Kelsey L. Smoot
they/them/theirs he/him/his
A: 963 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Unit 201, Atlanta, GA 30306
M: 786.831.9433
E: kelseyLsmoot@gmail.com
BOOKS
EDUCATION APPOINTMENTS
08/2017 – 04/2025
College of William & Mary
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Dissertation: On Mirrors: Radical Musings of Black Queer Masculinity & Boihood Worldmaking
08/2015 – 12/2016
09/2011 – 09/2014
University of Miami Master of Arts (MA), Liberal Studies
University of California, Davis Bachelor of Arts (MA), Sociology Concentration: African and African American Studies
Forthcoming 12/2024 06/2024
SOULMATE AS A VERB, Poetry DOPAMINE/Semiotext(e)
Muse, Poetry
Another New Calligraphy
we was bois together, Poetry CLASH! (An Imprint Of Mouthfeel Press)
Remote Graduate Fellow
Arts & Sciences Equality Lab, College of William & Mary
Graduate Assistant
Arts & Sciences Graduate Center, College of William and Mary
Teaching Assistant
Williamsburg Documentary Project, College of William and Mary
Teaching Assistant
Cinema and the Modernization of US Culture, College of William and Mary
Teaching Assistant
Williamsburg Documentary Project, College of William and Mary
APPOINTMENTS
Continued
2018 – 2019
2017 – 2018
READINGS & FEATURES
04/2025
04/2025
03/2025
01/2025
10/2024
09/2024
08/2024
08/2024
08/2024
06/2024
06/2024
05/2024
PRESENTATIONS
& PANEL
09/2023 11/2022 10/2022
Oral History Graduate Assistant Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary
Equality Graduate Research Fellow William & Mary LGBTIQ Research Project, College of William and Mary
Featured Author, “Charis Poetry Showcase In Celebration of National Poetry Month” – Charis Bookstore, Decatur, Georgia/Zoom
Featured Author, “Muse: A Chapbook Reading with Kelsey L Smoot” –yes please bookhouse and carespace, Scottdale, Georgia
Featured Artist, “The Movement: Intimate Concerts”—The Moxy, Atlanta Georgia
Featured Author, “Muse: A Chapbook Launch and Reading” –Workshops4Gaza, Zoom
Featured Author, “Cliterati”– Charis Bookstore, Decatur, Georgia/Zoom
Featured Artist, “The Space Open Mic” Kennesaw, Georgia
Featured Artist, Da Poetry Lounge, Los Angeles California
Featured Author, Chat & Poetry Reading feat. Amber Abundance, The Salt Eaters Bookshop, Los Angeles, CA
Featured Artist, Chapbook Release Event, Stories Bookstore & Café, Los Angeles, CA
Featured Author, Launch Event, we was bois together, Atlanta, Georgia
Featured Artist, CLUTCH, Presented by Come Get Some, Atlanta Georgia
Featured Artist, PHO THA SOUL SPOKEN WORD, Who Wanna Pho, Atlanta Georgia
“Queer & Peace”, Guest Speaker, Dawson College | Montreal, Quebec
“Queer and Trans Issues In the South: Activism and Research” Panelist, Southern Historical Association Conference | Baltimore, MD
DBLAC (Digital Black Lit & Composition) “Frottage: A Conversation With K’eguro Macharia And Kelsey Smoot, Facilitator, University of Pittsburgh | Remote | Zoom
02/2022 07/2021 02/2021
“Black Lives Matter : Becoming a better ally to the Black Community”, Panelist, North Carolina State University | Remote | Zoom
“Face Card: A Discussion of Makeup and Gender Identity”, Co-Facilitator GrubsStreet | Remote | Zoom
“Disruptions and Eruptions” Interdisciplinary Feminist Conference Panelist/Poetry Reading, Penn State University | Remote | Zoom
“Gender Diversity and Inclusion Training for DAISA Enterprises LLC” Educational Facilitation and Training Remote | Zoom
“Forbidden, Forgotten, Erased: Exposing Absences Colloquium”, Panelist/Paper Presentation, University of Maryland | College Park, MD
“Commonwealth Graduate Education Day”, Panelist, Longwood University | Farmville, VA
“I Am My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams”: Contemporary Cultures of Black Impossibility, Panelist/Paper Presentation, Princeton University | Princeton, NJ
