“Sanchez-Ballado’s poems explore themes of inheritance, identity, and the transformation of pain into sweetness…[he] writes with clarity and tenderness, grounding emotion in the physical world. The poems blend precise imagery with conversational rhythm, creating a music that feels lived-in and unforced…”

— Kirkus Reviews

Tian Sanchez-Ballado [he/they] (b. 1989) is an artist whose work moves between music and poetry. Their collection Every Fig Has a Wasp Inside received a Kirkus review, and their manuscript All He Wanted Was Softness was a finalist for the Button Poetry First Book Contest. Their poems appear or are forthcoming in Glass, Voicemail Poems, and The Acentos Review. Of Cuban, Puerto Rican, Taíno, and German descent, they write with a post-lyric confessional voice, marked by searing vulnerability and melancholic sunshine.

Sanchez-Ballado is a classically trained cellist, tenor, and conductor with over a decade of K-12 and collegiate orchestra teaching. His research and scholarship have appeared in journals such as The American String Teacher.

They live in Tallahassee, Florida, with their husband, Arman, and their cat, Mika.