Angelia Saplan was born a daughter of grass stains and bad timing; a spoken word artist from the Pacific Northwest with an adoration for autumn. Her words are a relentless rainstorm in which you cannot help but both dance and cry.

 

As a young girl, she was continually told that her voice carried and to quiet down. She agrees — it carries marginalized voices into the conversation of canonical literature, with the goal of informing her audience as well as empowering them. Her thirst for truth and desire to advance humanity’s perspective transcend the written page, providing a catalyst for change so that we finally may have a space where the silenced can speak.

 

Angelia specializes in activist confessional writing, with an emphasis in performance poetry. Her work uses personal experience as a platform to discuss complex issues including racism, sexual assault, mental illness and others. She hopes to create writing that cultivates a space for empathy, understanding and social change.

 

She received her BA with a double major in Creative Writing and Marketing from Linfield College and earned her MA in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Winchester. Her work has previously appeared in Persephone's Daughters (2016) and The Nasiona (2017). She has given presentations regarding literature and creative writing at several undergraduate and international conferences, as well as performed original work at poetry slams.

 

Angelia enjoys anime, Rubik’s Cubes and believes any day can be made better with a cup of tea, a good book, and her cats, Zelda Sparrow and Linkynn Bayerd.