mallessa

Bio

Les James is an emerging writer whose work plays with poetry, protest, prayer, and philosophy to explore ideas about nature, science, and spirituality. This work is grounded in her experiences as a Black woman; her artistic, contemplative, and activist practices centering blackness as an expression of the divine; as well as her academic studies in biology, learning sciences, organizational psychology, and social transformation.

Les has had her writing curated in various anthologies and online publications, including The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, and Superhero Poetry; The Center for Humans and Nature: Stories & Ideas; Edge Effects; The Hopkins Review; and elsewhere.

A 2023 Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholar, Les has also received support from organizations such as the Collegeville Institute, the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute, and the Peter Bullough Foundation, among others.

Born and raised in the ancestral lands of the indigenous peoples including the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations (Chicago metro), Les identifies as a Black, sci-fi fantasy loving, socially awkward, cis-gender female person of the global majority who enjoys extended walks, expansive conversations, and extra spicy food.

Published Work

Creative Writing & Poetry

Forthcoming

"Luminary" | 2026 We'Moon Datebook: Full Circle, Mother Tongue Ink

2025

“Nature being” | When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine, Black Freighter Press*

“Home is where the heart is” | When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine, Black Freighter Press*

“Maybe Mother Earth is an angry Black woman too” | When We Exhale: An Anthology of Black Women Rooted In Ancestral Medicine, Black Freighter Press*

2024

"Here be dragons" | Writing the Land: Virginia anthology, NatureCulture LLC

"Who am I?" | Locating a Collective Lyric I, The Hopkins Review

2023

“Odd sympathy” | 1619 Speaks, Sims Library of Poetry

"A universe within" | Stories & Ideas, The Center for Humans and Nature

2022

“American dreams / Wake-up call” | Fractured Union: American Democracy on the Brink (Special Issue), Michigan Quarterly Review Online, University of Michigan

“The struggle is real” | Consilience, Issue 8: Entropy

"Dark natured" | BLUU Notes An Anthology of Love, Justice, and Liberation, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalists, Skinner House Books

2021

“Why Black women write horror stories” | The Future of Black: Afrofuturism, Black Comics, & Superhero Poetry anthology, Blair

"Why Black women write horror stories" | The Black Liberation Blueprint, Blackroots Alliance

“On purity and truth: A reflection on the Robert E. Lee Monument (1890-2021)” | 2020 Visions: Imagining (Post-) COVID Worlds Series; Edge Effects; Center for Culture, History, and Environment; University of Wisconsin-Madison

2020

“Mother prayer” | Issue 001: Black, Gumbo Magazine, Gumbo Media

Artwork and Photography

2024

"Blood and Gold" | 2025 Women Artists Datebook, Syracuse Cultural Workers

2023

"Protest Shrine" | 2024 Peace Calendar, Syracuse Cultural Workers

2022

“Locked In, Locked Out, Interlocked” (photo collage) | EcoTheo Review, EcoTheo Collective

“Intersecting” (chalk pastels, digitally modified) | 2023 Art Calendar, Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center

"Snails in Scotland" (photography) | Issue 65: Sex, Geez magazine

"Feelings" (photography and digital collage) | Issue 65: Sex, Geez magazine

2021

"On the James" (photography) | Take Me Away - Summer Fun and Vacations juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond

"On truth and purity" (photography) | 2020 Visions: Imagining (Post-) COVID Worlds Series; Edge Effects; Center for Culture, History, and Environment; University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Carried Away: Cedar Rapids, IA Summer 2008" 1 &2 (photography) | Best Depiction of Theme Award, Flood Awareness Week juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond

"LA Escape" (photography) | Juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond

2020

"Biloxi Shrine" 1 & 2 (photography) | Flood Awareness Week juried group show, Art Works Gallery - Richmond

*Unfortunately, the publisher has had this anthology on pre-order since 2022

Awards & Fellowships

2025

Oak Spring Garden Foundation Scholarship, Writing the Landscape

2024

Donald Ottenhoff Fellowship, Collegeville Institute

Artist Residency, Wild Acres

2023

About You, About Me Workshop, Collegeville Institute

Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholar, Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference

Artist Residency | Peter Bullough Foundation

2022

Artist Residency | Foundation House

1st Prize in the Humor for Serious Subjects category, Thinking Funny Humor Writing Contest

2021

Resident Artist - Storyteller | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute [virtual]

2020

Resident Artist - Storyteller | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute [virtual]

2019

Resident Artist - Storyteller | Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute

2017

Writing Spirit, Writing Faith Workshop, Collegeville Institute

Offered but Unable to Attend / Accept

2023

Oak Spring Garden Foundation Scholarship, Writing the Landscape

Creative Writing Residency, Visual Arts Center of Richmond

Readings, Talks & Related Activities

2023

Organizer | Contemplative Co-working for Writers Retreat, Mountain Light Retreat

Artist Talk | Introduction to Creative Writing, St. Edward's University [virtual]

Reader | "A Voice, A Light: Protest Poetry Virtual Showcase," Kitchen Table Literary Arts and The Poetry Foundation

Artist Talk | Wild Goose Festival

Panelist | "The Future of Black: 21st Century Second-wave Afrofuturism," Poetry Society of Virginia

Artist Talk | Peter Bullough Foundation

Artist Talk | Blue Stone Writers [virtual]

2022

Panelist | "The Future of Black," American Writers Festival, American Writers Museum

2021

Panelist | "Just Work: A conversation on the progress we've made and what still remains to achieve Black liberation," Blackroots Alliance [virtual]

Presenter | "In our nature: A theopoetics of science project" poster, The Mind, the Human-Earth Connection, and the Climate Crisis, Summer Research Institute, Mind and Life Institute [virtual]

Presenter | “The AI Q&A: A design fiction look at different points of view” | Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language and Media, Northern Illinois University [virtual]

Reader | Storytellers' Showcase, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute [virtual]

2020

Contributor | "The dictionary as a work of fiction," What Kindled Your Interest in Minds? Many Minds Podcast, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute

Presenter | “Levels of mind as levels of matter” poster, Cultivating Prosocial Development Across the Lifespan: Context, Relationships, and Contemplative Practices, Summer Research Institute, Mind and Life Institute [virtual]

Reader | Storytellers' Showcase, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute

2019

Presenter | “Body, heart, mind & spirit: Emergent images for inspirational & intuitive practices” session, Mystic Soul Conference: Radical Wholeness, Mystic Soul Project

Presenter | “Embodying race as an emergent concept,” Embodiment and Race Conference, Department of Philosophy and Religion, Clemson University

Presenter | “Emergent levels: A framework for reimagining complex & cognitive systems,” Complexity in the Humanities and Sciences Conference, Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis

Reader | Storytellers' Showcase, Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute