INA CARIÑO
POET
ABOUT
Originally from Baguio City in the Philippines, Ina Cariño is a 2022 Whiting Award winner for poetry. Their work appears in the American Poetry Review, the Margins, Guernica, Poetry Northwest, Poetry Magazine, the Paris Review Daily, New England Review, and elsewhere.
She is the winner of the 2021 Alice James Award for Feast, published by Alice James Books in March 2023. Their forthcoming collection Reverse Requiem is slated for publication in April 2026 (Alice James Books).
In 2019, Ina founded a poetry reading series called Indigena Collective, a platform that aims to center marginalized creatives in the NC community and beyond.
photo by Sass Art
FEAST
cover art by Clarisse Provido
praise for FEAST
“‘To be other is to read badly- / drawn maps,’ writes Ina Cariño, ‘to hum / with a revolutionary’s love song.’ I love the vividness of these poems, the language of the senses that’s so alive on each page of Feast. But these poems aren’t just beautiful, sensual lyrics. There is more at stake here. Cariño is a kind of poet who claims family and identity with style that’s akin to spell-making. ‘I dream in a tongue not my own’ the poet says—and we see it instantly: Here, even a simple act of cooking rice can become a ceremony, a rhapsody of liberation. All of this is done not with literary pretension but with vulnerability and honesty. If Ina Cariño says ‘names are spells,’ it is because this poet aims to write actual spells, and not just with the pen, but with breath: ‘I am the last spell, the only song left. deliberate utterance of bone’. Here, we are in presence of something special, I think. Bravo.”
“This book is not just a sensory feast, it’s a whole literary event—each poem full of candor and heart. It arrives dressed and dripping for a stunning, most spectacular debut!”
“Ina Cariño’s Feast is an astonishing book of poems and a stunning debut. Ravishing in its linguistic dexterity and imagistic layering, this book makes me realize how rare it is to read poems this fully embodied. How is any body meant to live in a world this brutal? And yet. How can we not reach towards its indescribable beauty and sustenance? In this book the body is broken and the body is nourished in equal measure. ‘I knew that much—that breaking can mean release.’ Held in the unrelenting clutches of historical and intimate violence, the urge towards personal and communal liberation is a formal and emotional imperative. I’m so excited for this book and this poet to usher us through such a timely and necessary portal.”
“…a lushly beautiful collection that follows a world populated by mothers and daughters, the food and plants that connect them, and their Filipinx culture and language.”
“We are hungry to understand our histories and our families in all their gluttony, temperance, and appetites. We want to know their stomach pangs, their favorite flavors, how they like to eat and how we can prepare that food for them. We are hungry for a poet who can put all this into words. Graciously inviting us through twilight and rain with the guidance of their balintataw, Ina Cariño provides us with this luscious, mystical, defiant Feast.”
“Cariño’s collection adeptly grapples with the tensions of existing in the United States as an immigrant and a queer person alongside the beauty of Filipino culture and lineage. Their debut feels boldly autobiographical, and Feast does not hesitate to use the physical body as a canvas to explore these themes. … There is no doubt that Ina Cariño is an important poet of our age, one who will not hesitate to share the stories they find in beautifully gripping detail.”
“One morning, I listened to ‘Everything is Exactly the Same as it Was the Day Before’ and extra-knew I needed to read Cariño’s extraordinary debut as soon as possible.”
“Feast relays various lush feasts of language and of food.”
“This astounding collection reminds me how often, our bodies sense these histories and traumas before our minds even begin processing.”
Feast appears in “13 New and Upcoming Poetry Collections to Pick Up if You’re Trying to Get into Poetry” at Buzzfeed
SELECTED WORKS
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“Tell Me You Love Me Without Telling Me You Love Me”
WHERE MEADOWS
“As if We are Both Still Children,” “you wash your hands”
FOGLIFTER JOURNAL VOLUME 9 ISSUE 1 (print)
“I can’t afford a whole universe”
THE MARGINS (ASIAN AMERICAN WRITERS’ WORKSHOP)
“Hands,” “Eat Before You Pray”
EUCALYPTUS LIT
“The Stomach is the Origin of All Ghosts”
THE RUMPUS: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH 2024
SPLIT LIP
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SPLIT THIS ROCK
“The Moon Could Never Love Me”
SWEET LITERARY
SOUTHERN CULTURES (DIGITAL), NO. 28, VOL. 4: MORAL/ECONOMIES
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“Self-Portrait as Foreign Body with Storm in My Lungs”, “Point to Home”
THE AMERICAN POETRY REVIEW VOL. 51, NO. 04 (JULY/AUGUST PRINT ISSUE)
“The Alchemy of Language: Ina Cariño on Naming, Claiming, and Protecting Ancestral Land”
LIT HUB
2 poems: “When a Woman is Ugly”, “Event Horizon”
THE MARGINS (ASIAN AMERICAN WRITING WORKSHOP)
“Naming the Silences in the Mouth”
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
“What is the Name of Your Survival?”
