Kayla Degala-Paraíso

Kayla (she/they) is a Filipina-American creative writing consultant and teacher at GrubStreet. She is also a social and economic justice activist, focusing on the intersection of labor, immigration, gender-based violence, and human rights. Blending the real and the mystical, her creative work often meditates on place, loss, and memory. Kayla’s writing has been published in [PANK] Magazine, Okay Donkey, ANMLY, and elsewhere; and has been nominated for the Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. When she is not writing, teaching writing, or doing research for the ACLU of Southern California, you can find Kayla hiking in the mountains of Southern California. As a returning Ocean Awareness Contest judge, Kayla is excited to witness youth art-activism for a fifth summer in a row.