Denise Benavides
DENISE BENAVIDES is a performance artist, poet, and educator based in the San Diego / Tijuana border. Her debut collection SPLIT was published by Kórima Press and was a finalist for the 2017 Golden Crown Literary Award.
She has toured & performed internationally using the page and stage to confront themes of xenophobia, homophobia, migration, mental health, race, and love. Always love.
In her most recent tour with Radar Productions for the 20th Anniversary of Sister Spit, the artist collective offered a critical, intersectional and often humorous lens to issues of feminism, race, size, class, identity, technology, gender and sexuality through storytelling.
She is a LAMBDA Literary Fellow dropout, but holds a MFA from Mills College. Her work can also be found at Third Woman Press’ zine Gonna Be Alright (Vol. 2), Fat City Review, Ground Protest Poetry, The Feminist Wire, and Anxy Magazine.
Ultimately, Benavides writes to document and hold space for what has been lost--most of all, she writes for the women in her family.
Author website: www.denisebenavides.com.
Photo Credit: Tomo Saito