Lauren Brazeal Garza is the author of Gutter (YesYes Books, 2018), a memoir-in-verse that chronicles her homelessness as a teenager in Los Angeles. Her most recent chapbook, Santa Muerte, Santa Muerte: I Was Here, Release Me (Tram Editions, 2023) features fictional interviews with ghosts and other supernatural entities. She is the author of two additional chapbooks of short prose and poetry, Exuviae (Horseless Press, 2016) and Zoo for Well-Groomed Eaters (Dancing Girl Press, 2016). Lauren’s poetry, fiction, and essays often focus on poverty, trauma, and healing, and her work has appeared widely in publications like The Rumpus, Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, & Verse Daily.

Dr. Brazeal Garza is a graduate of Bennington College’s M.F.A program, with a degree in poetry, and earned her Ph.D. in Literature at UT Dallas with a focus on testimonial literature and narratives from marginalized voices. She teaches literature at the University of Texas at Dallas and often offers independently-led creative writing workshops at schools like Writing Workshops (partnered with Electric Lit) and The Hudson Valley Writer’s Center.

In addition to her scholarship, writing, and teaching, Lauren is a passionate community organizer. She is the creator and curator of the Lyceum Workshop Series through the Writer’s Garret in Dallas, which pairs publishing authors and creators with the Dallas community to offer FREE, university-quality writing workshops.

Lauren splits her time between Dallas and the green yonder of Texas's eastern forests.