Kristin Naca

Naca grew up in northern Virginia.[1] She has a B.A. from the University of Washington, an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh,[2] and a Ph.D. in English from University of Nebraska.[3]

Her poems have appeared in Poetry,[4] ART PAPERS[5] Bloom, Harpur Palate,[6] Indiana Review, Prairie Schooner,[7] Octopus Magazine,[8] Seattle Review, Poetry Northwest, and Rio Grande Review.

Naca is a member of the prestigious Macondo Writers Workshop, the workshop founded by Sandra Cisneros.

She served as Writer In Residence with Minnesota Prison Writing Workshops.[9] She lives in Minneapolis.[8]

In 2015, Naca was fired from her position as an Assistant Professor of Poetry at Macalester College due to alleged sexual misconduct reported by a former student.[10][11][12] Naca sued Macalester in 2016, arguing that her firing was for discriminatory reasons, due to a disability and her status as a woman, a lesbian, a Filipina and Puerto Rican, and a Santeria priestess.[13][14] In 2018, the judge in the case cleared Macalester of wrongdoing in the dismissal.[13][15] On January 16, 2020, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's dismissal of the lawsuit, holding that "[e]ven assuming Naca made a prima facie case, this court concludes, on de novo review, that Macalester articulates a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for termination—her sexual relationship with Doe—that Naca does not counter with sufficient evidence of pretext".[16]

• mtvU National Poetry Series Prize. selected by Yusef Komunyakaa[17]
• 2008 National Poetry Series
• Lannan Residency Fellowship
• Bread Loaf Fellowship
• Hedgebrook women writers in residence program on Whidbey Island[18]

• "Baptism", The Blind Chatelaine's Keys
• "One Foot". Prairie Schooner. Spring 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-06-12. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
• Bird Eating Bird. HarperCollins. 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-178234-3., a Lambda Literary Award Finalist in 2010[3]