Joce Leo
Joce Leo (b. 2000) (she/they) is a writer, artist, and anti-carceral care worker co-creating at the intersections of writing, psychology, and image-making. Joce received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Visual Arts at Roger Williams University in 2023 and her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Maine College of Art & Design in May 2025. Currently, she is an MA in Counseling Psychology Student at the University of Maine Farmington. Since 2018, Joce has worked in a variety of social work adjacent jobs like a memory disorders caregiver, a children’s art educator, a graduate teaching assistant, a writing coach, a behavioral health professional, and a peer mentor. All of this falls under the umbrella term of “care work”, much like their artistic practice. She believes that femme sadness is inherently political and that suffering outwardly is a form of protest. As a micro-memoir writer, Joce’s practice is always informed by abolition-centered practices rooted in the acknowledgment of lived experience as “expert”.
PRETTY FOR A DYKE
/ i have stories in my chest / martyred bird /
/ a house sparrow only lives three years /
/ i wear a dress for the holiday / for my mother’s comfort /
/ i am the witness / second-degree burn / mother hunger /
/ blanching with pressure / strap-ons and silicone / wet heart /
/ researching IUDs / an endometriosis diagnosis / standard procedure /
/ “pretty for a dyke” / my hands miss the way we wove together /
/ i place objects in my chest cavity like a scanner bed /
/ pull the string / attached to the call light /
/ what memoirs feel good / right / to hold? /
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