William J. Simmons is an essayist, poet, and art historian. He is Provost Fellow in Humanities in the PhD program in Art History at the University of Southern California. His writing has been published in numerous international magazines, journals, edited volumes, and monographs, including books by Judy Chicago, Laurie Simmons, Sarah Morris, and Toyin Ojih Odutola. His work focuses on cross-genre explorations of queer and feminist memory, longing, and activism. He co-edited the Spring 2020 issue of Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media.
William worked with queer and feminist artists in St. Petersburg to create international, cross-generational dialogues on the poetics of gender and sexuality. He also gave lectures at the After Post-Photography conference and the Gender Studies program at the European University in St. Petersburg.
