Karla Brundage is author of two books of poetry, including Blood Lies: Race Trait(or), Swallowing Watermelons, and co-author of Mulatta–Not so Tragic. Her work as editor and publisher for Pacific Raven Press has included authors in the Bay Area, Hawaii, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya in the following anthologies: Sisters Across Oceans, Our Spirits Carry Our Voices , and Black Rootedness: 54 Poets from Africa to America. Media credits include Sister Power on ThinkTech Hawaii, C-SPAN, LitSeen, Wanda's Picks and Chills at Will Podcast. Her poetry, essays and short stories can be found in Konch, Literary Magazine, sPARKLE & bLINK, Write America, Black Fire This Time, Essential Truths, and A Gathering of Tribes: Black Lives Matter Issue amongst others. A graduate of Vassar College, Mills College MFA Program, and San Francisco State Clinical Schools Project, Karla is curator for the 2023 LitQuake Poetic Tuesday reading series and founder of West Oakland to West Africa Poetry Exchange. As a high school teacher, Karla has traveled to Cote d'Ivoire where she taught for three years, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Tanzania. In all her travels Karla has sought cultural understanding, connection and to experience the shared humanity and healing that can occur when sharing stories.