Karol Olesiak
Poet, Writer, Activist
Karol Olesiak is a queer disabled poet, writer, and activist. Karol’s work born out of the refugee experience climaxes in the carnivalesque afterglow of transcendent phenomenon prescriptive for trauma straddling the intersection between crip theory and social justice. Karol is one of the founders of www.soldiersforthecause.org, an affinity group for Occupy Wall Street and antiwar blog. Karol’s poetic career started in Harrisburg, PA at the Heavy Word Poetry Slam in 2000. In 2010 while in New York using the post 9/11 GI Bill to attend Eugene Lang, Karol headlined the Bowery Poetry Club. Karol’s poetic work is featured or forthcoming in Rogue Agent Journal, Neologism Poetry, MAI Feminism, Proud to Be, Zoetic, Lone Mountain Literary, Sugar House, Fifth Wheel Press, and Pictura Journal. Karol’s poetry collection Cold War Kids, coauthored by Jakub Olesiak, is published through Barnes & Noble Press. Karol is Wheeler Prize semifinalist, a Saturnalia Books semifinalist, a Moonstone Chapbook finalist, has a Pushcart Nomination and an MFA from University of San Francisco. Karol has two forthcoming chapbooks: The Airplane Game from Moonstone Press & Saturday Morning Crusades from Finishing Line Press.