https://www.mayaweeks.com/work daily 1.0 2026-04-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1652661074170-2SVII6NZQS5TE8QQM4JD/DSC01415.JPG Selected recent work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1775274373055-4Z56OYY6PV7638CFEQ1P/image-asset.webp Selected recent work - Invisible Circulations What do marine plastic pollution and land stewardship with small ruminants have to do with each other? I wrote a bit about this in my review of Kim De Wolff's magnificent Synthetic Frontiers: Ocean Plastics and the Persistence of Trash Islands (MIT Press, 2025) for the Oakland Review of Books. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1772493072125-BEJDMG9P4AKU50SOP65R/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - 3 poems in The Paint Rag I’m pleased and grateful to have published three poems in issue 3 of The Paint Rag, a California Central Coast arts and culture newspaper edited and designed by Madeleine Ignon. Thank you, Madeleine! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1768879621138-DAUQ3W13344QGH2P6WAO/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Interview with Gregory Conway at Lønningspils Gregory Conway interviewed me for Lønningspils, an online magazine of Nordic literature. It was a privilege to discuss my interdisciplinary, mixed-methods feminist environmental justice research with him, including artistic research on the west coast of Sweden, translation, bringing poetry off the page, and shepherding. Thank you, Gregory. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1763089335415-ZT747888F2UNON1NCRA4/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Talk at the University of California, Davis Feminist Research Institute It was a pleasure to present on some of my work using feminist methods to tracing plastic pollution on the west coast of Sweden as an extension of corporate power at the University of California, Davis Feminist Research Institute. Many thanks to Dr. Mayra Sánchez Barba and Dr. Sarah McCullough for the invitation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1763089225289-5ML2XLNPJPHYWB34PHN5/Screen+Shot+2025-07-20+at+9.59.30+PM.png Selected recent work - Interview on the Rift with Roshan Krishnan I am so honored to have been interviewed about my interdisciplinary creative and scholarly practices by Roshan Krishnan on his podcast, the Rift. Roshan and I talked about relationship with place; refusing to choose between critical, political engagement in the world and spending massive amounts of time outside; land back; collaboration; and more. The episode is available (free) to listen to on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Thank you for having me, Roshan! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1742701691097-TC381UF5V5D4BML4IKCI/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Wish the Whale Bell to be Made Fresh I’m so honored to have a poem, “otter,” published in the collection Wish the Whale Bell to be Made Fresh edited by Rachel Corry and published by Ultraviolet Books. All proceeds from the book go toward whale conservation, and copies are available here. Thank you, Rachel! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1741748425778-HCZSYXBY0Q8IWYV1A67Y/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Two poems, "dungeness crab" and "oyster," published in Rabbit 40: Extinction I’m deeply pleased to have two poems from my project on coastal rural everyday life and labor published in Rabbit 40: Extinction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1738900298638-YCGSYYU9OF2GVA9ZFV9E/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Sun City I had the complete and utter privilege of translating the author’s note for Sun City by Tove Jansson, one of my very favorite artists. The novel, out on New York Review Books in their Classics series, is available here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1736195485953-59LETB14EJG23NIK4SNX/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Caring for Our Lands: Advocating for Access and Stewardship of Allotment Lands in California An article I had the pleasure of co-writing with Dr. Deniss Martinez, about the California Public Domain Allottee Association’s work advocating for public domain allottees’ stewardship of their Native lands, has been published in the Winter 2024/25 issue of News from Native California. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1732667717175-MSPX6850OI4MMWF5IM13/image-asset.png Selected recent work - The Toilers of the Sea I had the privilege of conversing with Andrew Chater for the afterword to Smith & Taylor Classics' (an imprint of Unnamed Press) publication of Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo. Andrew Chater and I discussed collecting and industrial capitalism; many thanks to him, Allison Miriam Woodnut, Brandon Taylor, and Cassidy Kuhle. The book is available now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1716704238834-14538HRDCBXFPEWCEMF1/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Keynote talk at the University of California, Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute Symposium I had the pleasure of giving a keynote talk at the University of California, Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute's Spring 2024 Symposium. My talk was titled "Approaching the Unquantifiable: Creative Feminist Methods at the Water's Edge." Many thanks to Brooke Benson and Tracie Hayes for the invitation! