Theo Ellin Ballew (b. 1993, deepest known matronym Srebrna or Silver) writes sci-fictional poetry and/or code. Theo is an educator and web designer+developer. Theo founded and directs Red Calendar, an arts and action calendar that helps NYC gather without big tech middlemen—and ORAL.pub, a literary journal of web-native poetry/art. Theo also built and designed the frontend for both websites, and many other websites.

Theo has taught in departments like NYU’s ITP/IMA (most often and most recently), RISD’s Digital + Media, Brown’s Literary Arts, Brooklyn College's Art Department, and The New School's Communication Design. In these departments, Theo has taught electric poetry, net.art, introduction to creative computation, UX/UI design, cyberfeminism, socially-minded tech, computational political action, thesis project development, new media theory, writing, speculative worldbuilding, research, and more. Selected syllabi: disturb; net.art; fembot; intro; deus.

Bedtime Stories for the Worshiped is forthcoming with Wonder Press and An Inch Thick, Theo's first book, was released with Ornithopter Press in 2024. Other sci-fictional poetry appears in Ugly Duckling Presse's Second Factory, Everybody Press Journal; 1080 Press's 240P; Abobo Zine; Beautiful Days Press's Works & Days; Action, Spectacle; 3AM; Juked; Litro; Bone Bouquet; and elsewhere. Theo's mobile writing (e-lit, net.art, etc.) has been shown online with The Wrong Biennale; External Pages; Tagvverk; screen_; Crawlspace.cool; HTML Review; and Ghost Proposal—and in-person with Electronic Literature Organization; Compás 88; El Quinto Piso; Bandini Espacio Cultural; IK-Projects; and Yeah Maybe.

Theo holds an MFA in Literary Arts (Digital Language Arts) from Brown and a BA in Literature from Yale. Theo grew up on 4-11-hour drives through the U.S. desert and the greater southwest, usually landing in or leaving Phoenix.