Description

By Cassi Nesmith

From the second collective of ChapLip Library selectees, Cassi is a multifaceted writer, poet, and educator based in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Her diverse professional background includes roles as a legislative intern, behavior therapist for autistic children, barista, Special Education high school teacher, and a member of the Youth Conservation Corps in Yosemite National Park.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on English and Spanish. Cassi also completed a language and culture certificate at The Institute of Spanish and Language Culture in Costa Rica and holds a credential from San Francisco State University to teach students with mild to moderate disabilities.

Cassi has received notable recognition for her work, including a fellowship from Tuleburg Press and participation in the Sligo Scholars Program, where she studied at the Yeats International Summer School in Sligo, Ireland. Her poetry has been featured in various publications, including Center of Attention: Poems on Stockton and San Joaquin, Poet’s Espresso Review, the Sligo Review, Begin Again, and the 2024 California Writers Club anthology, The Smalls. She also created and published her own ‘zine, Play and Tattle.