Chris Abani

NYT Bestselling Novelist
Nigerian-born Poet

Samiya Bashir

Acclaimed Poet
Finalist Lambda Lit Award

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

Natashia Deón

Acclaimed Novelist
Immigration Attorney

Camille Dungy

Award-winning Poet
Acclaimed Essayist & Critic

Anaïs Duplan

Award-winning Poet & Essayist
2022 Whiting Award-winner

Cornelius Eady

Poet, Lyricist, Playwright
Co-Founder of Cave Canem

Percival Everett

Acclaimed Novelist
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award

Aminatta Forna

Award-winning Novelist
Acclaimed Memoirist

Terrance Hayes

MacArthur "Genius" Award
National Book Award

Major Jackson

Acclaimed Author
Roll Deep

Douglas Kearney

National Book Award Longlist
Race, Culture & Identity

Michael Kleber-Diggs

Award-winning Poet

Dawn Lundy Martin

Poet, Critic, Memoirist
Kingsley Tufts Award

Airea D. Matthews

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

John Murillo

Award-winning Poet
Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award Winner

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
Nat'l Book Award Finalist

Matthew Shenoda

Award-winning Poet
American Book Award

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Award-winning Fiction Writer & Critic
Black Queer Feminism

Michael Thomas

Novelist & Memoirist
IMPAC Dublin 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