Kiera “Ashlee Haze” Nelson is a poet and spoken word artist from Atlanta by way of Chicago. She is the winner of a 2023 Silver Telly Award for original copywriting and voiceover. She has been a part of the Atlanta Poetry circuit for over a decade and has been writing for over 15 years. Ashlee Haze has brought poetry to unexpected spaces, including New York Fashion Week, Atlanta United Soccer, THINX, The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, The Atlanta Dream, H&M, Blavity, and more. She appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk series alongside Queen & Slim Composer Blood Orange.  After her poem “For Colored Girls who Don’t Need Katy Perry when Missy Elliott is Enough” went viral, Missy Elliott was so moved she showed up at the poet’s house. Ashlee is the host of Moderne Renaissance, an educational podcast for creatives. Her sophomore book “SMOKE” was released April 20, 2020, with a 4th Edition Released in October of 2024. 

Ashlee began writing at the age of ten, performing her first piece at a church Mother/Daughter Banquet. After that, writing became something she did almost daily. By age 15 she was regularly performing at public competitions and events.

In 2006, she was the Grand Prize Winner of V-103's "Got Word" Youth Poetry Slam and has participated in the art/sport ever since. In her senior year of high school, she was co-president of South Gwinnett High’s Writers’ Society Club and had been published in three national publications. In August 2009, she made her first trip to the National Poetry Slam in which Java Monkey placed 5th in the nation.

From 2009-2018 Ashlee competed and coached in National Poetry Slam Competitions across the country. Ashlee Haze holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Georgia State University, Atlanta. As of September 2016, she is a full-time poet and artist. In 2020, in response to the global pandemic, she created Philosophy Media Group, a boutique media production agency based in Atlanta, GA. She spends her time watching cooking competition shows and telling the stories not often told.