Sierra Nelson is a poet, lyric essayist, and multimedia performance artist, with an MFA in Poetry from University of Washington. Nelson’s poetry books include The Lachrymose Report (PoetryNW Editions) and I Take Back the Sponge Cake collaborating with visual artist Loren Erdrich (Rose Metal Press), and she is editor of Three Hearts: An Anthology of Cephalopod Poetry (World Enough Writers). A MacDowell Colony Fellow, Jack Straw Writers Fellow, and Carolyn Kizer Prize winner, Nelson has published work in anthologies and journals including Cascadia Field Guide, I Sing the Salmon Home, WA 129, as well as work featured on King County Metro buses, at the Seattle Aquarium, the Slovenian Natural History Museum, and with Nordic runes on lava stones at the SÍM Gallery in Iceland. Recently a Youth Community Liaison for 4Culture's Poetry in Public program, Sierra works with both youth and adults teaching poetry in diverse settings including schools, hospitals, universities, and libraries, through Writers in the Schools (WITS), Hugo House, Centrum, University of Washington, and beyond.

Get inspired to write by checking out Sierra Nelson’s published books and poems posted on her website.

If you’re looking for additional inspiration, Sierra writes, “Some of my favorite poets are Elizabeth Bishop, Joy Harjo, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Donika Kelly, Elizabeth Bradfield, Adrienne Rich, Marrianne Moore. (And the poems and advice from the previous judges are a remarkable resource of inspiration as well, including Kathleen Flenniken, Rena Priest, and Laua Da'.)”