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1716070487940-COA4D8TSPSIWTX2IH8KO/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Three poems in Space on Space I am grateful to have had three poems, "spontaneous land trust," "a vulture on every post," and "salt the leeches" published in Space on Space. These are from a project on rural life and labor on the Central Coast of California. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1712000815701-PH3CNKIYCB71LH7K60YE/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Review of "An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed" by Josie Iselin I had the pleasure of reviewing Josie Iselin’s “An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed” (Oregon State University Press, 2023) for Humanties and Social Sciences Net Online. Many thanks to Dr. Daniella McCahey for commissioning me to write this! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1637605262981-1U4M51H7PFVJO3E9K0GO/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Death to Disposability: Marine Debris as Violence My Ph.D. exit seminar featuring my artistic and theoretical research was on November 19, 2021 and is available to view here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1763086700006-6L1WPHO9IW5U1D6S05A2/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Performance at Place Settings I performed a piece on big-wave surfing, gender, and petrochemical imperialism at Place Settings in Los Angeles on January 17, 2024. The event was organized by Anya Ventura and Laura Nelson and reviewed at the Los Angeles Review of Books by Danielle Monique. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1700513690084-5XKH58OW9DMV86LLISA8/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Reading at Cruise Control Cambria I had the absolute pleasure of organizing and reading at a poetry reading at Cruise Control Cambria on November 19, 2023. Thanks to Gabriel Seaver, John Goodhue, Jordan Chesnut, and Kathryn deLancelotti for also reading, and to Charlie Smith for hosting us! Photo courtesy of Charlie Smith. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1699472229370-PV8GDJABHGBEALVD4859/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Interview on The Wednesday Investigations Jeremy P. Bushnell interviewed me about my music, poetry, archival approaches, and relationship to the ocean for his series The Wednesday Investigations, published on November 8, 2023. Photo courtesy of Kris Daum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1698357512284-3I4QVLZHVO4ZL537ILDK/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Talk at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo I gave a talk, “Sea-level Fingerprints, Perigean High Tides: Creative Feminist Approaches to Marine Science” in the Biology Seminar Series at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Friday, October 27, 2023. In this transdisciplinary talk, I discussed creative approaches to feminist marine science using concepts of relationality, world-ecology, and artistic research. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1693419681304-U9NF8L3C2D1292IWB2Q8/image-asset.png Selected recent work - 3 from Hold Fast at Geographic Indigenous Futures of the Salish Sea I performed three excerpts from my manuscript Hold Fast at the 2023 Geographic Indigenous Futures Symposium, Geographic Indigenous Futures of the Salish Sea on July 6, 2023. Many thanks to Dr. Niiyokamigaabaw Deondre Smiles for the invitation! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1686944573571-I1NOX4A560RNAM86R2GL/Screen+Shot+2023-06-16+at+12.41.32+PM.png Selected recent work - Holding Sway and the Politics of Form I co-edited, with Dr. Melody Jue, a collection of photo essays for the University of California Humanities Research Institute’s Foundry, Holding Sway: Seaweeds and the Politics of Form. These photo essays touch on Indigenous land and water stewardship in the face of ongoing colonialism, legacies of militarism in the oceans, feminist friendships, and much more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1685032893035-FZT0TOEZ8KPS4K616RG7/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Talk at Gesellschaft für Anglophone Postkoloniale Studien (Association for Anglophone Postcolonial Studies') Annual Conference I gave a performance and talk on a case study from my doctoral research, “Ecotoxicology: The Santa Barbara Channel, the California Current, and Invisible Violences,” connecting oil extraction and feminist political economy on Chumash homelands. Photo: Maya Weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1683048771233-X2HX8QWM1WG4KDXRVDHR/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Presentation at California Estuarine Research Society's Annual Conference Presentation on preliminary research, “Seagrasses and Sound Pollution through a Feminist Lens,” on marine social science with creative methods at the California Estuarine Research Society’s Annual Conference as a California Sea Grant State Fellow, April 2023. Pictured, from left: Tanya Torres and Maya Weeks. Photo courtesy of Tanya Torres. