Michelle Moncayo is a queer poet in New Jersey, by way of Dominican Republic & Ecuador. She received a 2020 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She is also a recipient of fellowships & residencies from Chateau d'Orquevaux, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Vermont Studio Center, Sundress Academy for the Arts, CantoMundo, and VONA. Her poetry has appeared in Palette Poetry, No Tender Fences: An Anthology, Ninth Letter, The Plath Poetry Project, Winter Tangerine, The Acentos Review, & Kweli Literary Journal among others. Michelle is working on a collection of poetry exploring the heredity of breast cancer, its impact on family, & the harm of pinkwashing. She is an alumna of workshops from Winter Tangerine Review, the Speakeasy Project, and Brooklyn Poets. Michelle was nominated for Best of the Net. She graduated with her BA from Rutgers University, receiving Honorable Mention for both the Academy of American Poets’ Enid Dame Memorial Prize, and the Evelyn Hamilton Award. She received the John. P Noon Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing. You can find her at moncayomichelle.ucraft.net. She is always down for a good sancocho, and fresh quimbolitos.