Tala Khanmalek is an independent writer, scholar, and educator as well as a Creative Capital Award fellow. She received her PhD in Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and was an associate professor of gender and sexuality studies at California State University, Fullerton. Her scholarly writing has appeared in Frontiers, Latino Studies, Feminist Studies, Palimpsest, and the Journal of Leadership, Equity, and Research, among other journals. Her creative work has appeared in Academy of American Poet’s Poem-a-Day, Epiphany, Indiana Review, and Meridian, among other journals.