Faculty

Born in Toronto, J. Mae Barizo is an poet, librettist and artist who works at the intersection of poetics, media and performance. She is the author of three books of poetry: Cloud Pantoums (2027) chosen for the Jean Valentine Series, Tender Machines (2023) and The Cumulus Effect (2015). Becoming Hybrid, her book on transdisciplinary and literary theory is forthcoming in the Poets on Poetry series at University of Michigan Press. Pink Noise, a book of hybrid essays on John Cage and the poetics of sound was a finalist for the Graywolf Nonfiction Prize and the 2023 Megaphone Prize. Her work has been anthologized in books published by Simon & Schuster, W.W. Norton, Atelier Editions and Harvard University Press.

An advocate of hybrid work, she has collaborated with artists such as Salman Rushdie, Mark Morris and the American String Quartet. In 2024, she was an artist resident at Baryshnikov Arts Center. "Cloud Variations" her monodrama for performer and chamber orchestra had its world premiere at 2025 at Carnegie Hall, presented by The Knights. As a maker of theatre work, her dramas have been premiered worldwide and she was the inaugural recipient of Opera America's IDEA residency, given to artists who have the potential to shape the future of opera. She has been commissioned by organizations such as Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera Saratoga and Princeton University. She is the recipient of fellowships and awards from the MAP Fund, Bennington College, Mellon Foundation, Critical Minded and Poets House.

Books

Cloud Pantoums (Poetry, Alice James Books, 2027)

Becoming Hybrid (Nonfiction, University of Michigan Press, 2027)

Tender Machines (Poetry, Tupelo Press, 2023)

The Cumulus Effect (Poetry, Four Way Books, 2015)

Anthologies

Poetry is Not a Luxury (Simon & Schuster)

Renga For Obama (Harvard University Press)

The Kiss (W.W. Norton)

Publications

Academy of American Poets, The Atlantic, Book Forum, Boston Review, Esquire, Los Angeles Review of Books, Iowa Review, NYLON, Ploughshares, Poetry, Poetry Northwest, among others.