Jacob Deason
Jacob Deason is a writer who lives in Long Beach, CA. He prefers spending his time watching horror movies, writing poetry, reading, lounging in nature, and listening to music.
Alejandro Derieux-Cerezo
Alejandro Derieux-Cerezo is a poet from Ann Arbor, Michigan living his best life as a Midwest/SoCal transplant. His work can be found in The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. He has also been the recipient of the Roy W. Cowden Memorial Fellowship and the Hopwood Poetry Award from the University of Michigan. His next big goal is to eat an entire jet airliner, like that one guy.
Griffin Fay
Griffin Fay is from Southern California. Before coming to Irvine, he moonlighted as a journalist named Blue. His work can be found in The Daily Californian, The San Francisco Standard, and The Harvard Advocate. He is currently the host of Orange Peel Poetry on KUCI 88.9.
Mo Fowler
Mo is a writer from California and Chicago. Their work currently focuses on tapestry, water, and contemporary conceptions of the American West.
Alexandra Geurts
Alexandra Geurts is a poet from Los Angeles County who is woefully familiar with its public transportation system. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in English and Creative Writing, where she found her poetic voice. While in attendance she was an associate editor for Westwind, UCLA's literary journal, and an active member of UCLAPoem. While at UCI, she hopes to become an eager and enthusiastic participant of its local poetry scene while continuing to write pieces that are inspired by psychological horror and the suburban gothic.
Somi Jun
Somi Jun was born in Korea and raised in/near Los Angeles.
Andie Klarin
Andie Klarin is a first year poetry student returning to Orange County after a brief stint making trouble in Indianapolis. You can find their work in miniskirt magazine, Harpur Palate, and the Chaotic Merge zine.
Asusena Lopez
Asusena Lopez is a native Angeleno who dreams of living in an enchanted forest but doesn’t want to abandon the grime and glamour of the city. She holds a B.A. in music education and creative writing from California State University, Northridge where she received the Academy of American Poets George Dillon Memorial Award in 2021. When not lost in her latest lyrical labyrinth or living in the surreal realm of an art house film, she loves gardening, hiking, playing guitar, visiting museums, and draping herself in velvet.
Luan Nguyen
Luan Nguyen is a second-year poetry student from Sacramento, California.
Amaka Nwabunnia
Amaka Nwabunnia is a second year poetry student from the Washington, DC area. She came to the program immediately following a BA from Georgetown University in Political Science and Creative Writing.
Marc Huerta Osborn
Marc Huerta Osborn is a writer, educator, and college admissions counselor from Alameda, California. His poetry can be found in Rust + Moth, The Acentos Review, Defunkt Magazine, and elsewhere. His biggest creative inspirations are pelicans, pozole, and ghosts.
Lauryn Payne
Lauryn is a self-proclaimed suburbanite turned poet. She earned her BA in Sociology from Chapman University where she would discover her passion for lyricism. Her work focuses on familial dynamism, trauma and identity. Consequently, her work can be found in several keepsake boxes in her parent’s closet, brother’s birthday cards and half-full diaries.
Sara Son
Sara Son is a writer and poet from Queens. She holds a BA from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. Her poetry and fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in Cream City Review, Smokelong Quarterly, The Margins, DIALOGIST, No Contact, and elsewhere. An AWP Scholar and Tin House alum, she is working on a poetry collection and novel.
Marion Eames White
Marion is a queer trans poet from New York. They are a tattoo artist and a VFX enthusiast. They hold a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Alexandria Brooke Williamson
Alexandria Brooke Williamson is a poet whose current endeavors include a poem about holding hands with Blue and a play about the mysterious fate of an unidentified substance caught between a forefinger and a thumb. Alexandria holds a degree in photography from the University of Notre Dame, and they once famously shoveled an entire ham off Dallas asphalt. Their favorite objects in poetry are Dorianne Laux’s old flames and dust and Rae Armnatrout’s pigeons - clean because of the morning. A special place in their heart is occupied by Andy Warhol’s drawings of feet and Agnes Varda’s spaghetti dinners.
