Leo L. Williams (b. Miami, FL)
is an MFA student in the Creative Nonfiction program at The University of New Mexico. In the Summer of 2021, they participated in the Tin House Summer Writing Workshop. Outside of writing, they're interested in food, fermentation, oral histories, graphic design, and collaborative multidisciplinary art projects. Their work has been featured in Sinking City and The Florida Review.
Education
The University of New Mexico
MFA Student in Creative Nonfiction, expected 2024
The University of New Mexico
MA Student in American Studies, 2020-2021
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
BFA, 2014
Central Saint Martins - University of the Arts London
Contemporary Art Seminar, 2011
Writing
“Searching for Scorpio Rising.” Sinking City. 2022.
“While We’re Inside.” The Florida Review. 2022. (forthcoming)
“El Rey De Las Fritas.” Miami Grubs. O, Miami. 2021.
“fermenting archives: microbial matter as history holder,” in Lauren Fournier (ed.), fermenting feminism: hunter’s moon. Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology. 2021.
“body-map,” in Sevilla Writers House Zine - Myth & Memory: Writing Family Stories. June 2020.
“How to Make Wine on the South Side,” South Side Weekly. October 2019.
“The Annual South Side Grape Sale,” South Side Weekly. October 2019.
Experience
University of New Mexico
Core Writing Program
Albuquerque, NM; Instructor
August 2021 - Present
University of New Mexico
Religious Studies Program
Albuquerque, NM; Teaching Assistant
January 2021 - May 2021
University of New Mexico
Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Albuquerque, NM; Grader
August 2020 - December 2020
University of New Mexico
LGBTQ Resource Center
Albuquerque, NM; Project Assistant
August 2020 - December 2020
Poetry Foundation
Chicago, IL; Events Assistant
August 2018 - July 2020
The University of Chicago
Fab Lab - Chicago, IL; Fab Lab Assistant
January 2019 - September 2019
South Side Weekly
Chicago, IL; Journalist
July 2018 - May 2020
cornerstore
Art Exhibition Space; Director and Founder
May 2015—April 2017
Trainings & Awards & Residencies
2022
Land Arts of The American West; Lannan Foundation Scholarship
GPSA Professional Development Grant; Albuquerque, NM.
Outstanding New Instructor Award in Core Writing; University of New Mexico
Russo Travel Scholarship Award by the English Department of the University of New Mexico
Adobe Digital Literacy Innovation Award; University of New Mexico
2021
Tin House Craft Intensive with Kim Fu, Online via Zoom
Tin House Summer Workshop, Online via Zoom (July 2021)
GPSA Professional Development Grant; Albuquerque, NM
Oral History Summer Funding Grant; Albuquerque, NM
2020
Myth & Memory: Writing Family Stories with K-Ming Chang, Sevilla Writers House, Online via Zoom
Honing Bodily Intuition with iele paloumpis, Movement Research Winter MELT, New York, NY
2019
RadarSofia; Sofia, Bulgaria
Flood’s Hall; Chicago, IL
Oral History Projects
“Choosing Names: An Oral History Project,” interviews conducted by Leo Williams & Eleonora Edreva, August 2nd-9th, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Online archive forthcoming.
“Grief Work with the Philly Death Doula Collective: An Oral History Project,” interview by Leo Williams on March 25th, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, Albuquerque, NM.
Group Exhibitions
2022
Tasty Projections, Gamis
Glasgow, Scotland
Ferments, Family, Kinship, Home, Images Festival
Toronto, CA
Confluence: Tracing Water Through Creative Exchange,” Bacheci Open Space Albuquerque, NM
2021
Permission to Rest: A one-night exhibiton, A Garden (Outside the Albuquerque Art Museum)
Albuquerque, NM
2019
Fermenting Feminism, Access Gallery
Vancouver, BC, Canada
In the Receiving Room, Flood’s Hall
Chicago, IL
Trans Art Is: Love & Liberation, Andersonville Galleria
Chicago, IL
2018
2nd Biennial Scent Fair, Craft and Folk Art Museum
Los Angeles, CA
Fermenting Feminism (Hunter’s Moon), the Medical Museion & the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
Copenhagen, DK
Flat Earth Film Club and The LungA Film Festival
SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR, Iceland
Workshops/Performances/Presentations
2019
Workshop: “Game Hacking - Eau Doom,” Fabrika Avtonomia; Sofia, Bulgaria
Presentation: “Emotional Bootcamp: Collaborative Practices,” Æther Sofia; Sofia, Bulgaria
Guest Lecture: “Thinking Together: Olfactory Art & Manifestos,” Olfactory Art course, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago, IL
Workshop: “Community Building Through Game Design,” Polsky Exchange & Weston Game Lab; Chicago, IL
Performance: “Speculative Fashion: Building New Worlds Through What We Wear,” NoNation Art Lab; Chicago, IL
Guest Lecture: “Comedy Game Projects,” Advanced Game Design course, DePaul University; Chicago, IL
Press
Fleerackers, Alice “Features—Fermenting Feminism.” Art the Science Blog; October 2019.
Bulliqi, Eddie. “Institute of Olfaction’s Biennial Scent Fair.” Perfume & Flavorist; December 2018.
Cardoza, Kerry. “Jenn Smith and Bailey Scieszka.” Newcity; September 2016.
“5 Shows To See Now.” Newcity; September 2016.
“Top V. Weekend Picks (6/16-6/22).” Bad At Sports; June 2016.
Clarke, Chris. “Letter from Chicago: A Fucking Biennial.” Art Monthly; November 2015.
