Tzynya Pinchback is a disabled mermaid, writing the Black woman body in nature, in illness, and joy as a deliberate act. Her chapbook, “How to make pink confetti”, was selected for the 2012 Dancing Girl Press reading series for women poets, and her poetry has appeared in various print and online publications. She is a 2024 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, and has received fellowships/residencies from The Cordial Eye Gallery & Artist Space, Roots.Wounds.Words, and VONA.  Tzynya was a finalist for the inaugural post of Plymouth Poet Laureate in 2020, and works as a full-time technical writer, and advocates for health equity and policy.