KELSEY L. SMOOT
(HE/THEY)
Atlanta, Georgia, United States | kelseyLsmoot@gmail.com | 786.831.9433
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College of William & Mary American Studies
Dissertation: On Mirrors: Radical Musings of Black Queer Masculinity & Boihood Worldmaking
Aug 2017 — Apr 2025
Master of Arts (MA) Aug 2015 — Dec 2016
University of Miami Liberal Studies
Bachelor of Arts (BA) Sep 2011 — Sep 2014
University of California, Davis
Sociology | Minor: African and African American Studies
APPOINTMENTS
Remote Graduate Fellow
Arts & Sciences Equality Lab, College of William & Mary Graduate Assistant
Arts & Sciences Graduate Center, College of William & Mary
Teaching Assistant
Williamsburg Documentary Project, College of William & Mary
Teaching Assistant
Cinema and the Modernization of US Culture, College of William & Mary
Teaching Assistant
Williamsburg Documentary Project, College of William & Mary
Oral History Graduate Assistant
Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William & Mary
Equality Graduate Research Fellow
William & Mary LGBTIQ Research Project, College of William & Mary
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & INTERNSHIPS
—
— 2021
— 2020
— 2019
— 2018
Admissions Counselor, Atlanta, GA Oct 2025 — Present Campus.edu
Assistant Managing Editor, Remote Jun 2025 — Present Sundress Publications
Freelance Editor | Essayist | Writing Coach | Workshop Facilitator, Atlanta, GA Mar 2024 — Present KLS Consulting
Advisor, Miami, FL Jul 2016
MCCJ Metrotown Summer Camp (Social Justice Program)
Development Intern, Hollywood, FL Oct 2015 — Dec 2015 Equality Florida
Operations Manager, San Francisco, CA Sep 2014 — Jun 2015
The Video Project/Specialty Studios, LLC
Building Manager, Davis, CA Jun 2013 — Sep 2014
UC Davis Student Community Center
Community Intern, Davis, CA Apr 2012 — Jun 2013
UC Davis Women’s Resources and Research Center
HONORS, GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS
Pushcart Prize Nominee, "Glory Days" Sep 2025 beestung Magazine
Best New Poets 2025 Magazine Nominee, “self-portrait as pi” Apr 2025 Fruitslice Magazine
2025 Get The Word Out Poetry Fellow Mar 2025 Poets & Writers
Winter Workshop Scholarship Recipient Feb 2024 Tin House
Fall 2024 Poetry Contest, 2nd Place, “requiem for a gone girl” Oct 2024 Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
‘Best of Net’ Nominee, “the revolution might not be televised” Sep 2024 MAYDAY Magazine
2024 Poetry Video Contest, Grand Prize, “A Litany For Arrival—After Audre Lorde” Aug 2024 Button Poetry
Honeybee Prize In Poetry, First Place, “For Kenny” Aug 2023 The GoodLife Review
American Studies Program Travel Award Oct 2022
College of William & Mary
Pushcart Prize Nominee, “For Fat Black Girls Denied,” Jul 2022
Snarl: A Journal of Literature and Art
Spring 2021 Poetry Contest, First Place Jul 2021 Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
Dean’s Prize for Student Scholarship on Women May 2020 Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, College of William & Mary
American Studies Program Travel Award Apr 2019 College of William & Mary
American Studies Program Travel Award Oct 2018 College of William & Mary
Social Justice and Diversity Fellowship
College of William & Mary
Graduate Studies Recruitment Fellowship
—
2019 College of William & Mary
Program Departmental Scholarship
University of Miami
Linda Francis Alexander Scholars Program
University of California Davis
BOOKS
2011 — Jan 2012
DOPAMINE | Semiotext(e), (Poetry) Forthcoming Feb 2026
SOULMATE AS A VERB
Another New Calligraphy, (Poetry) Dec 2024 Muse
CLASH! (An Imprint Of Mouthfeel Press), (Poetry) Jun 2024 we was bois together
ONLINE LITERARY & POPULAR PUBLICATIONS
Atlanta Review, Forthcoming 2026 (Poetry) “A CASE STUDY ON THE ANTI-HERO-HERO”
The McNeese Review, Forthcoming 2026 (Poetry) "Midsummer"
Amorphaville, Forthcoming 2026 (Poetry) “Parable Of The Innocent or black trans-boi roadmap” & “Honest Bodies Cento”
