Bilal Bikile

Bilal Bikile is an Ethiopian-American writer, curator, and multidisciplinary artist based in San Diego. He's the founder and curator of Deixis Gallery, a contemporary art gallery and community hub, and the founding editor of Deixis Journal, a multidisciplinary literary magazine. He also runs Salon de Deixis, a weekly gathering featuring guest speakers and open discussions on art, culture, and ideas.

His work spans fiction, mixed media, photography, film, and electronic literature. He created the digital piece Lost Inside: A Digital Inquiry, which has been exhibited internationally in Norway, Denmark, and Poland. He authored the photobook Al-Ghayb (The Unseen) and wrote the short film Bekele, which continues to screen at festivals nationally.

Bikile holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from San Diego State University and will begin his MFA in Creative Writing at UCSD in Fall 2026. He was also a 2024 Writer-in-Residence at The Grunewald Guild, where he completed his short story collection I Don't Know What's Wrong with Me.