MELIZA BANALES

Meliza Bañales is originally from Los Angeles and is the author of Say It With Your Whole Mouth and the forthcoming 51 Poems About Nothing At All. She has been involved in spoken-word and writing since 1996 and gained recognition for being the first Latina on the West Coast to win a poetry slam championship in 2002 (Oakland, CA). She was the 2002 winner of the People Before Profits Poetry Prize and she has work in Revolutionary Voices, Without A Net: The Female Experience of Growing-Up Working-Class, The First Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Change, Baby Remember My Name: New Queer Girl Writing, and Word Warriors. Her film, "Do the Math", with award-winning director Mary Guzman was the 2006 winner of a Frameline Completion Grant and screened at Outfest 2007. Along with touring with the ever-so-fabulous beauties of Sister Spit, she will also be touring in the Spring of 2008 on the Femme Tour. She lives in San Francisco.

Astrological Sign: Aquarius (Sun), Taurus (Rising), Virgo (Moon)
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Favorite Road Snack: Diet Coke and Plain M n' Ms (yum, sugar...)
Favorite Vice: COOFFEEEE ("coffee" for those of you non-caffienated)
First Concert: Motley Crue
Writer you're a groupie for: Anne Carson, Charles Bukowski, Gwendolyn Brooks, my tour mates.