Arlene Biala (she/her) is a Pinay poet and performance artist born in San Francisco, CA and raised in the South Bay. She has been participating in poetry performances and workshops in the Bay Area for more than 30 years, and was poet laureate of Santa Clara County in 2016 and 2017. She is the author of several collections of poetry: bone, continental drift, and her beckoning hands, which won the 2015 American Book Award. Her latest book, one inch punch, was published in 2019. Biala’s work centers on stories of family: generations who have left their native lands to live in diaspora, particularly those from the Philippines. She writes poetry to serve as a witness; to create space for recognition and dialogue toward healing.