Kaya Ortiz

About The Author

Kaya Ortiz is a queer Filipino poet of in/articulate identities and record-keeper of ancient histories. Kaya hails from the southern islands of Mindanao and Lutruwita/Tasmania. Their writing has appeared in Portside Review, Westerly, Australian Poetry Journal, Best of Australian Poems 2021 and After Australia (Affirm Press 2020). Kaya lives and writes on unceded Whadjuk Noongar Country, where their name means ‘hello’ in the Noongar language.

Books by Kaya Ortiz

Past & Parallel Lives

Winner of the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award

Time. Memory. Mirror. Past & Parallel Lives is a rippling reflection on being alien, queer, and other. These poems yearn for home and belonging after migration, religion, and coming out. Kaya Ortiz’s award-winning debut shines with authenticity...

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