Born in Anaheim, CA and currently residing in upstate New York with her family, Rachel McKibbens is a Chicana poet, activist, playwright, essayist, and two-time New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow. She is the author of three books of poetry: Pink Elephant (Small Doggies), Into the Dark & Emptying Field (Small Doggies), and blud, published in 2017 by Copper Canyon Press. In 2012, McKibbens founded the Pink Door Writing Retreat, an annual writing retreat exclusively for women of color. For four years McKibbens taught poetry through the Healing Arts Program at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and continues to teach poetry and creative writing and give lectures across the country as an advocate for mental health awareness, gender equality, and victims of violence and domestic abuse. She also co-curates the monthly reading series Poetry & Pie Night in Rochester, NY.
