Chris Vitiello is a writer, performer, critic, and independent curator based in Durham, North Carolina. He is a chief contributor at Indy Week and has written for publications of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design and the LA River Public Art Project. In addition to the Rabkin Prize, his critical writing has been recognized by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the North Carolina Press Association. His poetry books include Obedience (Ahsahta, 2012), Irresponsibility (Ahsahta, 2008), and Nouns Swarm A Verb (Xurban, 1999). He has organized exhibitions for The Carrack, the Click Photography Festival, and the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He frequently stages performances and arts events in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Vitiello is also the Poetry Fox, a giant fox who bangs out custom, on-demand poems on vintage typewriters. A 2017 ArtPrize Pitch Night winner for his performance installation "The Language Is Asleep," Vitiello inhabited the Grand Rapids Art Museum during ArtPrize.