Renee Gregorio

Renée arrived in New Mexico in 1985, right after completing her MA in Creative Writing at Antioch University, London. At that time, New Mexico, and in particular, Taos, seemed to be just the place to deepen as a poet individually and in community. Although she has moved around the state some since then, living in northern New Mexico and her dedication to her writing have remained constant.

She has collaborated in several publishing ventures, early on as one of the founders of The Taos Review, a literary journal. More recently she is one of the originators and editors of Tres Chicas Books, alongside Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan. Over the past several decades, Renée has often offered writing workshops privately.

As a longtime aikido practitioner, Renée went on to study embodied learning and became certified as a Master Somatic Coach and teacher. She has taught workshops that combine writing practice with body-centered practices over the past several decades. She's also collaborated with colleagues in the field of somatics in many teaching endeavors. She taught workshops for several years in what she named the poetry dojo.

Renée’s books of poetry have been published by several small press publishers over the past decades, yielding nine published collections and numerous chapbooks. Her most recent book, Abyss & Bridge, from 3: A Taos Press, won the NM/AZ Book Award for Poetry. The Press at the Palace of the Governors has also published her poems in limited edition letterpress broadsides. The press also published a limited edition letterpress book that she and John Brandi wrote together after travel in Chiapas—Road to the Cloud’s House.

Her non-fiction book, The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body, will be published in March 2024 by Inner Traditions. This title brings together the several streams of Renée’s work over time—in writing, in Aikido, and in somatic coaching and teaching. It helps writers (and non-writers, too) expand their creative capacity—on the page and in their lives—by engaging with the direct experience of body-centered practices alongside writing practices.