Erika is an American 21st-century war poet, known for her numerous essays, fiction novels, various poetry collections, and being a civil rights activist. She channels her experiences of being deployed to Mosul, Iraq to help with Operation Iraqi Freedom into dynamic poetry that takes the reader on a journey emotionally and physically. She has published two books of poetry. The first was Residual Affects, with fellow veteran KaTisha Smittick that juxtaposes their similar experiences by meshing poetry and photography, and the second book Georgia’s Dam embodies Erika’s struggles with Post-traumatic stress disorder, that takes you to the very spots where she created most of her poetry.Catch her on the show as Erika shares how using her art to tackle PTSD, after her time deployed left her shut down and only able to express anger.