Award-winning author Suzette D. Harrison grew up in a home where reading was required, not requested.

Mariam I. Williams is a writer, dancer, and cultural curator who writes to find answers, dances to find joy, and curates to deepen understanding.

LaVelle is a native Saint Louisan who has been active in the City’s Metropolitan theater community since 1982.

Tyler Stephens is a part-time MFA candidate in Creative Writing at Chicago State University and a graduate of Spelman College.

DeAnna Yvette is a Chicago-based writer.

Jennifer Singleton is a speculative fiction writer who resides in Southern Maryland.

Celeste Scott lives in Brooklyn.

The son of Cape Verdean immigrants, Lee Santos Silva (he/him) was raised in Brockton, MA, which is home to one of the largest Cape Verdean communities outside of Cape Verde.

Nia Sampson is a writer from Houston, Texas who is currently pursuing her PhD in English and American Literature at WashU St. Louis.

Lauren Russell is a poet and writer in hybrid forms who is excited to be working on her first novel.

My name is Frances Ogamba, an essayist, editor, and a PhD student at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Kendra Y. Mims won her first writing award in third grade for her short story, “The Big Splatter.”

D. Lenáe Littlefield is a writer and editor living on the cusp of Memphis and Mississippi.

Roman Johnson, PhD is a writer from Memphis, Tennessee.

Dave Graddick is a Chicago-based writer.

Lindsay Ferguson is a writer based in Columbus, Ohio.

LaToya Faulk grew up in Saginaw, Michigan.

My name is Hannah Eko, and I’m a writer based in Los Angeles.

A proud North Carolina native and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Sidney Logan Echevarria uses all of her free time (which isn’t nearly enough) to work on her writing and to support her writing community.

Rutendo Chidzodzo is a writer from Harare, Zimbabwe.