Midway Journal, Forthcoming 2026 (Poetry) "Reasonable Doubt"
new words {press}, Forthcoming 2026 (Poetry) "Notes of a Native Son, as Jenga"
Grist - A Journal of The Literary Arts, Forthcoming 2025 (Book Review) What Remains: Memory and Erasure in Bess Cooley’s Florence Forge | Trans Survivor Zine, Forthcoming 2025 (Poetry) "Good Measure"
The Rumpus, Forthcoming 2025 (Book Review) After Jimmy’s Heart: Nicolas Boggs’ Baldwin: A Love Story
Hooligan Magazine
Aug 2025 (Poetry) “How I Know I Love You”
Pile Press
Jul 2025 (Poetry) “My Pulse, The Unreliable Narrator” ; “trans is trending again” ; “Sex Change Ghazal”
The Hellbore Press
May 2025 (Poetry) “tenderheart” (reprint), “if I must live-after Refaat Alareer”
Wussy Magazine Jul 2025 (Poetry) “stories we tell ourselves”
Beyond Words Magazine
May 2025 (Poetry) "ICK"
BRINK Jun 2025 (Poetry) “poetics of universe”
Sonora Review
Apr 2025 (Poetry) “minor blues” or “southwest airline reverse golden-shovel”
Cathexis Northwest Press Mar 2025 (Poetry) "my lungs are warring nation-states — after Rachel Valente"
The Rumpus Mar 2025 (Book Review) Past is Prelude: Denne Michele Norris’s When The Harvest Comes
Hare’s Paw Literary Journal
Feb 2025 (Poetry) "What Didn’t Happen When We Kissed" beestung magazine Feb 2025 (Poetry) Glory Days
Pigeon Pages NYC Feb 2025 (Poetry) "our moment under the sun"
The Passionfruit Review
Jan 2025 (Poetry) "A.B. Persona Poem – A Golden Shovel After Patricia Smith’s Always In The Head"
Fruitslice Magazine
Dec 2024 (Poetry) "self-portrait as pi"
Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
Dec 2024 (Poetry) "requiem for a gone girl"
Wild Roof Journal
Dec 2024 (Poetry) “poetics of light”
Fruitslice Magazine
Dec 2024 (Poetry) “self-portrait as pi”
Voicemail Poems
Nov 2024 (Poetry) “Bricks”
Button Poetry
Oct 2024 (Video/Poetry) "A Litany For Arrival — After Audre Lorde"
Orca Literary Journal
Sep 2024 (Poetry) “tenderheart”
South Florida Poetry Journal
Aug 2024 (Poetry) "on bearing witness," "what men are made of," & "How I Know You Love Me"
Mulberry Literary
May 2024 (Poetry) “cousins”
MAYDAY Magazine
May 2024 (Poetry) “pepper jack” & “the revolution might not be televised”
Birdcoat Quarterly
Apr 2024 (Poetry) “sonnet for the indecisive”
Muchacha Fanzine
Mar 2024 (Poetry) "Rainbow Babies"
Room Magazine
Mar 2024 (Poetry) “3 Kwansabas...” & “how two depressives manage coexistence,” & “Chest Binder Bliss//Top Surgery Blues”
Voicemail Poems Nov 2023 (Poetry) “After Sula”
Nappy Head Club Sep 2023 (Essay) The Potential of (new) Masculinity: Finding Belonging in a Soft-Boi Era
The Smart Set Magazine Aug 2023 (Essay) “In The Case of A Failing Friendship, Don’t Settle—Breakup: Advice For The Shedding Season”
Scalawag Aug 2023 (Book Review) “The Perfect Present for my Black and Trans Inner Child”
The Good Life Review Aug 2023 (Poetry) "For Kenny"
Scalawag Jul 2023 (Poetry) “Dark Matter”
Scalawag Jun 2023 (Poetry) "How To Survive a G*rlhood," & "Maxx Puts Their Arm Around Me In The Uber Ride Home"
Refnery29//R29Unbothered Jan 2023 (Essay) "I’m Black, Trans & I Refuse To Defend My Plans For Parenthood"
Snarl: A Journal of Literature and Art Nov 2022 (Poetry) "For Fat Black Girls Denied"
Barely South Review
Jun 2022 (Poetry) "Vicarious"
HufPost
Apr 2022 (Essay) “If You Think My Pronouns Are Optional, We Can’t Keep Being Friends”
Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
Jul 2021 (Poetry) "The Body (in theory)"
Ordinary Madness, Vol. III
Mar 2021 (Poetry) "the body//an archive," & "A memoir"
New York Times
Dec 2020 (Flash Essay) Tiny Love Stories: Seeing Myself Looking Back
Twyckenham Notes
Dec 2020 "Transitory," & "A Habitude...A Fortitude"
High Shelf Press
Nov 2020 (Poetry) "Salutations"
The Guardian
Jul 2020 (Op-Ed) Juneteenth - not the Fourth of July - was the real Independence Day
The Guardian
Jun 2020 (Op-Ed) "White people say they want to be an ally to Black people. But are they ready for sacrifce?"
