Khaliah D. Pitts
born and raised in Philadelphia, Khaliah D. Pitts is a writer, culinary artist and curator. a lifelong creative and griot, she is continuously searching for new forms of expression and storytelling. although her primary medium is writing, she finds herself exploring creation through short film, curating events and spaces of art and liberation, crafting wire jewelry and decor, and, most often, cooking, eating and gushing about food. she dedicates her work to preserving culture + documenting stories of the African diaspora, crafting spaces of liberation and joy. Khaliah is also a well-practiced educator, trainer and facilitator to audiences of all ages.
in 2016, she co-created Our Mothers’ Kitchens (OMK), a culinary + literature project for Black folk, which is recently counted itself among the 2018 cohort for the A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Social Engaged Art. in 2020, as an answer to the stifling stress youth face in the midst of social unrest, she became co-creator of Griot Girls, a writing collective for Black girls in 7th - 12th grade, connecting through composing, workshopping, and sharing our stories.
while procuring her Master of Public Health (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) at Temple University, Khaliah created Confidence In Culture (CIC), a theory of health model aimed at increasing self-efficacy through cultural pride. receiving numerous scholarly accolades and awards, this model became the foundation of a culturally-relevant dietary curriculum of the same name.
Khaliah has had the honor of having her writing published in Blackberry: a magazine (2013), the Dig Deep Facing Self Anthology 'Dream a Drowning by my Tongue' (2014), The Fem Lit Mag (2016), ‘From Our Kitchens: Recipes from the Philadelphia Assembled Kitchen’ (2017) on which she also acted as editor, Vagabond City (2019), A Gathering Together Literary Journal (2019, 2020), the anthology ‘A Garden Of Black Joy: Global Poetry From The Edges Of Liberation & Living' (2020), Comstock Review (2020) and Apiary Magazine (2020). she is also host of The Writers' Circle, a podcast experience for Black / brown writers available on most streaming platforms.
Khaliah is currently creating, manifesting a number of projects and is always open to collaboration.
Awarded Grants
2023
Residencies
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Overview
Khaliah D. Pitts (ACG ‘16, LTA '20, WOO '23, ATR '24) will focus her residency project, N*ggas in Nature, on documenting Black folks’ relationships with nature through jewelry making, photography, poetic ethnography, and digital collage. Khaliah will interview 5-8 Black folks on how they have found close relationship with the natural world. She will then conduct two rounds of photoshoots – the first being the subjects in their typical garb, and the second being the subjects decorated as they feel when connected to their natural element. The purpose of the second photoshoot is to illustrate how majestic, magical, and ethereal Black folks are, as well as to highlight the freedom that comes with connecting to nature. Khaliah will create a piece of jewelry, crafted with elements from each subject's environment, for each of them to wear in the second photoshoot. All of these elements, interwoven with essays and poems depicting the stories of the interviewed participants, will be presented in an effort to reclaim narrative power and return African diasporic people to their relationships with the earth.
2023
Window of Opportunity Grant (WOO)
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Overview
Khaliah D. Pitts (ACG ‘16; LTA ‘20; WOO ‘23) has been invited to the annual Hobart Women's Writers' Festival taking place June 16-18, 2023 in the small "book village" of Hobart, NY. Khaliah will be giving a writing workshop, entitled Grandmother’s Kitchen, on food writing and kitchen narratives, as well as performing at the festival's closing reading. This will be her second year attending the festival, and this time, Khaliah will bring four fellow Black women writers to attend, as well. Khaliah will also prepare work-booklets containing prompts and creative-writing based activities for the women and other writers in attendance to use during festival down time.
The WOO grant will support Khaliah with transportation and accommodation expenses for travel.
2020
Leeway Transformation Award (LTA)
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Overview
Khaliah D. Pitts, born and raised in Philadelphia, khaliah d. pitts is a writer, culinary artist and curator. a lifelong creative (and self-proclaimed griot), she is continuously searching for new forms of expression and storytelling. although her primary medium is writing, she finds herself exploring creation through short film, curating events and spaces of art and liberation, crafting wire jewelry and decor, and, most often, cooking, eating and gushing about food. she dedicates her work to preserving culture + documenting stories of the African diaspora, crafting spaces of liberation and joy. in 2016, she co-created Our Mothers' Kitchens (OMK), a culinary + literature project for Black folk, which is recently counted itself among the 2018 cohort for the A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Social Engaged Art.
2016
Art and Change Grant (ACG)
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Overview
Shivon Pearl Love and Khaliah D. Pitts will organize Our Mother’s Kitchens, using the works of Vertamae Smart-Grosvernor, Ntozake Shange, Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker to introduce young women of color to the ways in which the authors intersect food and language as a means of expression and cultural preservation. Continuing the use of traditions from the African diaspora, where art and life are one, this 3-day culinary and literature workshop will provide the young women of color participants with vital steps towards building optimal health, self-awareness and cultural connection through the ritual and art of cooking and storytelling.
