구연아 Yeon-Ah Koo is a Korean Italian-American multi-disciplinary artist who has been awarded the 2026-27 Loft Year-Long Writing Project (mentored by) Minneapolis Poet Laureate Junauda Petrus and 2026 Springboard for the Arts “Work of Art” Facilitator Training Fellowships. They were also a 2025 Queer Voices Emerging Artist fellow composing across genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for the past decade. Yeon-Ah is the co-founder of the Global Majority Writing Collective, previously known as the BIPOC Twin Cities Writing Group at Open Book. They also enjoy professional photography, graphic design, crafting collages, cross stitch, and hosting virtual writing and community workshops.

After working as a Communications & Operations Director in the Twin Cities nonprofit sector for the past three years, they decided to take the leap to follow their dreams of being a working artist and using their gained experience to support LGBTQIA+, Global Majority, disabled, and other underserved individuals/artists and mission-driven nonprofits that align with their values. They are fueled by cultivating safe, diverse, creative spaces and supporting other emerging artists on their path to making their dreams a reality.

When they aren’t writing, facilitating workshops, or applying for grants, they are cherishing time with their two life partners and nebelung Cooper. They identify as spiritual, practicing a blend of Buddhist and Korean Shamanic beliefs, often praying and conversing with the ancestors and the trees.