Kyla, ‘Tucaya’ Garcia (she/her/tiya) is a Taíno poet, director, actor, and teaching artist based on unceded Tongva land. She believes stories are medicine and fuses her voice and artivism to become a good future ancestor and to honor those who came before her, especially her Abuela Victoria. Her Indigenous language, Hiwatahia, has been rebuilt by the elders in her community over the past 20 years and Kyla is honored to be a Taíno language bearer; speaking and writing poetry in her language daily to breathe life back into ka ahiarei’no.

Kyla has directed the English dubbing versions of over 60 episodes of TV and numerous films for Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV and recently had the joy of being one-half of the founding team for the inaugural Dream Big short film intensive in Butte, Montana where she co-directed and dramaturged seven short films in four days starring local children aged 9-18. Theatre directing highlights include dramaturgy and direction for Cherokee artist Samantha Bowling's acclaimed solo show This Was Never Supposed to be a One-Woman Show: A One-Woman Show which debuted to rave reviews at the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

As an actress, Kyla originated the role of Sarah Ridge Polson in the world premiere of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s Sovereignty at Arena Stage where she had the privilege of performing for Gloria Steinem and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Other theatre highlights include Eisa Davis’ Bulrusher at Berkeley Rep/McCarter Theatre, Montana Rep’s workshop of Kendra Mylnechuk Potter’s Can’t Drink Saltwater, and the world premiere of Vickie Ramirez’s Pure Native at Native Voices at the Autry, where she is also an ensemble member. Recent TV/Film credits include NBC's New Amsterdam, Spirit Rangers on Netflix, Windrider Foundation/Sundance award-winning Not Afraid directed by Mikaela Bruce, and The Exchange directed by Jennifer Berry now streaming on Amazon.

As a voice artist, she has dubbed over 100 film and TV projects and is a 15x Audiofile Earphones Award Winner/3x Audie finalist for her audiobook work. Kyla has narrated over 300 audiobooks spanning non-fiction, children’s stories, YA, memoir, short story/poetry collections to sci-fi fantasy thrillers, romance (most notably the NY Times bestseller Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez), and stories that defy genre including the revered There, There by Tommy Orange. She’s currently starring as Rosa alongside Jessica Chastain in the Audible original podcast series The Space Within.

When she’s not telling stories onstage, behind or in front of the camera, you can find Kyla editing her first book, volunteering with rescued wolves, or traveling with her vintage typewriter to craft original poems for strangers.

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To connect with Kyla visit: www.kylagarcia.com