Lauren Brazeal Garza is the author of Gutter (YesYes Books, 2018), a memoir-in-verse that chronicles her homelessness as a teenager in Los Angeles. Her newest chapbook, Santa Muerte, Santa Muerte: I Was Here, Release Me (Tram Editions, 2023) features fictional interviews with ghosts and other supernatural entities. She is the author of two additional chapbooks of short prose and poetry, Exuviae (Horseless Press, 2016) and Zoo for Well-Groomed Eaters (Dancing Girl Press, 2016). Lauren’s poetry, fiction, and essays often focus on poverty, trauma, and healing, and her work has appeared in journals such as Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, Verse Daily, Barrelhouse & Diagram.
Lauren is a graduate of Bennington College’s M.F.A program, with a degree in poetry, and is preparing to graduate with a Ph.D. in Literature at UT Dallas with a focus on testimonial literature and narratives from marginalized voices. Her dissertation, titled Texan Gothic: A Creative Exploration of Marginalization, Haunting, and Healing in Texas, features her recently completed literary horror novel, which was inspired by her experiences as a queer woman living in poverty after she aged out of the foster system.
Lauren taught literature and creative writing at the University of Texas at Dallas from 2020-2024 as part of her Ph.D. fellowship. Now that she’s preparing to graduate as Dr. Brazeal Garza, she’s moved into private practice, earning a living as a full-time writer while offering independently-led creative writing workshops at schools like Writing Workshops (partnered with Electric Lit), The Hudson Valley Writer’s Center, and The International Women’s Writing Guild.
In addition to her writing and teaching, Lauren is a passionate activist and community organizer. She was the founder and president of Fundación Warepo Beye, a non-profit organization that provided emergency medicine, medical supplies, and vital provisions to indigenous Waorani communities in crisis in Amazonian Ecuador during the COVID pandemic. She’s also the creator and curator of The Lyceum Workshop Series at the Dallas-area literacy and literary nonprofit, The Writer’s Garret, which offers no-cost workshops led by emerging Dallas-area authors with an interest in teaching.
Short Bio:
Lauren Brazeal Garza is the author of three short books of poetry and fiction in addition to her memoir-in-verse, Gutter, which chronicles her homelessness as a teenager. Her most recent project, a literary horror novel, was inspired by her experiences as a queer woman living in poverty after she aged out of the foster system. She earned her M.F.A in creative writing from Bennington College, and is preparing to graduate with her Ph.D. in Literature from The University of Texas at Dallas with a specialty in testimonial literature and narratives from marginalized voices. She regularly offers creative writing workshops at independent writing schools like Writing Workshops (partnered with Electric Lit), Hudson Valley Writer’s Center, and The International Women’s Writing Guild.
Lauren Brazeal Garza 