Ciara Totton was born and raised in Spokane. Her curiosity and her love of the written word was fostered from a young age.
She studied in Southern California at Azusa Pacific University and graduated with a Political Science degree. She taught English for three years in a rural town in South Korea and moved to New Zealand in 2020 where she lived nearly three years, balancing her time between writing, surfing, and exploring the country.
Her poetry examines the experiences of grief, empowerment, loss, and identity. These themes are explored through the immersive lens of nature and physical engagement. Her poetry gives voice to parts of the self which are often disregarded and buried. It defines empowerment and freedom through vulnerability and honesty about life’s most unsavory parts.
Ciara’s debut collection,
Bodies in Reduction, won the Charles Potts Poetry Award and will be available in Spring 2026 through Hand To Mouth Press.
Her work has appeared in
Black Coffee Creative, The Faoileánach Journal, Beyond Words International Journal, the Emerging Voices Collection, and more. Her work is also published in the 10th edition of
Moss as well as
Down River, Deep Root: A Spokane Poets Anthology. She performs regularly at Spokane’s Broken Mic, 3 Minute Mic, and Foray for the Arts. She has performed her work through Spokane Public Radio’s The Poetry Moment. Annual art events Emerge and Terrain have also showcased her work.
She moved back to Spokane in 2022 where she is now a healthcare worker and an active participant in Spokane’s thriving literary community.
Her works can be found on
Substack.