HONEY LITERARY
“my childhood is a country of thieves—”
POETRY NORTHWEST WINTER & SPRING PRINT ISSUE
“Yesterday’s Trauma, Today’s Salt”
MICHIGAN QUARTERLY REVIEW: MIXTAPE
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“when I say hello to the oldest apples”
GUERNICA
3 poems: “Intake”, “names are spells & I have four—”, “Dropout”
DIODE
POETRY NORTHWEST
“When They Gleam, When They Clatter”
TLDTD
2 poems: “Hibiscus Dream No. 4”, “Native Title”
POETRY MAGAZINE
SEPIA
2 poems: “I Sing Despite the Tender Stench Outside”, “My Body a Retelling”
DIAGRAM
THE PARIS REVIEW DAILY
“To the Boy Who Walks Backwards Everywhere He Goes”
ZOEGLOSSIA
APOGEE JOURNAL
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EX/POST MAGAZINE
best viewed on desktop
WILDNESS
2 poems: “Infinitives,” “Milk”
UNDERBLONG
5 poems: “It Feels Good to Cook Rice”, “Watch Animals Closely for Strange Behavior”, “Birthstone”, “Soiled”, “Triptych with Cityscape”
WAXWING MAG
best viewed on desktop
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NEW ENGLAND REVIEW 40.3
DUKE UNIVERSITY BLOG (RESPONSE TO ART EXHIBIT “SOUTHBOUND: PHOTOGRAPHS OF AND ABOUT THE NEW SOUTH”)
RHINO (REVIEW OF FORMER POSSESSIONS OF THE SPANISH EMPIRE BY MICHELLE PEÑALOZA)
“When I Sing to Myself, Who Listens?”
THE OXFORD REVIEW OF BOOKS, FEATURED POEM OF THE WEEK
BEST VIEWED ON DESKTOP
2 poems: “Snapshot of Girl with Galaxy of Spiders Drowning in Sopas”, “What Does the Little Death Feel Like Coming from a Woman?”
FUGUE
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RHINO
“‘my heart is unpronounceable:’ Tongue and Language as Heart, as Home”
ANOMALY (REVIEW OF THE BLUEST KALI BY SCHEREZADE SIOBHAN)
2 poems: “Theory of Nothing”, “I dream in a tongue other than my own”
TUPELO QUARTERLY TQ16
NAT. BRUT ISSUE 11 (BEYOND RESILIENCE FOLIO)
“Spam Stigma: An Open Letter to White People”
VIDA REVIEW (CREATIVE NONFICTION)
RALEIGH REVIEW 8.1
NEWS + EVENTS
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SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE READING (FACILITATED BY THE POET LAUREATE OF SLCC, BRENDA SIECZKOWSKI
Thursday, March 28 at 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Technology Building, TB 104 Auditorium 4600 S Redwood Rd, Taylorsville, UT 84123FOOD POETRY WORKSHOP AT FEATURE FLORA
Sunday, 3/24, 3:30PM - 5:30PM
$45 registration
Feature Flora, Downtown Raleigh, NC
ECHOES AND VISIONS READING SERIES (FACILITATED BY WOR-WIC COMMUNITY COLLEGE)
Monday, February 26th, 7:00 pm EST
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WEST END POETRY FESTIVAL CONVERSATION & READING
On Friday, Oct. 20, Carrboro Poet Laureate Liza Wolff-Francis will be in poetic conversation with Ina Cariño and Len Lawson at 7 pm at The ArtsCenter (400 Roberson St. Carrboro, NC 27510).
On Saturday, Oct. 21, Ina will read work from their debut collection Feast at 4:30 pm the Carrboro Century Center (100 N. Greensboro St. Carrboro, NC 27510).
The University of Hawai’i Center for Philippine Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, the Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature, Whitenoise Project and the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu cordially invite you to “Absences and Ancestors: An Afternoon with VA Poet Laureate, Emerita Dr. Luisa A. Igloria” on October 7, Saturday, 3:00-5:00pm at Ka Waiwai.
Accompanying our distinguished guest’s reading are performances featuring poets Ina Cariño, Jake Eduardo Vermaas, musicians Ryan Mercado, Paul Gabriel Cosme and Niño Villacastin.
