About

traci kato-kiriyama (they+she; based on unceded Tongva land in the south bay of Los Angeles) --author of Navigating With(out) Instruments (Writ Large Press)-- is an award-winning multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, community organizer, and audiobook narrator.

As a storyteller and Artivist, tkk is grounded in collaborative process, collective self-determination, and art+community as intrinsically tied and a critical means toward connection and healing. She is a performer & principal writer of PULLproject Ensemble, two-time NET recipient; NEFA 2021-22 awardee for their show TALES OF CLAMOR. 

tkk —presented in hundreds of venues for over 25 years as a writer, actor, poet, speaker, guest lecturer, facilitator, Artist-in-Residence, and organizing / arts & culture consultant— has come to appreciate a wildly hybrid career (presenters incl. LaMaMa Cabaret; The Smithsonian; Skirball Cultural Center; EnWave Theatre; The Getty; Hammer Museum; Grand Performances; Whisky a Go Go; Hotel Cafe; House Of Blues; and countless universities, arts spaces, and community centers across the country).  Their writing, commentary, and work is also featured in a wide swath of media and print publications (incl. NPR; PBS; C-SPAN; Los Angeles Review of Books; Elle.com; Entropy; Chaparral Canyon Press; Tia Chucha Press; Bamboo Ridge Press; Heyday Books; Regent Press; Temple University Press).

tkk is a core artist with Vigilant Love; founding member of the Okaeri Nikkei LGBTQ+ Network; a principal organizer of the National Nikkei Reparations Coalition and Nikkei Progressives/NCRR; and serves as the Director/Co-Founder of Tuesday Night Project - presenter of the Tuesday Night Cafe series, which will soon celebrate 25 years as the longest-running Asian American public arts series in the country.

Additional fun facts!

  • tkk’s work and their book Navigating With(out) Instruments are being taught in contemporary literatures & cultures, contemporary poetry, Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies courses, and senior writing seminars on experimental poetry and creative writing (incl. UCLA; CSUN; Fresno State; Colorado College; USC; Smith College).

  • traci is an Audie Award nominee and AudioFile winner for her work as an audiobook performer, with titles including The Memory Police; Temple Alley Summer; The Fervor; Intimacies; The Swimmers; The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World; Fred Korematsu Speaks Up!; and the upcoming Kurashi At Home by Marie Kondo. 

  • As a creative/educator - tkk has facilitated, directed, and taught to thousands of artists, activists, writers, students of all ages throughout the globe with workshops in the arenas of experimental creative writing, poetry, collaborative storytelling, ensemble building, theatre devising & performance – on themes and issues including art & activism, solidarity work for the long-haul, mental health and collective care, arts organizing & cultural production / co-creating art+community space – (to name a few of tkk’s hosts: UH Manoa; Pitzer College; Pomona College; Asian Arts Initiative in Philly; Asian Arts Freedom School in Toronto; Hammer Museum; KYCC; SIPA; KRC-NAKASEC; Okaeri; Asian Youth Center; SEACA; Khmer Girls in Action; Sakura Foundation; Grand Park).

SHORT BIO (for use in introductions):  

traci kato-kiriyama (they+she), author of Navigating With(out) Instruments--based on unceded Tongva land in the south bay of Los Angeles-- is an award-winning multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary artist, recognized for their work as a writer/performer, theatre deviser, cultural producer, and community organizer. As a storyteller and Artivist, tkk is grounded in collaborative process, collective self-determination, and art+community as intrinsically tied and a critical means toward connection and healing. She is a performer & principal writer for PULLproject Ensemble, two-time NET recipient; NEFA 2021-22 finalist for their show TALES OF CLAMOR.  tkk —presented for over 25 years in hundreds of venues throughout North America as a writer, actor, poet, speaker, guest lecturer, facilitator, Artist-in-Residence, and organizing / arts & culture consultant— has come to appreciate a wildly hybrid career (w/ presenters incl. LaMaMa Cabaret; Enwave Theatre; The Smithsonian; The Getty; Skirball Cultural Center; and Hammer Museum, to Zero Gravity; Grand Park; Whisky a Go Go; Hotel Cafe; House Of Blues Foundation Room; and countless universities, arts spaces, and community centers across the country).  Their work is also featured in a wide swath of media and print publications (incl. NPR; PBS; Elle.com; Entropy; Chapparal Canyon Press; Tia Chucha Press; Bamboo Ridge Press; Heyday Books; Regent Press).

tkk is a core artist of Vigilant Love, member of the H.R. 40 Coalition and organizer with the Nikkei Progressives & NCRR joint Reparations Committee, and Director/Co-Founder of Tuesday Night Project (presenter of the Tea & Letterwriting initiative and Tuesday Night Cafe series in Little Tokyo).


tkk is especially excited to do a reading, talk and workshop near you - as author of the upcoming Navigating With(out) Instruments - a book of poetry, micro essays and Notes To Self (releasing December 2021; The Accomplices/Writ Large Press)

traci according to R. Scott Okamoto:

traci is easily one of the most recognizable and accomplished artists and educators in the API community in Los Angeles and beyond, but as anyone who knows her will point out, she is so much more than her accomplishments. Friends and colleagues would describe her as a visionary, a teacher, a bridge, a mentor, an activist, an organizer, an encourager, a muse, and an artist in every sense of the word. She is certainly all these things, and she has created a community that brings people together as learners, as audiences, and participants. Being a part of traci’s community is being connected to virtually every part of the Asian American experience. As a nerdy English professor at a ridiculously conservative university, I am connected, through traci, to musicians, poets, actors, and queer hip hop artists in the API community here in Los Angeles. I attend poetry, music and art nights on Tuesdays and spoken word shows throughout the year, all because traci makes them happen. Knowing traci, even knowing about traci, is being connected to the heart of the API community in Los Angeles.

Any one of her endeavors would make for a legacy to be proud of. As a founding member of the spoken word supergroup, Zero3, traci is a stunning writer and performer. As the director/creator of Tuesday Nights at the Café, traci is the brains, the organization, and the heart and soul of Los Angeles’ premier space for API artistic expression. As an educator working in the university setting as Artist-in-Residence for Pomona College’s Asian American Resource Center, or in the community working with middle school and high school students, traci is a muse, facilitating the creative process to people at all levels of development. And as a writer for many Asian American publications, a producer and actor for theater groups, or a blue wig-wearing performance artist at a Chinatown jam session, traci continually pushes the boundaries of art, expression, and identity. For everyone in the community, whether close friend or fan of her work, traci inspires us, challenges us, and brings us together with her art and her projects which are simply too numerous to list in this space.

And so we arrive at this latest project, which seems so intuitively right for traci: A collection of poems. In truth, all of traci’s work has poetry as its foundation. A keen eye for truth, nuance, the sublime, and the natural marks everything she does. And while the artist is never far removed from her art, here we have traci’s most personal work to date. The community which Traci has fostered and nurtured for so long, will now get an intimate glimpse into her life. I could not be happier for us all.

R. Scott Okamoto
Assistant Professor of English
Azusa Pacific University