r. (renée) kay is a queer trans poet currently in Western Massachusetts by way of Brooklyn, southern Appalachia and other beautiful, strange places. Their work can be found in Copper Nickel, HAD, Catapult, Glass, Yes Poetry, Bedfellows, the West Review and elsewhere and they’ve received support from Catapult and Tin House. In lieu of higher-ed, they've chosen an MFA of engagement and are grateful to have studied with Angel Nafis, Jay Desphande, Shira Erlichman, Paul Tran and others. They graduated from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Quantitative Methods in Economics and Math. Outside of poetry, they have over a decade of experience in product & service design. They currently serve as executive director at Brooklyn Poets and are at work on their debut poetry collection.