Raisa Tolchinsky

Raisa Tolchinsky is the poet-in-residence at Ghost Ranch for the 2026–2027 year, where she is developing new work rooted in landscape, myth, and the contemplative life of the high desert. She is the author of Glass Jaw (Persea Books, 2024), winner of the 2023 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize, a collection that explores the world of women’s boxing. Raisa holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Virginia and a Master of Religion from Harvard Divinity School, where she focused on writing as a form of chaplaincy. Her poems have appeared in Boston Review, Kenyon Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and other journals. Previously, she served as the 2022–2023 George Bennett Writer-in-Residence at Phillips Exeter Academy and taught as a visiting faculty member at Indiana University. She is a partner, daughter, sister, friend– an Italian speaker, lover of long walks and cold swims, and a forever student.