Meliza Bañales

Meliza Banales or Meliza Bañales is a San Francisco based slam poet. She was born in Los Angeles and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Writing

She is the author of Say It With Your Whole Mouth (Monkey Book Press, 2003) and the forthcoming 51 Poems About Nothing At All. She has been involved in spoken-word and writing since 1996 and gained recognition for being the first Latina on the West Coast to win a poetry slam championship in 2002 (Oakland, CA). She was the 2002 winner of the People Before Profits Poetry Prize and she has work in Revolutionary Voices, Without A Net: The Female Experience of Growing-Up Working-Class, The First Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Change, Baby Remember My Name: New Queer Girl Writing, and Word Warriors. Her film, Do the Math, with award-winning director Mary Guzman was the 2006 winner of a Frameline Completion Grant and screened at Outfest 2007.

Awards and recognitions

• Winner, 2002 Poetry Slam Championship (Oakland, California)
• Winner, 2002 People Before Profits Poetry Prize
• Grant Recipient, Queer Cultural Center

Performance

She was one of the artists on tour with Sister Spit: The Next Generation (2007). She sometimes performs under the moniker "Missy Fuego". She was also a cast member in the 2008 Dark Room Theater production of The Ten Commandments: Live!.

Sources

• 2005, National Queer Arts Festival
• Say It With Your Whole Mouth (Monkey Book Press, 2003)
• Meliza Banales at the Internet Movie Database
• Darkroom SF: The Ten Commandments: Live!

External links

• Meliza Bañales on MySpace