Tian Sanchez-Ballado (he/him) is a queer Cuban-Puerto Rican double-doctoral scholar, educator, musician, and poet. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance. He is completing a PhD in Music Education at Florida State University, where he teaches future music educators as agraduate teaching assistant and conducts for the Tallahassee Youth Orchestras. His research explores string pedagogy, cognition, and trauma-informed teaching-and so does his poetry. Tian's writing lives at the intersection of softness and survival, reverence and irreverence. His debut collection, Baby Back Bitch, is a trauma mixtape in four acts-part confessional, part comedy set, part literary exorcism. His poems have been called "grief bangers with punchlines" and "softness with a spine." When he's not writing, teaching, or spiraling in imposter syndrome, Tian is probably ugly-crying to Sufjan Stevens, contemplating the theology of Lady Gaga, or drafting his next book at a local indie bookstore. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his husband and a cat who judges him appropriately.