Qwo-Li Driskill
Qwo-Li Driskill is a Cherokee Two-Spirit and Queer poet/activist/educator also of African, Irish, Lenape, Lumbee, and Osage ascent. An award winning writer, Qwo-Li's work has appeared in Many Mountains Moving, Mavin Magazine, The Raven Chronicles, Crab Orchard Review and the anthologies Nurturing Native Languages, Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology and Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry.
Qwo-Li speaks across the country on issues of concern to First Nations Two-Spirit people, mixed-race people, queer and trans people, and people of color. Qwo-Li's skilled use of the "Theatre of the Oppressed" techniques of Augusto Boal addresses issues of oppression, historical trauma, and decolonization. S/he has been a guest teacher, lecturer, and performer at several conferences, special events, and universities including Antioch University Seattle, The Evergreen State College, Intercourse, Michigan State University, the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force, the National Poetry Slam,Portland State University, Seattle Folklife Festival, The Seattle Poetry Festival, and University of Nebraska.
Originally from rural Colorado, s/he currently lives in Three Fires (Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi) and Huron territories while pursuing a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing at Michigan State University. S/he is the author of the chapbooks Book of Memory: Honor Poems and Burning Upward Flight. Hir first full volume of poetry is forthcoming.
Contact Qwo-Li Driskill
Selected Presentations
- Poetry performances (readings from forthcoming collection, Walking With Ghosts
- Our Hearts Upon Our Sleeves: Male Survivors of Assault
- Seven Pointed Star: Identity in Seven Directions
- Stolen from Our Bodies: Two-Spirits and the Journey Towards a Soviergn Erotic
- A Nation Is Coming: Theater, Writing and Story as Tools for Decolonization
Selected Workshops
- Introduction to Trans Issues
- Personal Story and the Power of Poetry: Toward a Poetics of Liberation
- Organizing for Social Jusitice in Rural Areas
- Two-Spirit: Native Genders and Sexualities
- Mixedqueers: Race, Gender, Identity and Desire
- Like Bread In Our Children's Mouths: Ending Sexism In Communities of Color
- Mothertongue: Healing from Patriarchy and Colonization