Ina Cariño, an alumnus of the MFA Program at NC State, will read original poetry in Caldwell Hall on Oct. 10, 2023 at 7 pm. Free event open to the public.
SUNDRESS ACADEMY TRANS/NONBINARY WRITING RETREAT
June 9th-10th, 2023: Via Zoom.
All SAFTA retreats focus on generative writing, and this year’s retreat will also include the following craft talk sessions: “Queering the Lens: Trans Ekphrastic” and “The Poetics of Addiction: Imagery, Symbolism, and Juxtaposition in Writing Alcoholism.” The event will be open to trans and nonbinary writers of all backgrounds and experience levels and provide an opportunity to work with many talented authors and poets from around the country, including workshop leaders jason b. crawford and Remi Recchia and keynote speaker Ina Cariño.
OBSERVABLE READINGS: SHELLEY WONG & INA CARIÑO
Saint Louis Poetry Center’s Observable series celebrates its 20th season!
The Observable series features local and national poets sharing recently published and new work. Originally started in 2003 by poet Aaron Belz, Observable is a key part of the St. Louis poetry landscape, presenting the liveliness and diversity of contemporary poetry.
Series Curators: Dana Levin
SHELLEY WONG & INA CARIÑO
Friday, April 14
7:00 p.m. (CDT) – In-person at High Low + Livestream Event
$5 | suggested donationSHELLEY WONG is the author of As She Appears (YesYes Books), winner of the Pamet River Prize and longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award. She is a Kundiman and MacDowell fellow and lives in San Francisco.
Enjoy the livestream here.
Everything All at Once: Readings & Conversation with Four Alice James Books Poets
Ballroom 1, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 5
Friday, March 10, 2023
3:20 pm to 4:35 pmFour principal poets debut new collections from Alice James Books and discuss the expansive nature of storytelling in poems. Expressing individuality via internal and external landscapes; disabling hierarchies; examining lineage and familial influences; and uncovering how personal and collective histories collapse—and inform and obscure our memories, languages, and selves—the poets communicate collective visions of our myriad borders and query origins with an approach akin to transillumination. This event will be livestreamed. ASL interpretation and live captioning will be provided.
Panelists:
Joseph O. Legaspi (moderator)
Ina Cariño
Aldo Amparán
J. Estanislao Lopez
Janine Joseph
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN POET PANEL WITH ERIC TRAN AT UNC CHAPEL HILL’S ASIAN AMERICAN CENTER
April 22, 2022, 12-2 PM.
“In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, The Carolina Asia Center, Southeast Asian Approaches Carolina Seminar & UNC Asian American Center welcome NC poets Ina Cariño and Eric Tran to do a reading of their selected poetry and host a question and answer session. This event will be moderated by Trisha Remetir, a graduate student in the English and Comparative Literature Department.”
On April 6, the Whiting Foundation announced Ina as one of the winners of the annual Whiting Awards for 2022.
From the selection committee:
“The title of Ina Cariño’s debut poetry collection is Feast, and it is both evocation and instruction. Rich with ravishing imagery of flesh, sustenance, blood, rites of passage, and the ache of memory, these multilingual poems are both caressing and defiant. She reminds us that what tethers can also sever. Her work thrums with an ancient power like spells, or food-memories, placing the reader in a fever dream of observation and sensation.”
Advance praise for Feast:
"‘To be other is to read badly- / drawn maps,’ writes Ina Cariño, ‘to hum / with a revolutionary's love song.’ I love the vividness of these poems, the language of the senses that's so alive on each page of Feast. But these poems aren't just beautiful, sensual lyrics. There is more at stake here. Cariño is a kind of poet who claims family and identity with style that's akin to spell-making. ‘I dream in a tongue not my own’ the poet says—and we see it instantly: Here, even a simple act of cooking rice can become a ceremony, a rhapsody of liberation. All of this is done not with literary pretension but with vulnerability and honesty. If Ina Cariño says ‘names are spells,’ it is because this poet aims to write actual spells, and not just with the pen, but with breath: ‘I am the last spell, the only song left. deliberate utterance of bone’. Here, we are in presence of something special, I think. Bravo.”
— Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa
Click here for the full list of winners. Click here to preorder Feast from Alice James Books.
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FEATURED GUEST AT LOLA’S OPEN MIC HOSTED BY NCSU FASA
Thursday, Oct. 7, 6-8 pm at Hunt Library at NC State. Click for event info.
INA CARIÑO, RILEY RATCLIFF, AND CYANOTYPE AT THE OCTOPOD
Poetry + music outdoors @ the Octopod. Saturday, July 17, 8 pm. Click for event info.
