The MFA coursework contains early writing that she did under the name 'Judy Hart.' Though born, raised, and educated in the Bay Area, she considers her eighteen-year sojourn in New Jersey worthy of a Ph.D.The first series, Biographical Materials, contains material related to Juanita's public appearances, coursework, transcripts, resume, and personal correspondence. in creative writing, and was a Poet-in-the-Schools in New Jersey. Before joining the CWP faculty, she taught at Laney College, Montclair State College in NJ, and at SFSU, where she earned an M.F.A. Her body of work, including books, plays, numerous drafts, recordings, articles and interviews, is archived at Duke University's John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies (JHFC) alongside the archives of other 60s activists from SNCC. The collection was a distinguished finalist in OSU's 2016 Non/Fiction Collection Prize. Her collection of essays, DeFacto Feminism: Essays Straight Outta Oakland, examines the intersectionality of race, gender, politics, economics, and spirituality, as experienced by a black activist and self-described 'feminist foot soldier.' She is a contributing editor for The Weekling, an online journal, where many of the essays appeared. 'Theodicy,' about two black men who accidentally fall into the river of death, was first runner-up in the Eileen Heckart Senior Drama Competition at OSU. Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State University (OSU). and NYC, and are archived at the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E.

Her 20+ plays have been produced in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, L.A.

Her short story/novel excerpt, 'The Black House,' was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2022. Her essay, 'The Gun as Performance Poem,' was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2014. Juanita's short stories and essays appear widely. Her poem 'Bling' was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2012. Her semi-autobiographical novel, Virgin Soul, chronicles the journey of a young woman who joins the Black Panther Party in the 60s (Viking, 2013). Her short story collection, The High Price of Freeways, won the Tartt Fiction Prize at the University of West Alabama, and was published by Livingston Press in 2022.

Judy Juanita's poetry collection, Manhattan my ass, you're in Oakland, won the American Book Award 2021 from the Before Columbus Foundation.

Virgin soul by judy juanita