Rani Ruado likes his poetry short and sweet.

“I appreciate shorter works,” Ruado said. “With poetry, I feel like brevity is such an important skill to have — no offense to people who could write novels or book length essays, but that isn't really my style.”

He graduated from the FIU MFA program in 2023. A theme he frequently explores throughout his work is death.

“Like Emily Dickinson, almost. In addition to that, I write about the opposite of death too, like trying to survive and sort of the ways that we distract ourselves or make do with what we have, especially during the crazy times that we're living in,” Ruado said. “And then I write a lot about identity as well, trying to be an open book to people who might find my work so that they can learn a little bit more about me and that I can be a beacon to someone who goes through similar things or feels similarly about certain things.”

Mental health issues, queer identities, feelings of inferiority or confusion in one’s life path are experiences that Ruado hopes his readers can feel connected to him through.

Ruado said that he began seriously pursuing writing in undergrad after connecting with mentors and professors in creative writing classes. Looking back at his life, he can remember his early connections with poetry.

“So it's interesting, because I'm sure writers say this all the time, but they didn't realize that they were a poet or a writer, even though they've been writing throughout their entire life. And I feel that because I look back, and I see I would always be writing little stories in class, or I would be scribbling in the margins of my math notebook, which I now realize were probably poems that were trying to form.”

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