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Risë Kevalshar Collins is an American artist—actor, essayist, poet, and fiction short story writer—of African ancestry. Born in Houston, she is a traveler to multiple continents and countries. Within the U.S. she has moved fifty-one times, and now lives in Boise. Risë earned a BFA in Drama at Carnegie-Mellon University and was a member of the original Broadway production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. Risë worked in repertory theatre, acted as a solo Affiliate Artist in cities throughout the nation, and she performed a one-woman show at Carnegie Recital Hall. Her play, Incandescent Tones, was produced off-Broadway. Risë earned an MSW at University of Houston and served as a Licensed Clinical (and Political) Social Worker in four states. While earning a second BFA—this one in Creative Writing at Boise State University—she served on the editorial staff of Idaho Review. In 2020 Risë was featured on the Idaho PBS online series “The 180.” Her op eds have appeared in Idaho Statesman, and Boise Weekly. Her nonfiction appears in Michigan Quarterly Review, in print and online in The Texas Review. Her fiction appears in North American Review and in the EastOver Press Anthology of Rural Stories, Volume I: writers of color. Her poems appear in The Indianapolis Review, Tupelo Quarterly, The Minnesota Review, and in ANMLY. Her poetry has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. Risë is the recipient of an Alexa Rose Foundation award.