About the Artist
Dasha Kelly Hamilton is a writer, performance artist and creative change agent. She has authored award-winning poetry, essays and fiction. She is a mainstage storyteller and host with The Moth, an alum of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and Poet Laureate Emerita for both the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin and a National Laureate Fellow with the American Academy of Poets. A skilled engagement practitioner and an adjunct instructor, Dasha has even facilitated initiatives in Botswana, Mauritius and Beirut as an Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy. Dasha’s nationally-touring stage show, Makin’ Cake, serves audiences a unique conversation on race, class and equity. Her nonprofit literary arts organization, Still Waters Collective, is preparing for its 25th anniversary in 2025. Dasha will also release three books in 2025, a poetry anthology, A Line Meant (Jaded Ibis Press), and two novels Baker’s Dozen (Jaded Ibis) and a 10th anniversary reprint of Almost Crimson (Traitmarker Books).