Nikia Chaney

As the fourth Inlandia Literary Laureate, Nikia Chaney organized an exhibit celebrating women and music for Black History Month, moderated panels for the Tuskegee Airmen, developed a Homespun Chapbook book series for Inlandia Institute, and created a workshop/exhibition program, Voices Against Violence, which seeks to address the community of San Bernardino. In 2019, she became active in the Santa Cruz community. She is a member of the Hive Poetry Collective and the founding member of Amplify: Cabrillo Student Podcasts. She teaches African American Literature and Creative Writing at Cabrillo College. Nikia Chaney holds two MFAs, one from Antioch University, Los Angeles (2009), and one from California State University, San Bernardino.  She is the author of a full length collection of poetry, us mouth (University of Hell Press, 2018).  She has three chapbooks Sis Fuss (Orange Monkey Publishing, 2012), ladies, please (Dancing Girl Press, 2013), and a collaborative visual/poetry hybrid, Mapless with Cindy Rinne (Cholla Needles, 2018).