# Erika Renee Land

Erika Renee Land (born August 9, 1983) is an American war poet, 2021 MacDowell Fellow, author, spoken word performer, and motivational speaker. She has published two poetry collections that chronicle her experiences as a pharmacy technician while helping the Global War on Terrorism efforts, several lesbian fiction novels, and academic articles.

## Early life

Land was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on August 9, 1983. She grew up on the corner of Tidewater Drive and Wall Street in the Barraud Park neighborhood. She attended 6–7 elementary schools in multiple states because of her stepfather's military service, then Azalea Middle School and Granby High School, both located in Norfolk.

## Army

After graduating high school, Land joined the United States Army, where she earned a Pharmacy Technician technical degree – MOS classification 68Q. She was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood for basic training, Fort Sam Houston for Advanced Individual Training (AIT), and Fort Lewis, before being deployed with the 47th Combat Support Hospital to FOB Diamondback in Mosul, Iraq, and finally Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Her decorations include two Army Achievement medals, the Army Superior Unit award, the National Defense Service medal, the Global War on Terrorism service medal, the Iraq Campaign medal with campaign star, the Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas service ribbon.

## Post-Army

After returning from Mosul, Iraq in 2006, Land was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In February 2009, she was honorably discharged from the Army and moved to Athens, Georgia to pursue a career in pharmacy. Land lost her passion for pharmacy as she searched for ways to heal her PTSD. In 2023 she graduated from the University of Georgia.

## Poetry

Land embarked on a quest to educate the general public about PTSD by way of poetry. She stumbled upon poetry after she hearing a song that reduced her to tears, prompting her to write her first poem, "War Song". After publishing it and a few others, she pursued a degree in English from the University of Georgia. Her first poetry performance was at the Globe, a local pub in Athens, Ga. for Word of Mouth. She self-published her first collection, Residual Affects, with fellow veteran and photographer Katisha Smittick in 2013. With hopes of winning the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, Land republished a few of her war-related poems along with new pieces as the solo project Georgia's Dam

## Personal life

She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, Lambda Delta chapter.

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2018 | Going RV | Herself – Buyer | Season 7 Episode 10 |

## Music

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2018 | "A Trip to Walmart" | Spoken Word EP released under Erika Renee Land |
| 2018 | "Squared L^2" | Hip-Hop EP |
| 2019 | "Energy" | Hip-Hop single |

## Writings
### Poetry

* Residual Affects (November 2013), co-authored with photographer KaTisha Smittick
* Georgia's DAM (October 2015)

### Commentary

* of an Artist (April 2018)

### Fiction
#### It's Complicated series

* Misconceptions (October 2012)
* Scorned (November 2017)

### Articles

* "The Real Power Couples"
* "Mujer Power"
* "Huddle Up with the San Antonio Regulators"