Ciara Totton was born and raised in Spokane. Her curiosity and her love of the written word was fostered from a young age.
She studied in Southern California at Azusa Pacific University and graduated with a Political Science degree. She spent the next several years living abroad. She taught English for three years in a rural town in South Korea and moved to New Zealand in 2020 where she lived nearly three years, balancing her time between writing, surfing, and exploring the country.
Her poetry examines the experiences of grief, empowerment, loss, and identity. These themes are explored through the immersive lenses of nature and physical engagement.
Her upcoming debut collection, Bodies in Reduction, gives voice to parts of the self that are often disregarded and buried. It defines empowerment and freedom through vulnerability and honesty about life’s most unsavory parts.
Her work has appeared in Black Coffee Creative, The Faoileánach Journal, Beyond Words International Journal, the Emerging Voices Collection, and more. Her work is also published in the upcoming edition of Moss. She is the winner of the Soft Apocalypse Award for the Verse Traps 2025 contest.
She performs regularly at Broken Mic, 3 Minute Mic, and Foray for the Arts. Annual art events, Emerge and Terrain have also showcased her work.
She moved back to Spokane in 2022 where she is now a healthcare worker and an active participant in Spokane’s thriving literary community.
Her works can be found on Substack.