Jai Arun Ravine is the author of the chapbook Is This January (Corollary Press, 2010), creator of the choose-your-own-gender adventure graphic novel The Spiderboi Files and a Kundiman fellow. A trans-identified, multi-disciplinary writer, dancer, visual and performing artist of mixed Thai and white American heritage, Jai received an M.F.A. in Writing & Poetics from Naropa University and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Hollins University.
I met Jai while we were at Naropa together. We lived in the same dorm, and were both members of the students of color group. I remember admiring Jai's strength, writing talents and amazing body movements. I reconnected with Jai when I noticed hir video "Tomboi Gatoey Mango," was impressed by the work, and got in touch with hir to find out what se's been up to. Here's a bit of our chat.
Creative Loafing: What is your passion?
Jai Arun Ravine: I am a writer and a dancer. I have recently become more interested and able to experiment with video as a bridge between text and the body moving through space, as an alternative to spoken word performance. [NOTE: See Jai's video "Strata," about "the first crush I ever had," after the break.]
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2010.