Nikolai Garcia grew up in South Central Los Angeles; currently works with homeless youth in East Hollywood; and has been sleeping in Compton for the last fifteen years. His poems have been published in various journals and anthologies, and his first chapbook, Nuclear Shadows of Palm Trees, was released by DSTL Arts last fall. He’s a member of the Coleman Collective, and Assistant Editor for Dryland, a literary arts journal born in South Central Los Angeles.