92Y DISCOVERY POETRY CONTEST: THE JOAN LEIMAN JACOBSON POETRY PRIZES
The winners of this year's contest are Kenzie Allen, Ina Cariño, Mag Gabbert and Alexandra Zukerman. Each one receives a reading at 92Y, publication in The Paris Review Daily, a stay at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan and $500.
WRITERS ON THE RISE, HOSTED BY THE VERMONT STUDIO CENTER, SPONSORED BY THE RONA JAFFE FOUNDATION
Writers on the Rise is a spotlight reading series designed to uplift and amplify the diverse talent of a wide range of voices and creative visions.
Thursday, April 29, 7 pm ET. Register here for this event. A private Zoom link will be provided.
APIDArtists PANEL - NCSU
March 19, 2021, 7 pm
“Art and media have always been people’s way of escaping the harsh reality of life; however, some artists choose to use their art and their platforms to advocate and inspire during troubling times. Come join us on MARCH 19th, 7PM as we hold an intimate conversation with local APIDA creators about the meaning of their art, how their identity plays a role in creation, and what an audience should be aware of in their artforms. We will be welcoming poet Ina Cariño and podcasters/creators Kavya Kumar and Pooja Lenin to discuss some pressing questions about creators from a creator’s perspective.”
WORDS AS SYMBOLS, WORDS AS SPELLS - WORKSHOP WITH THE NC WRITERS’ NETWORK
March 11, 2021, 7 pm
2021 ALICE JAMES AWARD
From the statement from Alice James:
“Ina Cariño is Winner of the 2021 Alice James Award.
“We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2021 Alice James Award is Ina Cariño of Raleigh, NC for their manuscript, FEAST. They will receive $2,000 and their collection will be published in March 2023.”
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POWER TO THE POET, HOSTED BY NORTH CAROLINA ASIAN AMERICANS TOGETHER (NCAAT)
Live virtual reading: November 20th at 7 pm. Power to the Poet was a virtual poetry reading highlighting a panel of local BIPOC poets.
POETS RISE
Celebrate Women's Equality Day, with poetry! Wednesday, August 26, 2020, at 10:15 am to11:15 am PDT / 1:15 pm-2:15 pm EDT, featuring Grand Slam Champion & East Palo Alto native SevanKelee Boult, Indigena Collective founder Ina Cariño, U.S. Youth Poet Laureate Meera Dasgupta, Philadelphia vocussionist Bethlehem Roberson, San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck, Still Breathing Movement Inc CEO & poet Tynea Smith, and acclaimed poet & 2020 Community Builder Awardee Angelique N. Zobitz, hosted by San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto.
Register here.THE WEEKLY BOP (BITS OF POETRY)
Hosted by Nish Ahmed on Instagram Live (@theweeklybop).
Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 7:30 PM CST/8:30 PM EST.
POWER TO THE POETS: Poets of Color for Change
June 11, 2020, 5:00 PM PST/8:00 PM EST
Via Facebook Live (this event will appear as a post on this page, under the DISCUSSION tab). Watch the full recording here.
Hosts: Aileen Cassinetto (San Mateo) & Raymond Tyler (Atlantic City) -
INDIGENA COLLECTIVE
In December of 2019, Ina started the Indigena Collective—a new community reading series and project centering marginalized creatives.
POETRY READING: CARIÑO, DENTZ, HARRISON, LUCYSHYN, AND TEDESCO
Hosted by So & So Books, 704 N Person St, Raleigh, NC 27604.
Saturday, July 13, 2019 at 7 PM EST.
Readers: Ina Cariño, Shira Dentz, Aimee Harrison. Richard Lucyshyn, Adam Tedesco
2019 KUNDIMAN RETREAT
In June, Ina attended the Kundiman summer retreat in New York City. Kundiman is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature.
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LITTLE CORNER READING SERIES, DEC. 1, 2018
“EXCESS WOMEN”
On Saturday Dec. 1, 2019, Ina read at Duke Coffeehouse in Durham, NC with Dorothea Lasky and Jessica Q. Stark as part of the Little Corner Reading Series.
See article in Indy Week here.
CREATE, or DIE. HOPSCOTCH DAY PRINT PARTY, SEPT. 7, 2018, 4 PM, WICKED WITCH RALEIGH
CREATE, or DIE. is a tri-city traveling print party showcasing art projects that enabled a path of expressive mental and social healing for the creator under moments of life where there was nothing to lose but to create. Ticket buyers and at the door participants will get the opportunity to join this process by live printing your own poster, designed by the organizers! Our goal is to empower others to create and express themselves by whatever means necessary, and support the causes in their cities that are enabling this process
