ABOUT AZIA

Azia Archer was born in Corona, California in 1986. She is the author of the short poetry collection, "Atoms & Evers", and has had work published in over seventy-five anthologies, journals, books and magazines over the last decade. 

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Azia is a Jesus-follower with a heart for feminine folks, particularly young women and mothers. She is a trained birth doula and is currently studying Biblical Theology + Christian Ministry. 

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From 2012 to 2018, Azia was active in the small press literary world, working as a contributing writer for Lady FreeThinker and was the founder and editor-in-chief of Dirty Chai Magazine and the short-lived passion project, Tiny Flames Press, before stepping away from editorial work.

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Azia lives on a small homestead in Minnesota with her husband, Adam, 5 children, and 2 cats. They raise chickens, tend vegetable and herb gardens, and are interested in sustainable living and food preservation. Stewardship and honoring God's creation is incredibly important to them. Azia has her heart set on one day getting a family cow, a few goats and building a self-cleaning pond for ducks and recreational swimming.

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When she isn't spending time with her family, writing, serving with her church, or in the garden, she enjoys painting, making, and crafting her own natural home goods and remedies. She runs a small Etsy shop that she updates on occasion. She also loves to cook and bake and spends a great deal of time in the kitchen.

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Education Information:

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Creative Writing and Political Science- Minnesota State University, Mankato 

Fiction Writing- University of Colorado, Denver

Birth Doula- Enlightened Mama Doulas

A Woman's Way to Lead- Amara Charles & Sheyna Venice

The History of Cacao Ceremony- Moses Draper of Heartblood Cacao

Herbal Farming- Nancy Graden at the Women's Environmental Institute

Biblical Theology + Christian Ministry and Leadership- Free Grace Bible College

Current In-Progress Writing Projects:

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• Spirituality: Jesus with Skin On

This has been a labor of love. What first began as a bible study in 2015 that called on American Christians to embody what it means to be Jesus with skin on, has over the years evolved into more of a critical think-piece on the nature of modern-American Christianity, the New Age misrepresentation of Jesus and the perception of the church regarding nonbelievers. A call to action, a dive into scripture and a glimpse at the painful reality of the reception and behavior of the modern church and the deception of "Christ Consciousness" in New Age ideology, Jesus with Skin On, aims to open His church to a new way of understanding how we present ourselves in this increasingly divided world full of misinformation.

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"When we are called to the Kingdom of God, we are called away from the kingdoms of this world. All of them! Yet so many Christians find themselves caught up in the division tactics of political ideologies, race wars and all the meaningless things under the sun. 

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The Barna Group explains that nonbelievers view the Church as organizations that add little, if any, value to their communities, as the church isn’t doing enough to serve the needy. Nonbelievers also feel that the Church is often the opponent of human rights, perpetuating war, the prevention of gay marriage and a woman’s freedom to control her body. When one becomes skeptical about the Church, it is not so farfetched to consider why they would view the sacred text of that very church with skepticism as well.

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If you are a Christian, a Believer, reading that should be incredibly sobering. Many Christinas would argue that the perpetrators of unbelief and disconnection from God are other nonbelievers. But I am here to argue that while it is not unlikely that nonbelievers fuel each other fires, the group most responsible for this cultural reinforcement of unbelief lies at the feet of present-day Christians themselves. The Christians that have become distracted by the world and its wars instead of keeping their eyes on Christ and being Jesus with skin on in their communities.

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You may be asking yourself, “How can this be?” or maybe you’re even thinking of closing this book right here and now.  Maybe you’re even thinking of a few choice names you’d like to call me.  I understand where you are coming from. Deep looking within, especially when we are called to take personal accountability can be quite the difficult. But I ask you to move forward through the words I am sharing with an open heart and to remember the words of Jesus,

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“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)"

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• Memoir: Of Many Names 

The buried truths, the memories that I've stored like bombs in my chest. Time to be set free.

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"Lately, I’ve uncovered a new roadblock on the healing journey: grief. Grief over everything that could’ve been but never was. Grief on how capable and devoted I was, and how I never even had a chance. Grief over not being protected. Grief over not being lead. Grief over every inch of my life in my youth. I thought I had come to terms with it all, but this grief is heavy and new.  I know that this must be very common. I know that I could probably open any book on healing your inner child, or struggling with childhood trauma, etc. and there’s probably a chapter on this very same thing. How to greet it, move through it, move on from it.

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But I’m not interested in what the experts have to say.

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I’m interested in unraveling whatever the hell is crushing my windpipe with unrelenting vigor— this ghost I can’t see but I feel. It makes breathing difficult. Sometimes, I can’t breathe at all, I just want to weep. Sometimes, it feels like I’m weeping, like I’m screaming with every inch of my being, but I’m just very still, very numb."

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• Novel: Small Birds

A multidimensional love story about a woman named Rose and the infinite weight of the heart.

"She falls asleep, and she finally understands that she's destined for both.

They are waiting for her, all of them.

And she will return.

To all of them."

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• Poetry: Lighter Languages

A mixed-media poetry journey through love, creation, ritual, touch, heart-sound and fate.

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Soft Water

I’m not the same sort of soft
as these other women but I am
mostly softness—underneath
my swords, my standards,
my peace of mind. My softness
nothing like a puddle
or a flood. It will not spill
over onto you, won’t hit you
like a tidal wave.
It’s a round soft thing,
like a planet,
like the way the Earth
just sits there,
a warm blue against
the infinite void, held there,

floating, content.
I’m holding you there like I held
every tense thing
in my jaw until I remembered
to breathe through it
and that’s how I became a star,

a sunrise, an ocean.
I’m more sea than creature.
I’m wet and warm
and cold
and terrifying.​

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• Poetry: The April Wheeler Poems 

A hybrid of both of erasures from Richard Yates, novel, Revolutionary Road, and original poetry, this collection explores modern-day feminism, motherhood, maidenhood and the disillusionment of expectations regarding of what it means to be a good wife and a good woman. April Wheeler, one of the main characters in Yates' novel, becomes both a character in this collection as well as the narrator's alter ego.​

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APRIL WHEELER’S AT MY HOUSE 

April Wheeler showed up 

At my house again 

I stared at her as she smeared 

Red lipstick across her mouth 

I watched her drink an entire bottle of Pinot Noir 

In 15 minutes 

She said, Do you want to go to the bar? 

I said, Isn’t one bottle enough? 

April Wheeler looked at me 

And shook her head 

I thought you understood 

That nothing is enough for me 

She paced the room 

She kept running her fingers through her hair 

She had conversations with the walls 

That ended in tears 

Black mascara pooled inside the 

Red creases of her mouth 

April Wheeler said, 

What are you looking at? 

She walked into the bathroom 

Pursed her lips 

Whispered into her reflection, 

It’s okay, I still love you baby.