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1672680301137-B2P23KJ4LM3A8V4FTBZ1/image-asset.png Selected recent work - "Weird Tide," song in collaboration with Wind Tide (Andrew Weathers and Gretchen Korsmo) Wind Tide invited me to collaborate with them by contributing vocals to a song on their album Sings. It’s called “Weird Tide.” The gorgeous album came out on Cached Media in November 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1663362142667-JERJS1WZPMWKVI9P4X9Q/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Exhibition at Dörren: Det visionära tomrummet/The Door: the visionary void I exhibited at Dörren: Det visionära tomrummet/The Door: the visionary void at Vague Research Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden from October 7-30, 2022. A conversation between myself and Dörren/The Door curator Dr. Kajsa G. Eriksson is online on Vague Research Studios’ website. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1660062213311-TUWH5LEHHHZAR2L38X5U/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Surfing the Tides of History in Northern Chumash Land Essay published in Zócalo Public Square, August 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1657596148249-6STW8D129ZD84LPNSM4J/image-asset.png Selected recent work - i am learning about space A song with a music video, “i am learning about space,” has been published in POOL Magazine issue 7, Float, July 2022. The issue is for sale here and the video is available to stream for free here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1649280162148-YYIE8TG3XUNFFA0JJ9H6/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - from "Barnacle" An excerpt of a poem, “Barnacle,” from Hold Fast, a book of poetry I wrote for my doctoral research, in Paperbark Literary Magazine Issue 03, April 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1763085696769-HX2068RPL6ECJGCXD36G/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Tethers Album, Tethers, out on Full Spectrum Records, December 2021. Available for purchase on Full Spectrum’s Bandcamp page as both a digital download and a limited edition cassette. Co-produced with Andrew Weathers with cover art by Gretchen Korsmo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1637605581157-N81FGWSZPSCBO4WD00HL/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Maya Weeks' Ph.D. Exit Seminar Ph.D. exit seminar on my doctoral dissertation using qualitative and artistic methods, “Death to Disposability: Marine Debris as Violence,” November 2021. Available to view here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1628556763547-CGCUCY690D361RTN3FNL/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Niche Oceanographers An excerpt from Hold Fast, “Niche Oceanographers,” in Smooth Friend, August 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1622919893803-N5WN81HJO41L0FLL7617/IMG_2735.jpeg Selected recent work - from Purity Subscription An excerpt of a poem, “from Purity Subscription,” from Hold Fast, was published in in issue 17 of g u e s t: a journal of guest editors, edited by Melanie Dennis Unrau, June 2021. Available for purchase here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1583711751096-2XUCGYA4F99XIANUMTPQ/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - I have a poem in Energy Culture: Art and Theory on Oil and Beyond I have a poem in Energy Culture: Art and Theory on Oil and Beyond (ed. Jeff Diamanti and Imre Szeman), published in 2019 on West Virginia University Press. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1624925527134-EFT0Z6CFIK3DFB1TBJRU/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Artistic Research in Bodega Bay Reflection on my artistic research in Bodega Bay as a Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellow at the Bodega Marine Laboratory on the UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute’s blog, May 2021. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1607710881170-DPXTH3O270G4M2FASVZP/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Hold Fast (Temporary Painting) A poem from Hold Fast, “Hold Fast (Temporary Painting),” in Living Room Light Exchange’s Publication 5, Rare Earth: The Ground Is Not Digital, October 2020. Available for purchase here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1571249731709-XE75B2BG1UEGWK5TVNP5/Screen+Shot+2019-10-16+at+11.15.13.png Selected recent work - Myth of the Garbage Patch forthcoming from The Accomplices My first book of poetry, Myth of the Garbage Patch, is forthcoming from The Accomplices in February 2020!!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1763087965945-N4CH00VK231Q4O3BEENW/image-asset.png Selected recent work - from Plastic Martyr Excerpt of a poem, “Plastic Martyr,” from Myth of the Garbage Patch in Tarpaulin Sky Magazine, August 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1595376976027-2D3EFPNKYZRD7SKK1LQM/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Paintings in Two If By Sea Two paintings, “I Have Been Being Demanded To Be Absolutely Tuned In To My Intuition At All Times” and “Adult Lamprey Sighted in San Luis Obispo Creek, Cries ‘Loosen Up’“ in Two If By Sea: A Journal of Water, Volume One, July 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1593117639617-ZKPBYW83MMKSWF76NIUB/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Reading from Myth of the Garbage Patch on Decentralized Sonic Quarantine Network Reading from Myth of the Garbage Patch on Decentralized Sonic Quarantine Network, March 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1583713351276-A69ON91USJAAAEV7YD4G/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Presentation at UC Davis' Feminist Futures Research Symposium Presentation of excerpt from dissertation chapter, “Death to Disposability: Marine Debris as Violence,” at the UC Davis Feminist Research Institute’s Feminist Futures Research Symposium, January 2020. Pictured, from left: myself, Mercedes Villalba, Dr. Anuj Vaidya, and moderator Dr. Clare Cannon. Photo: Dr. Maya Cruz. