Dena Rod is
a writer, editor, and poet based in the San Francisco Bay Area. A graduate of San Francisco State University, they have an M.A. in English Literature. Their debut poetry collection Scattered Arils is now out from Milk & Cake Press and in its fourth printing. Rod’s literary endeavors include curating poetry showcases, speaking on panels, and visiting classrooms for community engagement with a focus on queer and trans Iranian diaspora issues. They ran the RADAR Productions weblog, were the former Creative Nonfiction Editor at homology lit, on The Rumpus’ Features Team and the former Managing Editor of Argot Magazine, a Webby-nominated queer non-profit. In 2020, they were selected to tour with Sister Spit and debuted the chapbook swallow a beginning. They’re a fellow of RADAR Productions’ Show Us Your Spines Residency, Kearny Street Workshop’s Interdisciplinary Writer’s Lab, and Winter Tangerine’s Summer Writer’s Workshop.