Maurisa Li-A-Ping is a Black Queer Womxn Writer. She creates poems that preserve her interiority and investigate liberatory ways of living in her body. Maurisa's work can be found in Puerto del Sol, Up the Staircase Quarterly, The Offing, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, and elsewhere.
As a trained writer and educator, Maurisa Li-A-Ping honors Black Queer Womxn narratives as a philosophy for empowerment and resilience. Through a Black Feminist approach, she facilitates engaging workshops for student development (social-emotional learning, wellness, storytelling, team building, identity development, etc.) and interactive trainings for professionals looking to integrate art and creativity into their work with students. In these spaces, Maurisa positions students as the authors of their lives, allowing them to define themselves, highlight their common challenges, and honor their diverse differences.
Maurisa is a Pushcart Prize-nominee, Watering Hole Fellow, Furious Flower Poetry Prize finalist, Nancy Craig Blackburn Fellow, Blood Orange Review Contest Winner, Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Alumni Microgrant recipient, along with many other accolades. She has earned a M.S.Ed. in Higher Education Student Affairs from Indiana University and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Randolph College.