Anis Mojgani was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is the author of five books of poetry, most recently In the Pockets of Small Gods (Write Bloody Publishing, 2018). He also wrote the libretto for the opera Sanctuaries (Third Angle Music, 2021), which revolves around the gentrification and displacement of North Portland and the African Diaspora. In 2021, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship while serving as Oregon's 10th Poet Laureate. A two-time National Poetry Slam Individual Champion and a winner of the international World Cup Poetry Slam. He lives in Portland, OR.