Author of A Church Beneath the Bulldozer (2014), Kush Thompson is a Chicago-born poet, artist, educator, rememberer, and fellow of Pink Door, Luminarts, & Cave Canem. She creates archival art; centering often on girlhood, black feminine identity politics, and the mechanics of memory, debuting her portraiture series, Blk Hottie in 2016. Voted runner-up best local poet of 2014 by Chicago Reader, 2015 Young Futurist by The Root, & a long-time celebrated educator of Young Chicago Authors, Thompson's contributed over a decade of performances and creative writing workshops, both nationally and internationally. As an organizer, Kush co-curated The Lady Church – a series of monthly workshops and annual showcases for women & femmes and briefly served as organizing & chapter co-chair of Black Youth Project 100 Chicago. Her work has appeared in Poetry Magazine, Chicago Reader, The Washington Post & The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop (2015).

like outside (august, 2018) ✿ young chicago authors