nicole v basta is a poet with proud familial roots in the coal mines and garment factories of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Her poetry, art practices, and teaching practice are rooted in wild making, not academics, and connected to the traditional sense of resourcefulness of her ancestors. That being said, she creates with the blessings of sacred uselessness and is actively decolonizing her idea of success.
Her poems have found homes in places like Ploughshares, The North American Review, Third Coast, The Cortland Review, Best New Poets 2023, Waxwing, RHINO, Plume, Ninth Letter, etc. nicole’s first chapbook V was chosen by Rigoberto González as the winner of The New School's Annual Contest and her second chapbook the next field over was published by Tolsun Books in 2022. She is also a a community educator, arts event’s producer, a visual artist, the co-founder of Say Yes Electric Collective (2015-2018), and a fierce lover of the wild. nicole has collaborated with musicians, dancers, architects, sculptors etc. and her work has been generously supported by Monson Arts, the Saltonstall Foundation, Art Farm Nebraska, Terra Cultura, Community Arts Partnership., The New York State Council on the Arts, and Poets & Writers.