Born in Brooklyn, New York,[1] Tracie Morris earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Poetry at Hunter College and her Ph.D in Performance Studies at New York University with an emphasis on speech act theory, poetry and Black aesthetics, under the supervision of José Esteban Muñoz.
[1] Primarily known for her live performances, Morris has written ten books (as of 2021) and has been heavily anthologized as a writer in multiple genres.
She emerged as a poet, performer and writer from the Lower East Side poetry scene in the early 1990s.
[2] She competed in the 1993 National Poetry Slam held that year in San Francisco with other poets from the Nuyorican team.
She is the first tenured African-American poet of the Iowa Writers' Workshop after serving as the program's inaugural distinguished visiting professor of poetry.
Morris leads workshops on creative writing, voice and planning consultations for activists, artists, youth, women, postgraduate students and underserved communities as well as private and non-profit groups.