrying about the girls talking shit about my type-4 curls &nbsp; &nbsp; clogging the drains or sticking to the shower curtain.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; but i want him to know that i’m a cool girl outside the cubicle &nbsp; &nbsp; so i tell him about my vinyl record collection &amp; how i was a dancer in a past life &nbsp; &nbsp; maybe then he’ll want me a little more. but even between &nbsp; &nbsp; all the cubicle conversations, we all want an inner circle, &nbsp; &nbsp; but i just want to feel like the center of a circle: &nbsp; &nbsp; alive &amp; calm in the eye of a storm, even if it’s out of reach, &nbsp; &nbsp; even when the world’s ending around us, even when i don’t say &nbsp; &nbsp; the words “violence” or “systematic” or “bondage” because &nbsp; &nbsp; apparently, those words retired from the mouths of millions so long ago. &nbsp; &nbsp; but how when they’re the reason why i’m here in the first place: &nbsp; &nbsp; disjointed &amp; carrying myself on the train where the silence of strangers &nbsp; &nbsp; is the most peaceful part of my day &amp; after getting lost in the beauty of &nbsp; &nbsp; the way the old man holds his own hands over his belly &amp; i’ll think maybe &nbsp; &nbsp; i didn’t dream big enough, maybe the dream could’ve been held in my hands, &nbsp; &nbsp; or maybe i thought all the days would be endless, &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp; i would learn to love a broken thing like the printer or the scanner &amp; maybe &nbsp; &nbsp; i’ll find the reason, find the malfunction or the paper jam of all my past heartaches &nbsp; &nbsp; telling me why i’ve spent my whole life trying to be the center of someone's world. &nbsp; &nbsp; 2020