About Cai

Cai (he/him) is a black trans poet, teaching artist, and archivist with roots in Boston, Massachusetts.

He received his undergraduate degree from Smith College, where he helped establish the Weaving Voices Archives, documenting the history of student activism on campus. Upon graduation, he was the recipient of both the Ida B. Wells Prize for Distinguished Work in Africana Studies and the Emily Babcock Poetry Prize.

A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee, Cai’s poems can be found in Best New Poets, swamp pink, and Peach Mag, among others. His work centers Black transmasculine life, past and present, in the United States. He has found homes at The Watering Hole, Brooklyn Poets, Tin House, and LAMBDA, and is a member of both the Crossroads Writers Collective and Trans Corner Poets. His debut chapbook, Out of Yearning, is set to be released in October 2026 by Sibling Rivalry Press.