Photo credit: Colave Media

River Sutaria (formerly known as Jharna) is a spoken-word performer and creative writer. They were introduced to slam poetry during their freshman year of high school and have been sharpening their craft ever since. River’s writing style, heavily influenced by Blythe Baird, Sarah Dessen, Amber Smith, and Carmen Maria Machado, is a kaleidoscope of haunting confessions, vivid imagery, and poetic metaphors.

It is through sharing their intimate pieces of work that the twenty-four-year-old poet encourages others to use their voice. River’s personal ties to mental health, sexual assault, and transphobia have led them to creatively advocate for the various social issues that they survived.

In 2023, River released their debut novella, it hurts to breathe, which went on to win the Creative Arts category of Foothill College’s 6th Annual Research, Service, and Leadership Symposium. Shortly after its success at the event, it hurts to breathe was added to the Mitchell Park Library and Foothill College Library catalogs. Today, the award-winning novella is being downloaded and purchased through various book vendors from around the world.

River’s writing has been showcased on multiple online platforms, including Palo Alto High School’s Verde Magazine, The Script (Foothill College’s Student News), Swim Swam Magazine, Bottlecap Press, Creative Communication, The Gay & Lesbian Review, American Swimming Magazine, Kings River Review, and the Coppell Gifted Association.