Kay E. Bancroft (they/them) is a poet, editor, 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.

Their debut poetry collection, Bloodroom, is out now from Sundress Publications, and was a finalist for the 2025 Alice James Book Award.

They have facilitated workshops and conversations across the country—both virtually and in-person—recently at Sundress Academy for the Arts, Hudson Valley Writers’ Center, Sarabande Books Zine Lunch, The Mercantile Library, the Elliston Poetry Room, The Poetry Club, and elsewhere. Their writing has been supported by the Sewanee Writer’s Conference and the McCormack Writing Center Workshop (formerly Tin House Writing Workshop).

Their writing can be found in Poet Lore, 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.