Patricia Aya Williams

Patricia Aya Williams grew up in San Jose, CA. She is a Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Prize recipient, Pushcart Prize nominee, and Steve Kowit Poetry Prize finalist. Her microchap Haiku for Parents was published in 2020 by Origami Poems Project. Her work has appeared in Santa Clara Review, The Good Life Review, Dunes Review, San Diego Poetry Annual, Writers Resist, and elsewhere. She is also a visual artist, creating images using her iPhone and mobile art apps. She has been a member of North Country Photographic Society for several years and participated in several exhibits there and elsewhere, winning recognition for her work. Her photography is currently on view as part of the Wordscapes exhibition at Inspirations Gallery, a program of San Diego Writers, Ink. Visit her at http://beingpatricia.com

To be human is to connect, to share stories, to create meaning.

Through both photography and poetry, I seek to explore this impulse by noticing what is often overlooked—the odd, the old, the ordinary. To marvel in the small moment, respect the Japanese idea of “ichigo ichie”—once in a lifetime.

One of the hardest tasks of my Life Journey is grappling with finitude and loss. Endings are built into life. How to reconcile this? How to navigate the paradox? The only way I know is to connect emotionally with other living beings. To share stories—of joy, of despair, and everything in between. To create meaning out of my own engagement with life.

On a technical note: my chosen photographic portal and tool for both shooting and editing images is the iPhone. Spontaneity and portability are essential to my practice.

CA

USA