About

Kay E. Bancroft (they/them) is a queer non-binary writer, poet, educator, and artist based in Cincinnati, OH. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing — Poetry from Randolph College, and a BA in Rhetoric and Professional Writing from the University of Cincinnati.

They have facilitated workshops and conversations across the country—both virtually and in-person—recently at Hudson Valley Writers’ Center, Sarabande Books Zine Lunch, The Mercantile Library, the Elliston Poetry Room, Sundress Academy for the Arts, The Poetry Club, and elsewhere. In 2024, they were accepted to and attended the Tin House Winter Workshop to work on their second manuscript of poetry.

Their poems, interviews, and reviews can be found in Pleiades Journal, RHINO Poetry, Spillway Magazine, Passengers Journal, Honey Literary, GASHER, Moist Literary Journal, Voicemail Poems, Hooligan Magazine, Longleaf Review, Cotton Xenomorph, The Rumpus, and elsewhere.

In 2024 their poem Is This Bowling Ball Dancing Around My Decolletage an Odd Accessory? was named as a finalist for RHINO Poetry’s Founder’s Prize. In 2023 their debut poetry manuscript Bloodroom was named as a finalist for the Sundress Publications Open Reading Period. Additionally, they were a finalist Best of the Net 2023 nominated by Longleaf Review. In 2021 they were nominated for Best of the Net by Cotton Xenomorph, and were longlisted for the Penrose Poetry Prize for LGBTQ+ writers hosted by Death Rattle Writers Fest.

Previously they have served as a poetry and hybrid reader for Longleaf Review, Poetry reader for Frontier Poetry; and Lead Copy Editor, Poetry Reader, and Marketer for Revolute Lit. Additionally, they have worked as a Teaching Artist for WordPlay Cincy. They were the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Coalesce Zine, which dissolved in 2020.

Short Bio

Kay E. Bancroft (they/them) is a queer non-binary writer, poet, editor, educator, and artist based in Cincinnati, OH. They hold an MFA in Poetry from Randolph College, and a BA from the University of Cincinnati. You can find their writing in Pleiades Journal, RHINO Poetry, Passengers Journal, Hooligan Magazine, The Rumpus, & more. Explore more at kayebancroftpoet.com