Mae Verano is a queer, fat, Ilokano writer from the Bay Area. They are a two-time Pink Door Fellow and former member & assistant coach of the Brown University CUPSI team. Their work aims to unravel our understandings of tradition, canon, and empire - centering a return to community and to self. Mae's work can be found in the Offing, Caesura, Voicemail Poems & forthcoming.

Born and raised in East Side San Jose, Mae is dedicated to the suburban strip mall life. Outside of their writing, they spend their time tending to their plants, curating playlists for loved ones, and building their ever-growing earring collection.