Maya Odim is a poet and dancer who draws inspiration from many different art forms and purposefully mounts her work in performance spaces that challenge occidental framings— and imaginings, of performance/performing. Of African American, Igbo and Afro-Cuban lineage, Maya is a dual citizen of Nigeria and the United States who lives in Chicago. Holding a BA in American Studies— with a History concentration, from Wesleyan University ‘10 (Middletown, CT) Maya is currently an MFA Writing candidate at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Maya’s self published chapbooks are titled: Places Where We Can Imagine, and Planets, Gourds and Traveling Staffs. Currently Maya’s work explores the impacts of sociocultural experiences on performing & performance culture which she explores through research into, teaching and performing poetry and varying forms of communal dance.