Ryka Aoki is a Japanese American writer, performer, and professor. Aoki is a transgender woman and a prominent figure in the LGBTQ community. She has written two books of poetry, He Mele A Hilo and Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul, and her work has been featured in numerous anthologies. She is also a slam poet, having won the National Gay and Lesbian Poetry Slam in 2001. Aoki is an advocate for LGBTQ rights and is an assistant professor at Santa Monica College.