“Graduate Studies at William & Mary”, Panelist, College of William & Mary | Williamsburg, VA
“Queer & Peace”, Guest Speaker, Dawson College | Montreal, Quebec
“Commonwealth Graduate Education Day”, Panelist, University of Virginia/ Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Center, Falls Church, VA
“Thinking about Gender”, Co-Facilitator, Miami Worker’s Center | Miami, FL
“LadyFest, Opening Plenary”, Panelist, MADE At the Citadel | Miami, FL
“Traveling While Black”, Panelist, University of California Davis | Davis, CA
“Queer Relationships and Student Life”, Panelist, University of California Davis | Davis, CA
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
03/2018 – Present
01/2019 – 03/2019 01/2019 12/2012
Diversity and Equity Planning Committee Member American Studies Program, College of William & Mary
Arts & Sciences Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Task Force Member College of William & Mary
Teaching and Learning Advisory Team, Workshop Participant College of William & Mary
Direct or Search Committee Participant, Women’s Resources and Research Center, University of California Davis
AWARDS, GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS
04/2025
03/2025
02/2024
12/2024 10/2024
09/2024
08/2023 10/2022
07/2022 07/2021 05/2020 04/2019 10/2018
2018 – 2019
2017 – 2019
2017 – 2019
2011 – 2012
Best New Poets 2025 Magazine Nominee, “self-portrait as pi”, Fruitslice Magazine
2025 Get The Word Out Poetry Fellow, Poets & Writers
Winter Workshop Scholarship Recipient, Tin House
Fall 2024 Poetry Contest, 2nd Place, “requiem for a gone girl”
Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
‘Best of Net’ Nominee, “the revolution might not be televised”, MAYDAY Magazine
2024 Poetry Video Contest, Grand Prize, “A Litany For Arrival—After Audre Lorde” Button Poetry
Honeybee Prize In Poetry, First Place, “For Kenny”, The GoodLife Review
American Studies Program Travel Award, College of William & Mary
Pushcart Prize Nominee, “For Fat Black Girls Denied,” Snarl: A Journal of Literature and Art
Spring 2021 Poetry Contest, First Place, Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
Dean’s Prize for Student Scholarship on Women, Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, College of William & Mary
American Studies Program Travel Award, College of William & Mary
American Studies Program Travel Award, College of William & Mary
Social Justice and Diversity Fellowship, College of William & Mary
Graduate Studies Recruitment Fellowship, College of William & Mary
Program Departmental Scholarship, University of Miami
Linda Francis Alexander Scholars Program, University of California Davis
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & INTERNSHIPS
03/2024 – Present 07/2016 10/2015 – 12/2015 09/2014 – 06/2015
Consultant, Manuscript Copyediting/Publishing Support, Atlanta, GA/Remote
MCCJ Metrotown Summer Camp (Social Justice Program) Advisor Miami, FL
Equality Florida (LGBT Rights Organization) Development Intern Hollywood, FL
The Video Project/Specialty Studios, LLC (Documentary Distribution Company) Operations Manager, San Francisco, CA
06/2013 – 09/2014
04/2012 – 06/2013
UC Davis Student Community Center, Building Manager, Davis, CA
UC Davis Women’s Resources and Research Center Community Intern, Davis, CA
ONLINE LITERARY & POPULAR PUBLICATIONS
Forthcoming
Forthcoming
Forthcoming
Forthcoming
Forthcoming
Forthcoming
04/2025
04/2025 03/2025 02/2025 02/2025 02/2025 01/2025 12/2024 11/2024 09/2024 08/2024 05/2024
Pile Press, Print Publishing Collective, “My Pulse, The Unreliable Narrator” ; “trans is trending again” ; “Sex Change Ghazal”
Amorphaville, BIPOC Speculative Anthology, “Parable Of The Innocent or black trans-boi roadmap” and “Honest Bodies Cento.”