Curated Exhibitions
2016
God Gives Us Food, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
Here, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
Lay a Ghost, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
2015
Late November, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
2 Tambours, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
Education
The University of New Mexico
MFA Student in Creative Nonfiction, expected 2024
The University of New Mexico
MA Student in American Studies, 2020-2021
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
BFA, 2014
Central Saint Martins - University of the Arts London
Contemporary Art Seminar, 2011
Writing
“Searching for Scorpio Rising.” Sinking City. 2022.
“While We’re Inside.” The Florida Review. 2022. (forthcoming)
“El Rey De Las Fritas.” Miami Grubs. O, Miami. 2021.
“fermenting archives: microbial matter as history holder,” in Lauren Fournier (ed.), fermenting feminism: hunter’s moon. Laboratory for Aesthetics and Ecology. 2021.
“body-map,” in Sevilla Writers House Zine - Myth & Memory: Writing Family Stories. June 2020.
“How to Make Wine on the South Side,” South Side Weekly. October 2019.
“The Annual South Side Grape Sale,” South Side Weekly. October 2019.
Experience
University of New Mexico
Core Writing Program
Albuquerque, NM; Instructor
August 2021 - Present
University of New Mexico
Religious Studies Program
Albuquerque, NM; Teaching Assistant
January 2021 - May 2021
University of New Mexico
Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Albuquerque, NM; Grader
August 2020 - December 2020
University of New Mexico
LGBTQ Resource Center
Albuquerque, NM; Project Assistant
August 2020 - December 2020
Poetry Foundation
Chicago, IL; Events Assistant
August 2018 - July 2020
The University of Chicago
Fab Lab - Chicago, IL; Fab Lab Assistant
January 2019 - September 2019
South Side Weekly
Chicago, IL; Journalist
July 2018 - May 2020
cornerstore
Art Exhibition Space; Director and Founder
May 2015—April 2017
Trainings & Awards & Residencies
2022
Land Arts of The American West; Lannan Foundation Scholarship
GPSA Professional Development Grant; Albuquerque, NM.
Outstanding New Instructor Award in Core Writing; University of New Mexico
Russo Travel Scholarship Award by the English Department of the University of New Mexico
Adobe Digital Literacy Innovation Award; University of New Mexico
2021
Tin House Craft Intensive with Kim Fu, Online via Zoom
Tin House Summer Workshop, Online via Zoom (July 2021)
GPSA Professional Development Grant; Albuquerque, NM
Oral History Summer Funding Grant; Albuquerque, NM
2020
Myth & Memory: Writing Family Stories with K-Ming Chang, Sevilla Writers House, Online via Zoom
Honing Bodily Intuition with iele paloumpis, Movement Research Winter MELT, New York, NY
2019
RadarSofia; Sofia, Bulgaria
Flood’s Hall; Chicago, IL
Oral History Projects
“Choosing Names: An Oral History Project,” interviews conducted by Leo Williams & Eleonora Edreva, August 2nd-9th, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Online archive forthcoming.
“Grief Work with the Philly Death Doula Collective: An Oral History Project,” interview by Leo Williams on March 25th, 2021, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections, Albuquerque, NM.
Group Exhibitions
2022
Tasty Projections, Gamis
Glasgow, Scotland
Ferments, Family, Kinship, Home, Images Festival
Toronto, CA
Confluence: Tracing Water Through Creative Exchange,” Bacheci Open Space Albuquerque, NM
2021
Permission to Rest: A one-night exhibiton, A Garden (Outside the Albuquerque Art Museum)
Albuquerque, NM
2019
Fermenting Feminism, Access Gallery
Vancouver, BC, Canada
In the Receiving Room, Flood’s Hall
Chicago, IL
Trans Art Is: Love & Liberation, Andersonville Galleria
Chicago, IL
2018
2nd Biennial Scent Fair, Craft and Folk Art Museum
Los Angeles, CA
Fermenting Feminism (Hunter’s Moon), the Medical Museion & the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
Copenhagen, DK
Flat Earth Film Club and The LungA Film Festival
SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR, Iceland
Workshops/Performances/Presentations
2019
Workshop: “Game Hacking - Eau Doom,” Fabrika Avtonomia; Sofia, Bulgaria
Presentation: “Emotional Bootcamp: Collaborative Practices,” Æther Sofia; Sofia, Bulgaria
Guest Lecture: “Thinking Together: Olfactory Art & Manifestos,” Olfactory Art course, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago, IL
Workshop: “Community Building Through Game Design,” Polsky Exchange & Weston Game Lab; Chicago, IL
Performance: “Speculative Fashion: Building New Worlds Through What We Wear,” NoNation Art Lab; Chicago, IL
Guest Lecture: “Comedy Game Projects,” Advanced Game Design course, DePaul University; Chicago, IL
Press
Fleerackers, Alice “Features—Fermenting Feminism.” Art the Science Blog; October 2019.
Bulliqi, Eddie. “Institute of Olfaction’s Biennial Scent Fair.” Perfume & Flavorist; December 2018.
Cardoza, Kerry. “Jenn Smith and Bailey Scieszka.” Newcity; September 2016.
“5 Shows To See Now.” Newcity; September 2016.
“Top V. Weekend Picks (6/16-6/22).” Bad At Sports; June 2016.
Clarke, Chris. “Letter from Chicago: A Fucking Biennial.” Art Monthly; November 2015.
Curated Exhibitions
2016
God Gives Us Food, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
Here, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
Lay a Ghost, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
2015
Late November, cornerstore
Chicago, IL
2 Tambours, cornerstore
Chicago, IL