Ariana Francesca is a multitalented writer, poet, and performer originally from Jonesboro, Georgia. You may recognize her from appearances on Netflix’s Strong Black Lead, America’s Next Top Model, The Kennedy Center, HistoryMakers’ An Evening With Nikki Giovanni, and other international stages and platforms.
Ariana Francesca’s work seamlessly blends poetry across various mediums, including stage, copywriting for advertising/marketing, film, audio, and other intriguing intersections. Her work excavates and reimagines the interconnectedness of Black womanhood, spirit, and epic memory.
Ariana was honored by Southern Humanities Poetry Prize for her poem “Slingshots for Cowboy Astronauts.” Most recently, her work has been published in Burrow Press, TriQuaterly, Root Work Journal, Jelly Bucket Press, and is forthcoming elsewhere.
Ariana steers the Atlanta Youth Poet Laureate program at VOX ATL, working with the next generation of poets, leaders, and change-makers. She believes poetry is more than art—it’s truth-telling, culture-shaping, and a way to imagine the future we want to live in. Her work is featured or forthcoming in Burrow Press, Jelly Bucket Magazine, and elsewhere.
