KELSEY L. SMOOT
(HE/THEY)
Atlanta, Georgia, United States | kelseyLsmoot@gmail.com | 786.831.9433
EDUCATION
College of William & Mary
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Aug
American Studies
Dissertation: On Mirrors: Radical Musings of Black Queer Masculinity & Boihood Worldmaking
University of Miami
Master of Arts (MA) Aug
Liberal Studies
University of California, Davis
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Sociology | Minor: African and African American Studies
APPOINTMENTS
&
&
Lab, College of William & Mary
Center, College of William & Mary
Williamsburg Documentary Project, College of William & Mary
Cinema and the Modernization of US Culture, College of William & Mary
Williamsburg
William & Mary LGBTIQ Research Project, College of William & Mary
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE & INTERNSHIPS
Admissions Counselor Atlanta, GA
Campus.edu
Assistant Managing Editor Remote
Sundress Publications
Freelance Editor | Essayist | Writing Coach | Workshop Facilitator Atlanta, GA Mar
— Apr 2025
—
— Present
— Present
Miami, FL
MCCJ Metrotown Summer Camp (Social Justice Program)
Development Intern Hollywood, FL
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
UC Davis Women’s Resources and Research Center
HONORS, GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS
Vermont Studio Center Fellowship Recipient
2026 VSC Residency
Poetry Contest Finalist, "Love Poem: Mango" — after Donika Kelly
Black Warrior Review
2012 — Jun 2013
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
2025 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” Sep 2024
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
Aug 2024
Aug 2023
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
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
BOOKS
DOPAMINE | Semiotext(e) (Poetry) Forthcoming
SOULMATE AS A VERB
Another New Calligraphy (Poetry)
Muse
CLASH! (An Imprint Of Mouthfeel Press) (Poetry)
we was bois together
(Poetry) “Parable Of The Innocent or black trans-boi roadmap” & “Honest Bodies Cento”
(Poetry) "Reasonable Doubt"
words
Forthcoming
(Poetry) "Notes of a Native Son, as Jenga"
The Rumpus
Forthcoming 2025
(Book Review) After Jimmy’s Heart: Nicolas Boggs’ Baldwin: A Love Story
Atlanta Review
Forthcoming 2026
(Poetry) “A CASE STUDY ON THE ANTI-HERO-HERO”
The Words Faire Oct 2025 (Poetry) "Three" & "The Good Place"
Forge | Trans Survivor Zine
(Poetry) "Good Measure"
Grist - A Journal of The Literary Arts
(Book Review) What Remains: Memory and Erasure in Bess Cooley’s Florence
Hooligan Magazine Aug
(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
(Poetry) “stories we tell ourselves”
Beyond Words Magazine May 2025 (Poetry) "ICK"
BRINK
(Poetry) “poetics of universe”
Sonora Review
(Poetry) “minor blues” or “southwest airline reverse golden-shovel”
Cathexis Northwest Press
Jun 2025
Apr 2025
Mar 2025 (Poetry) "my lungs are warring nation-states — after Rachel Valente"
The Rumpus
(Book Review) Past is Prelude: Denne Michele Norris’s When The Harvest Comes
Hare’s Paw Literary Journal
(Poetry) "What Didn’t Happen When We Kissed"
beestung magazine
(Poetry) Glory Days
Pigeon Pages NYC
Mar 2025
Feb 2025
Feb 2025
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
(Poetry) "requiem for a gone girl"
Wild Roof Journal
Dec 2024
Dec 2024 (Poetry) “poetics of light”
Fruitslice Magazine
Dec 2024 (Poetry) “self-portrait as pi”
Voicemail Poems
Nov 2024 (Poetry) “Bricks”
Button Poetry
(Video/Poetry) "A Litany For Arrival — After Audre Lorde"
Orca Literary Journal
Oct 2024
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
(Poetry) “3 Kwansabas...” & “how two depressives manage coexistence,” & “Chest Binder Bliss//Top Surgery Blues”
Voicemail Poems
Mar 2024
Nov 2023 (Poetry) “After Sula”
Nappy Head Club
(Essay) The Potential of (new) Masculinity: Finding Belonging in a Soft-Boi Era
The Smart Set Magazine
(Essay) “In The Case of A Failing Friendship, Don’t Settle—Breakup: Advice For The Shedding Season”
Scalawag
Sep 2023
Aug 2023
Aug 2023 (Book Review) “The Perfect Present for my Black and Trans Inner Child”
The Good Life Review
(Poetry) "For Kenny"
Scalawag
Aug 2023
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
(Essay) "I’m Black, Trans & I Refuse To Defend My Plans For Parenthood"
Snarl: A Journal of Literature and Art
Jan 2023
Nov 2022 (Poetry) "For Fat Black Girls Denied"
Barely South Review
(Poetry) "Vicarious"
HufPost
(Essay) “If You Think My Pronouns Are Optional, We Can’t Keep Being Friends”
Sad Girls Club Literary Blog
(Poetry) "The Body (in theory)"
Ordinary Madness, Vol. III
Jun 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2021
Mar 2021 (Poetry) "the body//an archive," & "A memoir"
New York Times
(Flash Essay) Tiny Love Stories: Seeing Myself Looking Back
Twyckenham Notes
Dec 2020
Dec 2020 "Transitory," & "A Habitude...A Fortitude"
High Shelf Press
(Poetry) "Salutations"
The Guardian
Nov 2020
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
(Poetry) "Chasing"
Chaleur Magazine
Jul 2019
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
“Charis Poetry Showcase In Celebration of National Poetry Month”
Featured Author
Scottdale, Georgia
“Muse: A Chapbook Reading with Kelsey L. Smoot”
Apr 2025
Apr 2025
Featured Artist
Atlanta Georgia
“The Movement: Intimate Concerts”
Featured Author
“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
"Da Poetry Lounge"
Featured Author
Los Angeles, CA
"Chat & Poetry Reading feat. Amber Abundance, The Salt Eaters Bookshop"
Featured Artist
Los Angeles, CA
"Chapbook Release Event, Stories Bookstore & Café"
Featured Author
"Launch Event, we was bois together"
Featured Artist
Atlanta
"CLUTCH, Presented by Come Get Some"
Featured Artist
Atlanta Georgia May 2024
"PHO THA SOUL SPOKEN WORD, Who Wanna Pho"
PRESENTATIONS & PANELS
Poet To Published — A Workshop On Literary Publication
Atlanta, Forthcoming
Facilitator
Erasure as Emergence: A Blackout Poetry Workshop Atlanta
Facilitator -- Scraptlanta ATL
Queer & Peace
Guest Speaker
Queer and Trans Issues In the South: Activism and Research
Baltimore, MD Nov 2022
Panelist
DBLAC (Digital Black Lit & Composition)
Remote
Facilitator, K’eguro Macharia And Kelsey Smoot
Black Lives Matter : Becoming a better ally to the Black Community
Panelist
Face Card: A Discussion of Makeup and Gender Identity Remote
Co-Facilitator
Disruptions and Eruptions Remote
Panelist/Poetry Reading, Interdisciplinary Feminist Conference
Gender Diversity and Inclusion Training for DAISA
Enterprises LLC
Remote
Educational Facilitation and Training
Forbidden, Forgotten, Erased: Exposing Absences Colloquium
College Park, MD
Panelist
Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams: Contemporary Cultures of Black Impossibility Princeton, NJ
Panelist/Paper Presentation
Graduate Studies at William & Mary Williamsburg, VA
Panelist
Queer & Peace Montreal, Quebec
Guest Speaker
Panelist
Panelist
Traveling While Black Davis, CA
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