Dr. Taylor Byas, Ph.D.
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taylorbyas.bsky.social
Dr. Taylor Byas, Ph.D.
@taylorbyas.bsky.social
2.7K followers 520 following 530 posts
PhD | Corporate Baddie | I DONE CLICKED MY HEELS THREE TIMES (Soft Skull ‘23, Winner of the 2023 Maya Angelou Book Award, 2023 Chicago Review of Books Award, 2024 Ohio Book Award) | RESTING BITCH FACE (August 2025) | she/her

www.taylorbyas.com
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taylorbyas.bsky.social
Tonight, at Brooklyn Poets!!
October 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Me and RESTING BITCH FACE hit NY this weekend! I hope to see you at Books Are Magic and/or Brooklyn Poets!!
October 9, 2025 at 11:08 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
A special thank you to Poetry Northwest for adding some sparkle to my Wednesday: RESTING BITCH FACE made PoNW's
Summer Favorites List (along with books that I'M excited to read)!!!!
May 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Resting Bitch Face comes out in just a FEW months with an August 26th release (and don't forget, it's a September pick for Roxane Gay's Audacious Book Club)! Want me to come read in your city, talk to your students, perform at your school/venue, chat about my work? Email me!!
May 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
My second full length, RESTING BITCH FACE, goes to print today (and comes out in August)!!!!! Have you preordered yet??? You shoulddd: softskull.com/books/resting-…
May 9, 2025 at 5:10 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
A few shots of my brother and mom in the kitchen, while my mom lovingly scratches my brother's scalp after he takes down his braids.
An original photograph of a young black man sitting at the kitchen table while his mother scratches his scalp with a rattail comb. They are both lit by an overhead light fixture. The mother wears black braids, the young man has curly brown hair. The young man looks down at something out of frame. An original photograph of a young black man in a white tank top sitting at the kitchen table while his mother scratches his scalp with a rattail comb. They are both lit by an overhead light fixture. The mother wears black braids, the young man has curly brown hair. The young man looks directly into the camera, his face almost completely lit. An original photograph of a young black man in a white tank top sitting at the kitchen table while his mother scratches his scalp with a rattail comb. They are both lit by an overhead light fixture. The mother wears black braids, the young man has curly brown hair. The young man leans forward slightly and looks into the camera, his face partially illuminated by the light.
April 2, 2025 at 6:16 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
YES! Literally just posted it! ❤️
March 31, 2025 at 2:56 AM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
The form calendar for National Poetry Month is hereeee, courtesy of myself and @sfeycreates.bsky.social! Follow along with us next month to get some poems written, to have some fun, and to be in community together!
March 30, 2025 at 8:12 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Found my book baby in the Chicago Midway airport y’all 🥹
March 21, 2025 at 3:54 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Catching the train
An original photograph of a Chicago train passing on the tracks.
March 5, 2025 at 4:53 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Chandelier study
An original photograph of a cone-shaped chandelier, softly lit from the left side of the frame, glittering against the background. The crystals are outlined in gold details.
March 2, 2025 at 1:00 AM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Self-portrait ft. red chair, mirror, and spotlight.
An original photograph of a Black woman leaning on the seat of a red suede chair, her head resting on her crossed arms. She has long black braids, and wears black eyeliner with reddish and copper eyeshadow colors.
February 28, 2025 at 7:31 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
In honor of getting my copies of the latest Poet Lore issue, here's my poem in the ekphrastic folio curated by the incredible @jasonbcrawford.bsky.social. This poem appears in RESTING BITCH FACE, as part of the book's conversations around watching, objectification, and how art comes into play.
February 13, 2025 at 10:23 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
COVER REVEAALLLL: The cover for my second poetry collection, RESTING BITCH FACE, is HERE!!! Soft Skull and Nicole Caputo did their BIG ONE with this one 😭 And, word on the street, you can preorder it RIGHT NOW.

softskull.com/books/restin...
An image of the book cover for RESTING BITCH FACE, which shows a mirrored images of a Black woman’s side profile. The woman wears red flower earrings, and rests her chin on her hand. The cover rests on a bright orange background.
February 12, 2025 at 6:02 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Depth perception
An original photograph of a hill in the distance, with a partially paved road and building structure. Black power lines stretch across the sky, and three tall towers interrupt the hill in intervals.
February 10, 2025 at 8:51 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Tonight in Cinci! ❤️ come for poems and cheer!
February 4, 2025 at 7:10 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Cincinnati mural, interrupted
An original photograph of a mural on the side of a building. The mural shows a golden/bronze angel surrounded by thin sheets of music that curl around its body. The mural background is white. Over its face, a “One Way” street sign appears, with red traffic lights on either side of the mural.
February 2, 2025 at 4:13 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Found this new restaurant and instead of croutons in the caesar salad, they put salt & vinegar chips and it has changed my LIFE
A photograph of a caesar salad topped with parmesan cheese, salt and vinegar chips, and a lemon slice.
February 2, 2025 at 3:45 AM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Color in Cinci
An original photograph of the exterior of a yellow building. There is a small balcony stretched across two doors, and a black fire escape staircase. A part of a reddish-brown brick building can be seen to the left. To the right, the blue sky.
February 1, 2025 at 9:53 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Universe, please, I am holding on by a thread—
January 26, 2025 at 3:10 AM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
When in doubt, serve face.
An original self-portrait of a Black woman with dark brown straightened hair. She wears a black tank top and leans forward into the camera, a serious expression on her face. She is illuminated by a DIY spotlight from the left, and the wall behind her is tinted blue. An original self-portrait of a Black woman with dark brown straightened hair. She wears a black tank top and sits straight up, slightly angled to the right, with a serious expression on her face. She is illuminated by a DIY spotlight from the left, and the wall behind her is tinted blue.
January 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Last self-portrait from this series, and you can probably guess why it’s my favorite! Red split light, blue broad light, purple background? Heaven.
An original self-portrait of a Black woman wearing a black cowgirl hat, a strapless black shirt, long black gloves, and a black bedazzled face covering. She has black braids with ombre color on the ends. She is illuminated by a red split light from the right and a blue broad light from the left. She looks directly into the camera with a serious expression while touching the brim of her hat with her right hand.
January 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Self-Portrait 2/? with red split light and gold broad light ✨

📸: iPhone 14 Pro Max
An original self-portrait of a Black woman wearing a black cowgirl hat and a strapless black shirt and black braids with ombre color on the ends. She is illuminated by a red split light from the right and a broad golden light from the left. She looks directly into the camera with a serious expression.
January 14, 2025 at 2:59 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Self-Portrait 1/? with my new lights 😌 Red split lighting is just too much fun to pass up!
An original self-portrait of a Black woman wearing a black cowgirl hat, long black gloves, and a strapless black top. She touches the brim of her hat with her gloved right hand while looking off to the right of the camera, and is illuminated by red split lighting from the right. Only the bottom half of her face and her black braids can be seen under the hat’s brim.
January 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
taylorbyas.bsky.social
Okay was also really proud of this shot of my brother as well (the lighting, the background!) yay first portrait sesh!

#portraitphotography #blackphotographer
An original photograph of a young black man posing in low, golden light. His left hand gently caresses the right side of his face as he looks downward. His left wrist is adorned in shiny bracelets. The background is nearly black. He wears a sleeveless white undershirt and wears his black hair in braids.
January 12, 2025 at 8:53 PM