Nikki Patin

As a multidisciplinary artist, Nikki Patin (she/they) has been writing, performing, producing, educating, and advocating for over two decades.

Patin’s work has been featured in Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Reader, on WBEZ, WTTW, FOX SOUL, and on international television and radio. Patin has taught workshops on performance poetry, body image, sexual assault prevention and LGBT issues for over 20 years. 

Patin holds an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from the University of Southern Maine and is Founder and Executive Producer of Surviving the Mic, a survivor-led organization that curates performances and workshops for those impacted by sexual harm and trauma. Patin is an Elastic Arts Dark Matter Arts Resident, and the recipient of the 2024 Leadership Award from The Network. Her memoir, Working on Me, was released on Vine Leaves Press in 2024. 

Patin has performed, taught or spoken at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Cook County Jail, Rikers Island, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin-Madison, EXPO Chicago, Black Artists Retreat, Brooklyn Museum, and the National Black Theatre in Harlem. In 2014, Patin, a survivor of sexual and domestic violence, addressed the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on behalf of Black women survivors of sexual violence in the U.S.

Patin lives in Lansing, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago, with her son.