Arisa White

Poet Arisa White combines poetry, queer studies, Black studies, and the performing arts in expansive and interdisciplinary ways. Since arriving at Colby, she has published three prize-winning books: the illustrated children’s book Biddy Mason Speaks Up, the hybrid memoir Who’s Your Daddy?; and the edited anthology Home is Where You Queer Your Heart. She has also published many poems in top-tier magazines, anthologies, and online sites, and she has written and performed plays and choreo-poems. 

She has served as the faculty liaison for the arts, helping to build Colby’s new Arts Office and connect it to local schools and the arts community. Additionally, she has facilitated community discussions with other artists and writers and was instrumental in planning the first Maine Lit Fest. She has judged poetry competitions and led poetry workshops, often seeking to amplify marginalized voices, and has facilitated two workshops with incarcerated women.

White joined Colby in 2018 following the completion of her M.F.A. in English (poetry) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her B.A. in creative writing and literature from Sarah Lawrence College.