The Hellbore Press, Digital Literary Press, “tenderheart” (reprint), “if I must live-after Refaat Alareer”
Wussy Magazine, Queer Popular Culture Publication, “stories we tell ourselves”
Beyond Words Magazine, Digital Literary Press, “ICK”
BRINK, Print Literary Journal, “poetics of universe”
Sonora Review, Digital Literary Journal, “minor blues” or “southwest airline reverse golden-shovel”
The Rumpus, Online Literary Magazine, Book Review: Past is Prelude: Denne Michele Norris’s When The Harvest Comes
Hare’s Paw Literary Journal, Digital Literary Press, “What Didn’t Happen When We Kissed”
beestung, quarterly micro-magazine, “Glory Days”
Pigeon Pages NYC, Digital Literary Press, “our moment under the sun”
The Passionfruit Review, Digital Literary Press, A.B. Persona Poem –A Golden Shovel After Patricia Smith’s Always In The Head
Wild Roof Journal, Digital Literary Press, “poetics of light”
Fruitslice Magazine, Community Editorial, “self-portrait as pi”
Voicemail Poems, Digital Literary Press, “Bricks”
Orca Literary Journal, Digital & Print Literary Journal, “tenderheart”
South Florida Poetry Journal, Digital Literary Press, “on bearing witness”, “what men are made of”, “How I Know You Love Me”
Mulberry Literary, Digital Literary Press, “cousins”
05/2024
04/2024 03/2024 03/2024 11/2023 10/2023 09/2023 08/2023 08/2023 07/2023 06/2023 01/2023 11/2022 06/2022 04/2022 07/ 2021 03/2021 12/2020 12/2020 11/2020 07/2020
MAYDAY Magazine, Digital Literary Press, “pepper jack”, “the revolution might not be televised”
Birdcoat Quarterly, Digital Literary Press, “sonnet for the indecisive”
Muchacha Fanzine, Social Justice Print Publication, “Rainbow Babies”
Room Magazine, (Utopia 47.1), Print Literary Magazine, “3 Kwansabas…”, “how two depressives manage coexistence”, “Binder Bliss//Top Surgery Blues”
Voicemail Poems, Digital Literary Press, “After Sula”
Nappy Head Club, Arts & Culture Publication, The Potential of (new) Masculinity: Finding Belonging in a Soft-Boi Era
The Smart Set Magazine, Arts & Culture Publication, “In The Case of A Failing Friendship, Don’t Settle—Breakup: Advice For The Shedding Season”
Scalawag, News/Media Publication, “The Perfect Present for my Black and Trans Inner Child”
The Good Life Review, Digital Literary Press, “For Kenny”
Scalawag, News/Media Publication, “Dark Matter”
Scalawag, News/Media Publication, “How To Survive a G*rlhood”, “Maxx Puts Their Arm Around Me In The Uber Ride Home”
Refinery29//R29Unbothered, News/Media Publication, “I’m Black, Trans & I Refuse To Defend My Plans For Parenthood
Snarl: A Journal of Literature and Art , Digital and Print Literary Press, ‘For Fat Black Girls Denied’
Barely South Review, Digital Literary Press, ‘Vicarious’
HuffPost, News/Media Publication, “If You Think My Pronouns Are Optional, We Can’t Keep Being Friends”
Sad Girls Club Literary Blog, Digital Literary Press, ‘The Body (in theory)’
Ordinary Madness, Digital Literary Press, ‘the body//an archive’, ‘A memoir’
New York Times International Newspaper, Tiny Love Stories: ‘Seeing Myself Looking Back’
Twyckenham Notes, Digital Literary Press, ‘Transitory’, ‘A Habitude...A Fortitude’
High Shelf Press, Digital and Print Literary Press, ‘Salutations’
The Guardian, International Newspaper Op-ed: ‘Juneteenth - not the Fourth of July - was the real Independence Day’