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1583712019177-CC441V6VR3SKP1JKC777/image-asset.png Selected recent work - Vortex of Light (Ice Memoriam) Poem from Myth of the Garbage Patch, “Vortex of Light (Ice Memoriam),” in Energy Culture: Art and Theory on Oil and Beyond, edited by Dr. Jeff Diamanti and Dr. Imre Szeman, West Virginia University Press, 2019. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1763087598409-PM4HXGMMWIA8XLCO9EA7/image-asset.png Selected recent work - From the Waterline Photo essay, “From the Waterline,” in Canadian Art, November 2018. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1551054702721-7GMUVH0OM8Z4020DDQ35/5-weeks-microplastic-kelp_web1.jpg Selected recent work - Plastic Bay Photo essay, “Plastic Bay,” in SFMOMA’s Open Space, September 2018. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1551124504152-WSH1QB8HCLZWOM5P0RO0/Screen+Shot+2019-02-25+at+11.54.37.png Selected recent work - Polar Amplifications Essay, “Polar Amplifications,” in The New Inquiry, April 2018. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1593118253525-MJRDAUD3JBEIOUWHK03M/IMG_4800.jpg Selected recent work - 3 from Myth of the Garbage Patch Three excerpts from Myth of the Garbage Patch in The Wanderer, November 2017. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1565370080912-83P7EKE4C4MMVZ100BHW/kelp+tangle.jpg Selected recent work - Blue Capitalism Photo essay, “Blue Capitalism,” in GUTS Canadian Feminist Magazine, May 2017. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1551124117494-QIM4AQ36Q5WTEZSIHJH5/Screen+Shot+2019-02-25+at+11.48.10.png Selected recent work - On marine debris as a form of gendered violence Essay, “On Marine Debris as a Form of Gendered Violence,” on the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements blog, February 2017. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1487363647470-52DJ14184HNUKYDWQRNM/Birgit-with-nurdle-600x400.jpg Selected recent work - Art Amidst Disaster: Welcome to Microplastic Beach Photo essay, “Art Amidst Disaster: Welcome to Microplastic Beach,“ in National Geographic Explorers Journal, December 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1487364382619-OTURU6M6N5OF4MKKJ2WL/DSC00763.jpg Selected recent work - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is Late Capitalism's Safe Deposit Box Photo essay, “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is Late Capitalism's Safe Deposit Box,” in Blind Field Journal, October 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1568686846016-BF4XRSDG0YV9UUDYAQJW/image-asset.jpeg Selected recent work - Vortex of Light (Capital Accumulation in the Pelagic Zone) “Vortex of Light (Capital Accumulation in the Pelagic Zone),” performance lecture at Petrocultures Conference, Memorial University of Newfoundland, September 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1551125123479-86HL3HH89RGZWL6NAZPK/tumblr_o56hs1VFT71qb3kioo1_500.jpg Selected recent work - HOW TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE OF EVERY INSIDE / HOW TO BE INSIDE EVERY OUTSIDE Chapbook, HOW TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE OF EVERY INSIDE / HOW TO BE INSIDE EVERY OUTSIDE, on these signals press, 2016. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1551123981065-S07F7Z38ND5169VWRGB0/Screen+Shot+2019-02-25+at+11.46.04.png Selected recent work - Closed Loop Dead Matter: How Trash in the Ocean Is Affecting Our Lives on Land Essay, “Closed Loop Dead Matter: How Trash in the Ocean Is Affecting Our Lives on Land,” in GUTS Canadian Feminist Magazine, November 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1551124170469-ZR1C06LZVG30KUIZLZBW/Screen+Shot+2019-02-25+at+11.49.09.png Selected recent work - Myth of the Garbage Patch Essay, “Myth of the Garbage Patch,” in The New Inquiry, May 2015. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/1640714022893-ZTRMCDLOM6W1GX8K1P6P/Screen+Shot+2021-12-28+at+9.53.17+AM.png Selected recent work - Panic Train Chapbook, “Panic Train,” on Mondo Bummer, 2013. https://www.mayaweeks.com/contact daily 0.75 2025-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/cd7997e0-17b3-43f8-8914-16d79782e0ef/IMG_2722.JPG Contact Notes from research in Svalbard. Photo: Maya Weeks. https://www.mayaweeks.com/about daily 0.75 2026-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/102df046-65c5-4a02-8d7e-f8e4a9bc75d1/IMG_66791.jpeg About - Make it stand out Photo: Maya Weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/62be04f0-980b-4956-9093-96593d232af0/DSC01633.JPG About - Make it stand out Plastic pollution on the west coast of Sweden. Photo: Maya Weeks. https://www.mayaweeks.com/orcid daily 0.75 2026-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58a75b69d2b8579b70ad9db5/f9c4538f-0789-4ede-bc47-c24a163ee10d/IMG_1577+2.JPG ORCID A wave breaking in Morro Bay, California, on Northern Chumash and Salinan homelands. Photo: Maya Weeks.