Tommy Pico | |
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 Pico at the 2018Texas Book Festival | |
| Born | (1983-12-13)December 13, 1983 (age 41) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, poet, and podcast host |
| Notable work | IRL,Nature Poem |
Tommy Pico (born December 13, 1983) is a Native American (Kumeyaay Nation) writer, poet, and podcast host.[1][2]
Pico grew up on theViejas Reservation of theViejas Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians, aKumeyaay tribe nearSan Diego. His father was a tribal chairman.[3][4] At age five, Pico started writing comics, and as a teenager he createdzines and wrote poetry.[5] His name inKumeyaay means "bird song".[6]
Pico attendedSarah Lawrence College, where he studied pre-med with the intention of returning to the reservation as a doctor. He decided not to pursue medicine and moved toNew York City, where he worked as abarista inWilliamsburg and started writing poetry.[3]
In 2008, Pico lived inBushwick, Brooklyn.[5] In 2019, Pico moved toLos Angeles with a friend of his.[6]
In 2011, Pico was an inaugural mentor in the Queer/Art/Mentors programme;[2][7] in 2013 he was aLambda Literary Fellow in Poetry.[2][8]
In 2016, Pico's first bookIRL was published by the small press Birds, LLC.[9]IRL is written as one long text message, drawing on theepic tradition.[5] Pico's poem was written in first-person narration, from the perspective of Teebs. Teebs is a fictional character writing about fictional events, however, the character parallels as Pico's alter-ego and is used as a nickname.[10]IRL received critical acclaim and was included on best-of-the-year lists for 2016.[11][12] In 2017, it received the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize.[13]
Pico's second book,Nature Poem was published in 2017 byTin House.Nature Poem, likeIRL, was written from the perspective of Pico's alter ego and fictional character, Teebs.[14] Pico again used the epic format, in this case to explore and challenge stereotypes of Native Americans as "noble savages" who are one with nature.[15]Nature Poem also received critical acclaim.[16][17][18] Pico followedNature Poem withJunk in 2018 andFeed in 2019. Pico considers his four books as a series called the "Teebs tetralogy".[19][20]
Pico co-curates the live reading seriesPoets With Attitude withMorgan Parker,[21] and he is the co-host of the podcastFood 4 Thot, apodcast about queer identity, race, sex, relationships, literature, and pop culture. He is also the co-host of the podcastScream, Queen! with Drea Washington.Scream, Queen discusses marginalized people and horror films.[20][22] He also appears in the 2022documentary seriesQueer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror.[23]
In 2018, Pico was commissioned to createsoundscapes for New York City'sHigh Line park and a walking tour ofSeattle for Vignettes Gallery and Gramma Press.[20]
He has written for TV shows includingReservation Dogs andResident Alien.[24] Pico was chosen as a 2021Sundance Institute Fellow.[24][25]
In 2017, Pico's debutIRL received the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize.[13] his second book,Nature Poem, was the winner of a 2018American Book Award and finalist for the 2018Lambda Literary Award. He was a 2018Whiting Award Winner for poetry.[2]
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