Karissa Carmona
Karissa Carmona is a poet who believes that everyone is artistic. Growing up, Karissa was surrounded by all kinds of creatives: shower singers, napkin artists, fix-it-yourselfers, and lots and lots of storytellers. She accepts the title of amateur (from the French, to love) with the utmost pride.
Karissa hopes to facilitate expression in its roughest forms. She delights in smut, pop culture, ‘low art,’ not-knowing, and blurring the lines between sacred and profane. Karissa’s facilitation methods also defy strict distinctions; she expects to learn as much as she guides and experience the process of creation alongside you.
Karissa lives with her husband, Eli and kitty, Goose. When she’s not at open-ended, she works at Chapter One Bookstore, explores whims, and obsesses over the Yellowstone Supervolcano‘s impending eruption. Any day now!
Her poems are published or forthcoming in Los Angeles Review, New York Quarterly, Lily Poetry Review, Split Rock Review, and others. She is the winner of the 2022 Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry.