About Me
Ariana Brown is a queer Black Mexican American poet from San Antonio, TX, now based in Houston. She is the author of the poetry collections We Are Owed. (Grieveland, 2021) and Sana Sana (Game Over Books, 2020). Her academic and poetic works explore queerness, Black personhood in Mexican American spaces, girlhood, loneliness, and care. Ariana is a national collegiate poetry slam champion, winner of two Academy of American Poets Prizes, and a recipient of a National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Grant.
She holds a BA in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies from UT Austin, an MFA in Poetry from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MS in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. She currently develops ethnic studies and ELA curriculum for high schools and colleges and teaches creative writing to teens in Houston. Ariana has been writing, performing, and teaching for over a decade.
Above all else, I believe in the following:
Transparency
Knowledge should not be gatekept. I believe in telling writers the truth about the professional literary world, from how much money you can make in this field to non-traditional paths available to you as a writer.
Justice
I prioritize teaching and studying writers who are not famous, writers without MFAs, self-published writers, queer & trans Black and Indigenous writers, and writers whose books are out of print or have been largely ignored by the literary mainstream.
Accessibility
As a trained librarian, a core value of mine is that everyone deserves access to information. My online offerings are designed with accessibility in mind, including flexible frameworks for neurodivergent and disabled writers, and are priced according to my own access needs and limitations.
Compassion
No one is perfect and making mistakes is an important part of learning. I believe a good teacher makes room for students to be "first drafts" open to improvement. This world is oppressive enough to us all; we don't need to be unkind to ourselves and each other, too.
My journey
I found my voice as a teenager competing in local poetry slams and reading books about African American history. You could say I've always been interested in how art and historical research intersect. My first poems were about heartbreak, loneliness, and little-known facts about Black history. My best teachers have always been Southern Black women in my community who were full-time artists, teaching young writers how to be curious and responsible for our words.
Though I spent time in academia, I don't think of myself as an academic. Information belongs to everyone, which is why I've made it my mission to demystify creative writing and ethnic studies for anyone who wants to learn.
As a teacher, I encourage bravery and curiosity. Learning is supposed to help us grow as people, not punish us for not knowing something. My online classes, digital writing community, email newsletter, e-book resources, and social media tips are designed with one simple fact in mind: poetry (and history) is for everyone, no matter what structures of supremacy try to make you believe.
WORK WITH ME
You're in good company
Tianna Bratcher
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"Working with Ariana allowed me to release my insecurities about being a writer and wholly lean into the kind of artist I want to be. Her patience and affirmation was equally balanced with knowledge-sharing and writing exercises that strengthened my pen."
Karimi Ndwiga
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"In our mentorship, I appreciated how Ariana debunked common myths about poetry and the literary world. I feel so empowered to do things how they make sense to me and challenge myself outside of my own comfort zone."
Adria Quiñones
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"Ariana meets people where they are, with openness and humanity. She is extremely respectful of workshop members—of our agency, our intent; her advice is to help you move along the path that you choose."