The Moving Force Journal
May 2020 (Poetry) "Linguicism"
Bottom Shelf Whiskey
Aug 2019 (Poetry) "Borrowed Time"
Poached Hare
Jul 2019 (Poetry) "Chasing"
Chaleur Magazine
Jul 2019 (Poetry) "Cut the Crust"
Cathexis Northwest Press
Jun 2019 (Poetry) "Grad School and Other Manic Episodes," & "Framework," & "you can swim underwater, just don’t breathe in"
Prometheus Dreaming
May 2019 (Poetry) "Hearse Deferred"
Black Girl Does Grad School
Nov 2017 (Essay) "Black Boi Does Grad School—A Couple of tips for navigating the Bullshit"
The Body Is Not An Apology
Nov 2017 (Essay) "How Do We Really See Each Other Across Identities?: Notes From A Queer Breakup"
READINGS & FEATURES
Featured Author, Decatur, Georgia Apr 2025
“Charis Poetry Showcase In Celebration of National Poetry Month”
Featured Author, Scottdale, Georgia Apr 2025
“Muse: A Chapbook Reading with Kelsey L. Smoot”
Featured Artist, Atlanta Georgia
“The Movement: Intimate Concerts”
Mar 2025
Featured Author, Remote Jan 2025
“Muse: A Chapbook Launch and Reading”
Featured Author, Decatur, Georgia
Oct 2024 “Cliterati”
Featured Artist, Kennesaw, Georgia Sep 2024
“The Space Open Mic”
Featured Artist, Los Angeles California Aug 2024 "Da Poetry Lounge"
Featured Author, Los Angeles, CA Aug 2024 "Chat & Poetry Reading feat. Amber Abundance, The Salt Eaters Bookshop"
Featured Artist, Los Angeles, CA Aug 2024 "Chapbook Release Event, Stories Bookstore & Café"
Featured Author, Atlanta, Georgia Jun 2024 "Launch Event, we was bois together"
Featured Artist, Atlanta Georgia Jun 2024
"CLUTCH, Presented by Come Get Some"
Featured Artist, Atlanta Georgia May 2024
"PHO THA SOUL SPOKEN WORD, Who Wanna Pho"
PRESENTATIONS & PANELS
Queer & Peace, Montreal, Quebec Sep 2023 Guest Speaker
Queer and Trans Issues In the South: Activism and Research, Baltimore, MD Nov 2022 Panelist
DBLAC (Digital Black Lit & Composition), Remote Oct 2022 Facilitator, K’eguro Macharia And Kelsey Smoot
Black Lives Matter : Becoming a better ally to the Black Community, Remote Feb 2022 Panelist
Face Card: A Discussion of Makeup and Gender Identity, Remote Jul 2021
Co-Facilitator
Disruptions and Eruptions, Remote Feb 2021
Panelist/Poetry Reading, Interdisciplinary Feminist Conference
Gender Diversity and Inclusion Training for DAISA Enterprises LLC, Remote Jun 2020 Educational Facilitation and Training
Forbidden, Forgotten, Erased: Exposing Absences Colloquium, College Park, MD Apr 2019
Panelist/Paper Presentation
Commonwealth Graduate Education Day, Farmville, VA Oct 2019 Panelist
Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams: Contemporary Cultures of Black Impossibility, Princeton, NJ Apr 2019
Panelist/Paper Presentation
Graduate Studies at William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA Aug 2018 Panelist
Queer & Peace, Montreal, Quebec Jan 2018
Guest Speaker
Commonwealth Graduate Education Day, Falls Church, VA Nov 2017
Panelist
Thinking about Gender, Miami, FL Feb 2017 Co-Facilitator
LadyFest, Opening Plenary, Miami, FL Oct 2016 Panelist
Traveling While Black, Davis, CA May 2015
Panelist
Queer Relationships and Student Life, Davis, CA Mar 2012 Panelist
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Equity Graduate Liaison Mar 2018 — Present Diversity and Equity Planning Committee Task Force Member Jan 2019 — Mar 2019 Arts & Sciences Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Committee
Workshop Participant Jan 2019 Teaching and Learning Advisory Team
Director Search Committee Participant, Dec 2012 Women’s Resources and Research Center