![](https://portal.writersunion.ca/sites/default/files/styles/public_profile/public/2023-10/Merkat hoogendam_headshot(1).jpg)
I am a poet, writer, interdisciplinary artist, educator and community radio host & producer. My poems, essays, fiction and creative nonfiction appear in Room Magazine, Geez magazine, Mutha magazine, Opus, Dialogue, catapult magazine, Road Journal, and Topology, among other publications, as well as several anthologies of local writers and Our Pandemic Times (Blue Denim Press).
My first collection of poetry, Mothertongue, was released in 2018. Further collections include Spring Thaw (Glentula Press, 2022) and Materials at Hand (MERKAT, 2022). Plan X, my first play, debuted in October of 2019. My poem, “Courage,” was short-listed for Room Magazine's 2019 Poetry contest. I am currently at work on several projects, including a forthcoming collection of poetry.
Find me on IG @merkatart