hello, firefly.
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*gathering lights*
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About
Ashia Ajani (they/she) is a sunshower, a glass bead, a carnivorous plant, an overripe nectarine. Hailing from Denver, CO, Queen City of the Plains and the unceded territory of the Cheyenne, Ute and Arapahoe peoples, Ajani seeks to navigate material and theoretical landscapes of Black ecological encounters in the Western Hemisphere. Ajani’s writing has been featured in Orion Magazine, Sierra Magazine, Atmos, The Florida Review and Transition Magazine, among others. They are the author of one poetry collection Heirloom (Write Bloody Publishing, 2023) and a forthcoming work of nonfiction Tending the Vines (Timber Press, 2026).
C.V. available upon request.
Photo credits: Lara Kaur
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Selected Writing
Poetry
“Reincarnated: Indigo Milky Cap,” Orion Magazine, Summer 2025.
“concerning water,” Muzzle Magazine, Spring 2025.
“Skate,” “an accumulation of harms” Transition Magazine. T135: Species. 2024.
“Keystone,” Porter House Review. April 2024.
“What the Marabou Stork Taught Me About Writing in an Era of Mass Extinction and Waste,” Lithub. November 2023.
“porch.” Apogee Journal. Issue 16. Fall 2022.
“Chafing in Crown Heights,” and “The Aftermath of Sugar” ANMLY Lit. Issue 34; April 2022.
“cat’s cradle,” “Roaches Don’t Die (Remix)” Honey Literary Magazine. Issue 3; February 2022.
“Nameless.” Lumiere Review. Issue 07; December 2021.
“meditations on sweetness and other fruits.” Thimble Literary Magazine; Vol 4, No. 3. December 2021.
“Chromatic.” Hennepin Review. November Issue; 2021.
“when black people say “I’mma pray for you,” that is the prayer.” Exposition Review Vol. V. 2021
“Collards.” Frontier Poetry. 2020.
“Durag.” Southern Humanities Review 2020 Auburn Witness Poetry Prize Finalist. Issue 53.3
“Running.” World Literature Today, Black Voices. 2020
“Ode to Left Eye.” already felt. 2020; Vol. 1
“Landfill.” Foglifter Press. 2020; Volume 5, Issue 1: 32.
Journalism
“Rewilding the Garden.” Atmos Magazine. 2022.
“Nurturing the Net Generation.” Atmos Magazine. 2022.
“A Playlist for the End of the World.” Sierra Magazine. 2022. Print and online.
“In Praise of Dandelion and Ragweed.” Sierra Magazine. 2022.
“Writing a Queer Black Eco-Pleasure Politic.” Atmos Magazine. 2022.
“Dive Into a Vivid Novel About What It Means to Be a Queer Immigrant” Them. 2021.
“Akwaeke Emezi’s New Memoir Asks Us to See the Masks We Wear in the World.” Them. 2021.
Nonfiction
“Islands in the Sky.“ Adi Magazine. 2025.
“Bbymutha’s Cockroaches Symbolize Survival in the Face of Climate Crisis.” Them. 2021.
“Artificial Faith.” New Life Quarterly. Wolfman Books. 2019; Issue 6.
“Yet Another Poem About Denver.” Hopper Literary Magazine. 2017.
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*it’s okay to blink*
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“Ajani’s poems are tactile, textured, essential. Firmly wrought, they bear the weight of American history, the possibilities of hope, and the call for community. What a gift to spend time with this poet’s work.”
—Donika Kelly, Author of The Natural Order of Things
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Heirloom: Collected Poems
Write Bloody Publishing, April 18, 2023
Speaking from both a place of restoration and vengeance, Heirloom explores concepts of spiritual nourishment, physical and emotional sacrifice, environmental injustice, sexuality, waste colonialism and Black migration; these poems seek to address the trauma felt from environmental injustice and the familial wounds that are passed down as a result of historical neglect.
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