Chris Abani

NYT Bestselling Novelist
Nigerian-born Poet

Samiya Bashir

Acclaimed Poet
Oregon Book Award

Destiny O. Birdsong

Award-winning Novelist & Poet
2021 PEN/Voelcker Award Longlist

Jericho Brown

Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet
The Tradition

Mahogany L. Browne

Poet, Performer & Organizer
Black Girl Magic

Kwame Dawes

Ghana-born Jamaican Poet
Novelist and Essayist
Windham Campbell Prize Winner

Natashia Deón

Acclaimed Novelist
Immigration Attorney

LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs

Interdisciplinary Poet and Sound Artist
Whiting Award

Camille Dungy

Award-winning Poet
Acclaimed Essayist & Critic

Anaïs Duplan

Award-winning Poet & Essayist
Whiting Award

Cornelius Eady

Poet, Lyricist, Playwright
Co-Founder of Cave Canem

Safia Elhillo

Award-winning Poet
Arab American Book Award
National Book Award Longlist

Terrance Hayes

MacArthur "Genius" Award
National Book Award

Major Jackson

Acclaimed Author
Host of The Slowdown
Roll Deep

Douglas Kearney

National Book Award Longlist
Race, Culture & Identity

Michael Kleber-Diggs

Award-winning Author
Max Ritvo Poetry Prize

Dawn Lundy Martin

Poet, Critic, Memoirist
Kingsley Tufts Award

Airea D. Matthews

Award-winning Poet
Race, Culture & Identity
Philadelphia Poet Laureate 2022-2023

Jamila Minnicks

Award-winning Fiction Author
PEN/Bellwether Prize

John Murillo

Award-winning Poet
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

Marilyn Nelson

Poet-as-Historian
Frost Poetry Prize

Chigozie Obioma

Award-winning Novelist
NAACP Image Award

Ladan Osman

Somali-born Poet
Gender & Displacement

Patrick Phillips

Poet & Nonfiction Writer
Blood at the Root

Deesha Philyaw

Award-winning Writer
Black Queer Intersectionality

Claudia Rankine

NYT Bestselling Author
NBCCA & Forward Prize

Sapphire

Bestselling Novelist
Performance Poet

Nicole Sealey

Forward Prize
Former Executive Director of Cave Canem (2017-2019)

Tim Seibles

Acclaimed Poet
National Book Award Finalist

Charif Shanahan

Award-winning Poet
National Book Award Longlist
Lambda Literary Award Finalist

Matthew Shenoda

Award-winning Poet
American Book Award

Aisha Sabatini Sloan

Writer, Curator, Artist
Lambda Literary Award

Danté Stewart

Acclaimed Memoirist
Belonging & Religion

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Award-winning Novelist & Critic
Black Queer Feminism

Michael Thomas

Novelist & Memoirist
IMPAC Dublin Award

Nafissa Thompson-Spires

Award-winning Fiction Author
PEN Open Book Award

Natasha Trethewey

US Poet Laureate (2012-2014)
Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet

Crystal Valentine

Poet, Educator & Activist
Nat’l Poetry Slam Finalist

Frank B. Wilderson III

Award-winning Author
Poet, Scholar, Activist

Ibi Zoboi

Award-winning YA Novelist
National Book Award Finalist
American Street