Tommy Pico (born December 13, 1983) is a Native American (

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...

Nation) writer, poet, and podcast host.

Early life

Pico grew up on the Viejas Reservation of the

Viejas Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians The Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, also called the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians. Reservations In 1875, the Viejas Band share ...

, a

tribe near

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. His father was a tribal chairman. At age five, Pico started writing comics, and as a teenager he created

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

s and wrote poetry. His name in

means "bird song". Pico attended

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York, United States. Founded as a Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in 1926, Sarah Lawrence College has been coeducational ...

, where he studied pre-med with the intention of returning to the reservation as a doctor. He decided not to pursue medicine and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he worked as a

barista A barista ( , ; ) is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks and other beverages. Etymology and inflection The word comes from Italian, where it means a "bartender" who typically works be ...

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

and started writing poetry. In 2008, Pico lived in

Bushwick, Brooklyn Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by the neighborhood of Ridgewood, Queens, to the northeast; Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Williamsburg to the northwest; ...

. In 2019, Pico moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with a friend of his.

Work

In 2011, Pico was an inaugural mentor in the Queer/Art/Mentors programme; in 2013 he was a

Lambda Literary The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legaci ...

Fellow in Poetry. In 2016, Pico's first book ''IRL'' was published by the small press Birds, LLC. ''IRL'' is written as one long text message, drawing on the epic tradition. Pico's poem was written in first-person narration, from the perspective of Teebs. Teebs is a fictional character writing about fictional events, however, the character parallels as Pico's alter-ego and is used as a nickname. ''IRL'' received critical acclaim and was included on best-of-the-year lists for 2016. In 2017, it received the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize. Pico's second book, '' Nature Poem'' was published in 2017 by

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

. ''Nature Poem'', like ''IRL'', was written from the perspective of Pico's alter ego and fictional character, Teebs. Pico again used the epic format, in this case to explore and challenge stereotypes of Native Americans as "noble savages" who are one with nature. ''Nature Poem'' also received critical acclaim. Pico followed ''Nature Poem'' with ''Junk'' in 2018 and ''Feed'' in 2019. Pico considers his four books as a series called the "Teebs tetralogy". Pico co-curates the live reading series ''Poets With Attitude'' with Morgan Parker, and he is the co-host of the podcast '' Food 4 Thot'', a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

about queer identity, race, sex, relationships, literature, and pop culture. He is also the co-host of the podcast '' Scream, Queen!'' with Drea Washington. ''Scream, Queen'' discusses marginalized people and horror films. He also appears in the 2022

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror''. In 2018, Pico was commissioned to create

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

s for New York City's High Line park and a walking tour of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

for Vignettes Gallery and Gramma Press. He has written for TV shows including ''

Reservation Dogs ''Reservation Dogs'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi for FX Productions. It follows the lives of Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma, as they try to reconcile their heritage with the ...

'' and ''

Resident Alien In law, an alien is generally any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems. Lexicology The term "alien" is derived from the L ...

''. Pico was chosen as a 2021

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

Fellow.

Awards

In 2017, Pico's debut ''IRL'' received the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize. his second book, ''Nature Poem'', was the winner of a 2018

American Book Award The American Book Awards are an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "t ...

and finalist for the 2018

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

. He was a 2018 Whiting Awards, Whiting Award Winner for poetry.

Bibliography

* ''IRL'' (2016, Birds, LLC: ) * '' Nature Poem'' (2017, Tin House: ) * ''Junk'' (2018, Tin House: ) * ''Feed'' (2019, Tin House: )

References

External links

* *
FEED: A Garden SoundscapeVIGNETTES + GRAMMA PRESENT ‘A LONE’
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pico, Tommy 1983 births Living people 21st-century American poets People of Kumeyaay descent American male poets 21st-century American male writers Poets from California Sarah Lawrence College alumni Native American poets 21st-century Native American writers American LGBTQ poets LGBTQ Native Americans American gay writers American Book Award winners Gay poets Native American people from California LGBTQ people from California