Rya West

A Black Non-Binary Spoken Word Artist, Community Advocate, and Grassroots Organizing Champion.

Rya West in their home in Austin, Texas. Photo by Niko Hernandez

On Saturday March 15, 2025 — the Cultural Archive team visited Rya West at their home. We cozied up in their living room for an intimate conversation on their experience a spoken word artist and grassroots organizer. Here are some highlights from that chat:

Tabitha (Archivist): Describe yourself and your identity in your own words.

Rya: I say this in the best way but - chaos, like a chaotic color explosion. It’s also very malleable. Like the glittery putty that you weren't supposed to play with as a child.

Tabitha: If you or your art was a fruit – what fruit would it be and why?

Rya: I love dragon fruit just because of the name and I think I would be a dragon fruit. You don't walk around thinking about dragon fruit all the time, like the girls know about it, but you don't really know about it until you take the time to look at it. I’m not just a pack of strawberries….you gotta know about me to enjoy me.

Tabitha: How has being from Texas shaped your perspective on art, creativity, and self-expression?

Rya: Damn people are gonna get so mad at this but — thank you Beyonce. Thank you Solange Knowles. Thank you to people that are from Texas and are out there doing their thing. Solange has a song called ‘Almeda’ and i'm from that area in Houston, Texas. Almeda Genoa. When you're black, trans, queer, from Texas, and you're alive and thriving — it’s more than monumental. It’s something I’m so proud of. I have to let the girls know that we aren't just the stereotypical Texans like Sandy from ‘Spongebob’. We aren't all in a bubble. As black queer people we don't have the privilege of being in a bubble. We aren't invited to be in the bubble where people are so closed minded. I love being from Texas. I feel I have roots that make me soft yet rigid at the same time. I like seeing our black culture here: the bbq, the country, the music, the way we wear our hair, and you can just see it.  

Tabitha: If you had to describe "home" without using the word itself, how would you?

Rya: Safety. A revenue of unlimited love and grace. I see a trans utopia. I have this perception that I'm in a world that has not been made yet. My home is very delusional but sacred. I think of the community that I have, the heart that I currently have. The trust that I'm supposed to have a home. I even think about love that doesn't serve me anymore and the love that I'm supposed to have. The pisces in me reflects on experiences that shaped and scarred me and that is also a part of my home.

Rya West in their living room. Photo by Niko Hernandez.

Tabitha: Do you ever pretend or make things up? Do you ever write fictional poetry?

Rya: Of course! I like to write about hope and write about what I want. It's my delusion and then I mix my POV in it.

Tabitha: Do you see creative expression as a form of survival, protest, or something else entirely?

Rya: Absolutely, no matter the art form – whether you work with neon lights or are a sculpture artist – you can always uplift your advocacy work with your creative practice. I feel its apart of your duty as an artist to challenge and disrupt harmful narratives.

Tabitha: Tell us about your background as a poet and a writer.

Rya: I got accepted to participate in a fellowship with Philadelphia Grand Farrones that was for Black and Brown queer folks living with HIV. It’s funny because at the time I didn't really feel like a writer but I applied with a piece I had called “I Forgive Myself” and got in! They asked to publish the piece and I was nervous because it was so vulnerable and I was grappling with my gender identity. I thought “people are gonna think that i think i'm a poet!”. I was struggling to call myself an artist but I'm constantly reminded by friends that I am a poet, a storyteller, and artist. Even if I'm not always getting paid for it.

Tabitha: How do you see your writing either empowering or challenging the narratives around Black and queer communities in the South?

Rya: I like to prove that we are deserving of love! People think all queer folks do is poppers and go to clubs and balls…while some of that is true (hehe) we are also beings that are capable of giving and receiving healthy love, having families, and living normal mundane lives.

Tabitha: What’s the juiciest, most delicious moment you’ve had as a poet/writer/creative?

Rya: Everything feels juicy! Living in my truth feels juicy because I didn't always feel this comfortable in my body. Being acknowledged is juicy and being asked to do an interview about myself in my living room is juicy!

Tabitha: If someone were to gather the fruit of your life and creative work years from now, what do you hope they’d taste or experience?

Rya: Notes of despair because softness and ease comes after.

Tabitha Hamilton (left) and Rya West (Left) in Rya’s home in Austin, Texas. Photo by Niko Hernandez.