Janice Mirikitani (February 5, 1941 – July 29, 2021) was an American poet and activist who resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for most of her adult life.

[1][2] Her parents, Shigemi and Ted Mirikitani, worked as chicken farmers in San Joaquin County.

[6] After her parents divorced, Janice was brought back to a chicken farm at Petaluma, California, with her mother, where they would be near the remainder of their family.

During the time that followed, Janice became the victim of sexual molestation by her step-father up to the age of sixteen,[7] and was saved from suicide only by the love and care of her grandmother.

[8] She then entered graduate school for creative writing at San Francisco State University, but later discontinued her studies.

[6] She later co-founded and edited Aion – regarded as the first Asian American literary magazine – which published just two issues in 1970 before folding.